Has anyone seriously studied whether Africa isn't actually better off as a result of colonialism?

In England there was a long ongoing debate about how to handle decolonializing India. A similar debate occurred in the United States about emancipation. Obviously the wrong side won the debate in the Unites States, but India turned out fairly well. Did such a feeling of stewardship exist towards Africa? If no, why not? Or, what is this another instance in which the wrong side of the debate won?

Ghanaian colonization and independence was a relatively smooth affair

>British & Dutch are basically the last 2 Europeans left on the Gold Coast
>They ally with coastal kingdoms & tribe to trade timber, gold, and palm oil
>Ashanti Empire is allied to the Dutch, Fante Confederacy allied to the British
>Ashanti hate the Fante for being their competition and blocking sea access
>Ashanti hate the British for fighting slavery and backing up the Fante
>Ashanti kill a native african sergeant of the Royal African Corps
>British try to retaliate but get ambushed, with 10 killed and 39 injured
>Ashanti try to negotiate with the British over claims of Fante coastal lands
>British say fuck off
>Sir Charles McCarthy leads 3,000 soldiers divided into 4 groups of British and Fante soldiers, they intend to rendezvous and meet the Ashanti
>It goes horribly wrong
>McCarthy’s immediate force of about 500 meets over 10,000 Ashanti warriors in open battle
>He knows of a few discontented chiefs who might defect to the British side, and plays “God Save the King”
>Nobody defects and the Ashanti play their war drums louder
>Ashanti begin cutting down trees to make a bridge and cross the stream separating them from the British
>British start shooting at the Ashanti who try crossing
>Turns out that the supply bearers panicked and ran away after hearing gunshots and seeing deserters rum away
>Four cases of ammo arrived
>Turns out 3 of them have macaroni pasta inside
>British run low on ammo
>Ashanti swarm across the bridge
>Fanti soldiers panic and run away
>British who remain engage the Ashanti in sword/bayonet fighting and are overwhelmed
>Sir McCarthy shoots himself rather than be captured alive
>Ashanti cut off his head to keep his ghost from haunting them
>Then they devour his heart to absorb his great courage
>His skull is rimmed with gold and used as a drinking cup by the Ashanti emperor
>His ensign was killed defending his body

>But colonialism was specifically about keeping africans from using those things for their own benefit as it would've gotten in the way of european economic/political interest.

Yes every single thing about colonialism was geared toward that, no exception no not ever

It really is that simple

>You should also feel bad

fuck ogg

the technology was good, but then the technology would spread anyway
the tyranny was bad, but then they were living under domestic tyranny anyway

as far as I know there were no African Kingdoms with a shitty isolationist policy, that was mainly in Asia, I don't think colonialism had much of an effect on the larger scale of things in any case

So settler colonialism and genociding the barbarous natives and replacing them with good wholesome christian white folks was good whereas merely stealing from them was bad, the colonialists should have done the right thing and extended genocide to all of their colonies.

I'd like to add that while the Europeans often brought new technologies and uses of resources to Africa, they obliterated the old political and social order in many places. Having a solid/stable society and established local governance is far more important than the technology that Europeans brought.

new political and social orders can be conjured up in a jiffy

not ones that are accepted by the people and are adapted to the level of the society. there are exceptions ofcourse

the social order means nothing when there is a sudden proliferation of ak47s disrupting the power structure

the colonialists didn't "obliterate" the old order in many places anyway, they certainly inadvertently changed africa, though the root cause was all the new tech and trade, not some /pol/-tier conspiracy where whites are like the jews, responsible for every action africans take

they turned tribes into clients, tribes that survive and have influence to this day, in fact most attempts to dismantle tribal structures occurred in the revolutions and civil wars after decolonization and those efforts were largely failures

whites aren't responsible for civil wars but there were many (small) centralized african states. European disruption of their traditional economies and societies only served to increase ethnic conflict. Im not sure European nations giving monetary and food aide to these countries isn't creating unnatural political capital in those countries even further stunting the growth of their societies or if it genuinely helps. And yes, obviously this level of European involvement varied from overt/intense to beneficial cooperation, to virtually no disruption at all.

Settler Colonialism just produces better long run outcomes for everyone who ends up living in the colony, the whole native genocide thing is still obviously terrible, but wasn’t even really necessary the settlers were just total assholes. Compare the US to South Africa where because it was partially exploitation colonialism the Brits left their colonial government set up in a hugely disfunctional way because they didn’t give a shit and now it sucks for both the settlers left there and the natives. The obvious answer is to not engage in colonialism at all.

