Agricultural school graduates did not compete with European industries or European farmers, as they mainly grew crops that could not be grown in European climates. Its message was that of love and the universal brotherhood of mankind. Shaw, Mark. life skills CONTRIBUTION OF CHRISTIANITY TO WEST AFRICA. English grammar In Ghana the Presbyterians were pioneers in reducing Ga and Twi into . We're here to answer any questions you have about our services. The Christian missionaries of different missionary societies made a tremendous contribution to education in South Africa. Also, Christian missionaries in Ghana were as zealous as their counterparts in Nigeria in pioneering medical services. The Methodists founded the Boys High School in 1874, and another high school for girls six years later. 2236624), The beginning of Africanisation : the dawn of the missionary motive in Gold Coast education, Early colonial and missionary records from West Africa, West Indies material in the archives of the USPG, 1710-1950. Being ignorant of ones history causes one to lose part of ones identity and pride in that identity, and one is therefore more vulnerable to attacks denouncing ones culture as inferior, especially if at the same time one is being taught the noble history of another culture. Reiterating what teacher education must encapsulate, Adegoke (2003) and Benneh (2006) indi-cated that the mission of Ghana's teacher education is to pro- It is simply one of the gross evils of heathen society which, like habitual murder or slavery, must at all costs be ended. Missionaries continued to be the main providers of education even after colonial powers established control during the so-called Scramble for Africa which occurred between 1884-1914. The Portuguese were the first to introduce the Christian faith into West Africa but following their departure from the West Coast in the mid-seventeenth century, the Christian religion survived only in Upper Guinea where a bishop was maintained in the Cape Verde Islands serving also a part of the mainland. Their activities had both positive and negative effects on Ghanaian society. Although it can be said that Christian missionaries benefitted Africans by bringing in the more advanced Western education to the European colonies in Africa, it is believed that the mission schools in fact had a negative impact on the native peoples. 2018). Christian missions also took a leading role in the campaign to end the slave trade and to suppress slavery. better grades Some of the positive development outcomes of former British colonies are arguably the result of a permissive attitude towards mission schools. I also matched up locations that differed in proximity to the mission stations, but otherwise had similar preconditions for educational development. Lake Volta provides a vital venue for aviation evangelism in remote areas. EVANGELICAL MOVEMENTS AND MISSIONARY SOCIETIES IN THE ENGLISH COLONIES. In fact, Jacobus Capitein, a former Ghanaian slave who became a priest in the Dutch Reformed Church in the 18th century was on record to have defended the practice of slavery. In 1880, two Roman Catholic priests of the Society of African Missions (S.M.A. Copyright 20102023, The Conversation Media Group Ltd, Bristol Archives/Universal Images Group/Getty Images, Committee Member - MNF Research Advisory Committee, PhD Scholarship - Uncle Isaac Brown Indigenous Scholarship. However the superficial motivations and ideologies have changed, at the most basic level both contemporary Northern charities and nineteenth century missionaries share the belief that the North must come and save the suffering natives, which in the case of the missionaries, has been proven to have inflicted more harm than provided relief. Important among these, all in Lagos, were the Baptist Academy in 1855, the C.M.S. This chapter traces the origins and long-term development of African mass education in colonial sub-Saharan Africa. Specifically, it addresses the unique role of Christian missions in. mock tests Longman Publishing Group, 1980. As happened in Ghana, the development of training colleges in Nigeria was slower than secondary schools, though the C. M. S. had opened the first training college at Abeokuta as far back as 1849. Instead of needing to import skilled workers such as carpenters, the mission schools provided colonial governments with workers capable of building and maintaining the colonys infrastructure and basic technology, a contribution that kept the colonies running smoothly. The early African converts to Christianity, were made to abandon their ancestral culture and way of life as pagan therefore to be shunned. In Sierra Leone, the Church Missionary Society (CMS), offshoot of the Anglican Church, was the first to become firmly established chiefly among the freed captive and freed slave settlers from Britain, Nova Scotia and other parts of the New World. For terms and use, please refer to our Terms and Conditions Christian Religious Studies As churches of the Volta Region begin reproducing, ABWE wants to reach out to Ghanas unreached people groups in its eight other regions. Their converts increased steadily in numbers until 1821 when a section broke away to form the first independent African, Christian church in West Africa, called the West Africa Methodist Church. The others include the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1804, which was tasked with the responsibility of promoting the translation and printing of the Holy Bible. The system was devoid of any cohesive national policy. primarily purposed to outline the contributions of religion and education to national development in Ghana. Father Burke spent more than half of his lifealmost 50 yearsin Ghana on the West Coast of Africa, said Father Edward Tetteh SVD, pastor of Blessed Sacrament-Our Lady of Divine Shepherd in Trenton, N.J. During his many years in Ghana, since he worked mostly in educational institutions, he produced excellent professionals: teachers, priests, ministers, doctors, engineers, lawyers, pharmacists, journalists and many others who work in different parts of the world.. They were to spread the message of the Gospel, render social services to the people and to assist in the suppression of slavery and the slave trade. I compared data on the historical locations of mission stations since 1924, in 26 sub-Saharan countries with recent education data between 2008 and 2018. The early missionaries set up craft centres as part of their educational programmes. senior high school English After earlier unsuccessful attempts by the missionaries Chretien Proten, Henrick Huckuff and Jacobus Capitein, the Anglican, Rev. The anti-slavery issue and the humanitarian conscience also played a vital role in stimulating European interest in Africa and gave an impetus to mission work. They impressed