 
|
The Evolution of
African Independance
Conflict and resentment best characterize the early relationship between the white settlers and the native Africans. As Nairobi evolved from a shanty-town in the early 1900s into a center for colonial administration, white settlers slowly migrated to the country lured by the prospect of land. They settled in the fertile highlands outside Nairobi, an area later dubbed the "White Highlands." Both the Maasai and the Kikuyu tribes lost large amounts of land to these European settlers. Their resentment grew deeper with each acre lost and the inevitable conflicts would not fully be resolved until independence.
Lord Delamere led the white settlers in Kenya during the early 1900s, although his agricultural experiments proved to be expensive failures. Despite these early set-backs, the economy grew stronger over the years as mixed agricultural farms and extensive plantations developed. Early settlers paid two rupees an acre to the Crown for land to farm in addition to 180 rupees for a Crown survey. This worked out to about US $10 a year. After thirty-two annual payments the settler was given the freehold title. The bi-weekly rail service between Mombasa and Nairobi quickly began to show a profit as new settlers and goods arrived with every ship that docked at coastal ports.
Successful large-scale farming depended to a great degree upon an adequate labor force. Africans, however, were reluctant to work for someone else. British rulers remained confident in their belief in the supremacy of white domination and introduced hut taxes and other laws that forced the Africans into low-paying wage employment. This marked the introduction of a cash economy into a land dominated by the barter system.
World War I brought a temporary halt to white settlement as the British left to fight the Germans in Tanganyika (Tanzania). After the war, Britain gained possession of this region under the Treaty of Versailles. Inequitable land distribution after the war further fueled the growing African resentment toward Europeans. The British government offered land in the Kenyan highlands to war veterans at inexpensive prices. Only white veterans, not African veterans, could take advantage of this offer. White settlers streamed in and African resentment soon reached a fevered pitch. Increasing numbers of Kenyans, led by the bitter Kikuyu, formed political groups whose primary focus was the return of their land.
Next page.
Return to top.
© JamboKenya 2004.