>pic
>trying to invent a stereotype you can apply to literally any poster who disagrees with you
lmao

>His secretary is captured by the Ashanti for 7 months and held prisoner in a chamber with the severed heads of McCarthy and Ensign Wetherell
>One Ashanti chief recognizes him as the man who performed a favor for him long ago, and pleads for him to be spared and released
>Secretary Williams walks away free
>Ashanti sweep into the coast, but disease drives them back north
>New governor John Hope Smith assembles a great of the Ashanti’s most bitter enemies, including the Denkyiras
>He learns the Ashanti are planning to assault Accra soon
>11,000 British & Allied soldiers were gathered on a plain just north of Accra
>Ashanti army arrived and attacked the center of British lines, where the best soldiers and even royal marines were placed along with the militia and congreve rockets
>Battle evolves into bayonet, sword, and spear fighting
>Ashanti are flanked and begin losing the battle
>Rockets are unleashed and scare the shit out of Ashanti, ruining their morale and they retreat
>Many are killed during the retreat
>The Pra River is the new border as per the treaty and 30 years of peace is established
>Trade increases along the Gold Coast, with many tribes asking for British protection from the Ashanti
>Petty issues are dealt with by local chiefs and elders
>Major crimes are dealt with by British authorities
>A few inland states agree to become protectorates of Britain
>Chiefs & elders of the Gold Coast petition to become a united legislative body under Britain as a means of increasing revenue
>Britain accepts the proposal though they are not allowed to pass new laws or tax without British permission
>Dutch fort at Elmina is sold to the British Gold Coast and ruins the Ashanti’s final friendly sea port
>Ashanti emperor declares war against the British and ravage the Fante country
>12,000 Ashanti cross the Pra River to seize Elmina but are defeated by Sir Garnet Wolseley

>tfw noble savages will never respect you enough to consume your heart and gild your skull

Nobody benefits from colonialism, you alt-right retard.
hurr durr civilize teh savage
Wrong. Stop believing STEMspergs and other retards like Pinker.

>the technology was good
Technology isn't good, alt-right retard.

No, actually, everything we know about political and social orders indicates that they very much can’t just suddenly appear out of nowhere. To maintain control and be accepted they must have some form of legitimacy. Legitimacy can be, according to Max-Weber, traditional, charismatic, or rational-legal. The commonly added fourth type of legitimacy is the one seen in China/Singapore, performance legitimacy. If you don’t have legitimacy your regime gets overthrown.

>British build a road for soldiers to directly march on Kumasi
>Camps and bridges were also built near the road
>When the road was half finished, the Ashanti began to send raiding and reconnaissance parties up against the builders
>Battle of Amoaful
>British shock troops end up charging the Ashanti and they fall back
>Ashanti attempt to encircle them until a relief force breaks their formation
>The great Chief Amanquatia was killed in battle, but earned the respect of the British for his courage and skill as a leader
>Ashanti mounted heavy resistance in 2 towns, but by the time the British arrived in Kumasi, it was completely abandoned
>The palace of the Ashanti emperor was blown to ruins and looted, although the British did respect the size and contents of the building, including the sizeable private library of the Asantehene with many books written in various different languages
>Asantehene was forced to sign a treaty which included a ban on human sacrifice, absolute freedom of commerce, and the order of 500,000 oz of gold to be given to the British
>The war was also the first recorded instance of a traction engine being employed on active service
>Vassal states of Asanteman saw the weakness of the emperor and began to defect to the British side
>Northern kingdoms declared independence
>Britain soon wanted to conquer Asanteman and offered them protectorate status, but the Asantehene refused to give up sovereignty
>In truth, Britain did not want France or Germany to snap up Asanteman and it’s goldmines
>An Ashanti delegation of ambassadors and high chiefs visited London to offer favor in the cocoa, gold, and rubber trades as well as submission (but not sovereignty) to the Crown
>Britain didn’t care and launched another war, and the delegation only returned home to Kumasi a few days before the British Army arrived
>The Asantehene was exhausted, and ordered his forces to stand down
>Many British troops died from inland tropical diseases