it upon their converts not to have anything to do with these traditional practices. This company promoted the import and export trade in Ghana. The role of the Christian missionaries in Ghana and West Africa was not limited to the education and agricultural sectors alone. The agricultural schools the missions ran would have been even more advantageous to the colonial governments considering the discouragement of local industries that might have competed with the motherland. This special relationship continued until 1960 when Fourah Bay became a college of the newly reconstituted University of Sierra Leone; the other constituent college located at Njala developed from a training college founded in 1920. Similar organizations were formed in several other European countries. During this period, difficulties encountered were different from the initial difficulties which will more related to sickness, deaths and the suspicion of indigenous people in accepting the Gospel. She succeeded in stopping the killing of twins in the areas where she served. 4; img 109. In the field of education, however, the missionaries had to adjust their programmes to fit in with the policy of assimilation. His work, however, did not extend much beyond Cape Coast and the neighbouring area. After more than 20 years at Pope John XXIII School, he returned to the United States and served as parochial vicar at Blessed Sacrament-Our Lady of the Divine Shepherd in Trenton, N.J., where he lived with Father Tetteh. Debrunner, Hans Werner. Renewed evangelisation started when the Basel (later known as Presbyterian) missionaries started work at Osu (Accra). Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Bremen, Research Center on Inequality and Social Policy (SOCIUM), Universitt Bremen. The study examines the historical foundations of Western education in Meru and factors that influenced its development. Another important German missionary was Wilhelm Johannson, better known by the English version of his name, William Johnson, who is revered in the history of the CMS in West Africa. 522 0 obj
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The Wesleyan and Basel missionaries established schools in Cape Coast, Accra . B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2004. In 1845 the C.M.S. Registered office: Creative Tower, Fujairah, PO Box 4422, UAE. The work of the missionaries also had little success initially. ABWE first began work in Ghana with a goal to reach unchurched Ghanaians in the Volta Region with the gospel and then to expand evangelism efforts to other parts of the country. CUP Archive, 1979. For instance, on 2nd October 1792, the Baptist Missionary Society was formed followed by the interdenominational London Missionary Society which was established in 1795. Mission societies often expanded into territories before colonial powers did, and providing education only cost them a little more. We use cookies to improve your experience on our website. Ayandele (1966:283), writing in the 1960s, says, By their [the missions] efforts the main languages of Nigeria have been preserved as a lasting legacy to the Ibo, Yoruba, Efik, Nupe and Hausa. However, this practice was in fact probably more due to stereotypes of African ignorance than an interest in being culturally respectful: missionaries may have believed that it would take too long to teach a superior European language to the unintelligent natives when the natives souls were in such desperate need of saving. The education provided in schools in early days also tended to place great emphasis on the superiority of western culture. Like the Methodists, the Roman Catholic missionaries spread the faith notably in the interior, which later became Protectorate. The coming of the Christian missionaries to Ghana had a positive impact on agriculture. Despite their significant contributions to education, local language development, agriculture and the economy as a whole, the missionaries have been criticized severally. Porter, Andrew. Textbooks were heavily biased towards western ideas and values. Without denying that prior to the introduction of Christianity in West Africa the people had developed their own crafts, one must admit that it was Christian missionaries who introduced modern forms of crafts such as carpentry and masonry. He introduced the Methodist Church in Asante in 1839, and won the support of the Asante king, Otumfour Nana Kweku Duah I who reigned between 25th August 1834 to 27th April 1867). In 1902 the Methodists opened a clinic at Igbo-Ora. Groundless fears that the converts would become contaminated with paganism led some of the Christian missionaries, notably the Presbyterians, to separate the Christians from the rest of the township. English Box 6000, Techny, IL 60082-6000. Initially,. Not only did mission education strengthen colonial rule, but it also weakened traditional societies and implemented poor standards of Western education. Vol. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of UKEssays.com. Introduction, spread and effects, 6: Christian Missionary Activities in West Africa, 7: Scramble for and Partition of West Africa, 9: Problems of Independent West African States, 10: West Africa and International Organizations, 11: Women and Authority in West African History, 12: The Environment in West African History. Kuhne , his fellow captive and co-author joined him at the mission as a trader in cotton, an activity which was part of, and a means of, financing the mission. Mr. Henry Kwadwo Amoako is a Ghanaian Social Scientist, Researcher and Acclaimed Historian for over two decades. For instance, the Basel Mission established Basel Mission Trading Company (UTC) in 1859. The churches opened primary schools both in the capital and in the rural communities. However, by the turn of the Nineteenth Century there was systematic efforts by churches of Christian Europe, namely: Anglicans, Methodists, and Baptists who were active in Sierra Leone and, with Presbyterians, in Nigeria, while Methodists also set up missions in Ghana, Gambia, and Dahomey. Their records from World War One show their distance from the war and yet that it did affect their decisions. The academic education purposely did not train Africans for the higher level positions of colonial administrations, which were mostly reserved for Europeans (Ayandele 1966:295; Sheffield 1973:42), a practise which created dependency on the colonizers, as without them the colony did not have qualified administrators. These commercial activities, therefore, made an important contribution to the economic development of Ghana. Hope Waddell was later joined by the Rev. For instance, in the Salisbury region of Rhodesia, it was reported in 1924 that no male teachers had educational qualifications (Bone 1969:28).
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