>Asantehene Prempeh I was arrested and his crown was taken after refusing to pay 50,000 oz of gold to the British. >The Ashanti nation was broken up by the Gold Coast and all the Ashanti leaders were exiled to Seychelles. >Slavery was outlawed.
>The Ashanti themselves were very bitter about British rule.
>Sir Frederick Mitchell Hodgson arrived in Kumasi with great pomp, and a choir of children singing “God Save the Queen” for his wife
>He came before the Ashanti nation and gave a speech establishing that the Asantehene was never coming back, the Ashanti people still owed Britain 500,000 oz of gold including £160,000 extra per year the sum is not paid in full, and that the Golden Stool of the Ashanti people is now property of her majesty the Queen
>He then gave his intent to actually sit upon the golden stool (which is believed by the Ashanti people to have fallen from heaven into the lap of their first emperor) which even the emperor himself was forbidden from sitting on because it contained the very soul of the Ashanti nation itself
>The Ashanti were infuriated by this
>This was too much for the Ashanti: a disgusting foreign Obruni even touching the Golden Stool was utter sacrilege
>The Queen Mother Yaa Asantewaa secretly assembled the remaining Ashanti leaders and gave a rousing speech
>She called them pathetic, saying that their forefathers would have DIED before allowing the Asantehene to dragged away by foreigners
>Yaa spoke of their semi-mythical founders and their courage, and how no white man would have dared speak to the Asantehene they way Hodgson spoke to them
>If the men of Asanteman have lost their courage, then the women would just have to do the fighting instead
>The Chiefs were inspired to wage an attack on the fort in Kumasi, and declared her their war-chief
>Thousands of Ashanti warriors had a standoff with the British and african colonial soldiers in Kumasi

>The machine guns mounted at the fort were formidable, and the Ashanti knew a charge was suicide
>So they waited around the fort and periodically took shots whenever they could
>The Ashanti blockaded Kumasi and severed telegraph lines, attacked relief lines, and prevented food shipments
>All roads were blocked with artillery proof barricades
>Eventually Hodgson and about 100 Hausa soldiers made a break for it, fighting their way out and fleeing out of Kumasi for the coast
>Major James Willcocks led the rescue group
>His men were driven out of several Ashanti allied forts and faced heavy resistance in the jungle from guerilla warfare
>Using yoruba soldiers from Nigeria, he eventually broke Ashanti defenses around Kumasi and was able to save the rest of the fort defenders, who were on the verge of surrendering
>M
>After this, squads of yorubas were sent throughout the Gold Coast to hunt down and neutralize all the remaining Ashanti rebels and sympathizers
>Children were even beaten mercilessly to reveal the location of the Golden Stool
>Colonial african workers happened to discover the location of the Golden Stool and stole some of the ornaments
>The Ashanti tried them in a native court and tried to execute them, and they were placed into protective custody
>The British agreed to banish the workers instead, promising the safety and unmolestation of the Golden Stool
>And the Ashanti then produced it to the public
>This was the end of the war for the Golden Stool

>Funny enough, the boyscout handshake likely has it’s origin among the Ashanti
>Lord Baden-Powell was said to have been greeted with a left handshake instead of a right
>The Ashanti warriors claimed that they only shake left hands with the bravest of warriors, because they must put down their shields to shake with the left, and they deeply respected him as a fellow warrior

even if colonialism was bad it was 100% necessary. Without it some areas of the world would still be isolated tribes.

He's absolutely right, and has significantly more anthropologists and archaeologists on his side these days than you do. Don't even bother bringing up Pinker, he's not an anthropologist, just the guy who wrote a pop sci book about this. The fact that he's the name you thought of makes me suspect you're not in a position to begin talking about this at all.

Shall I bring in citations and give you an overview of the last 25 years of debate and research in this area? Do we really have to go through this again? Every time I do you people just duck out of the thread, until it is time to call bullshit on the next wholly mainstream claim.

>Chief Kweku Andoh was supposedly good friends with Paxwell, and taught him scouting techniques for the west african bush
>Asantehene Prempeh I was later declared Chief Scout of the Gold Coast
>King Prempeh spent his time in his villa at Seychelles, learning English and educating his children in western learning
>In 1924, he was finally allowed to return home to his kingdom
>Thousands of Ashanti flocked to witness the return of the king
>The Ashanti largely disregarded British administration for the most part and continued to largely govern themselves
>All things considered, progress was rapid under British rule
>Telegraph and telephone lines were laid, railroads were built, coffee was introduced, Christianity spread quickly (although paganism & Islam would never be stomped out), schools/hospitals/libraries/prisons/etc were built with half of the technical positions being held by natives, etc
>However, the natives were increasingly annoyed by the increased “authority” of local chiefs at the expense of native colonial officials
>They felt it was an attempt to suppress black influence in the government structure
>Powerful Chiefs were increasingly seen as mere lapdogs & puppets of colonial officials, at the expense of better educated young leaders
>Chiefs began to see themselves almost like an aristocracy looking to Accra for guidance in all matters rather than considering their people’s needs first
>British officials did this to reduce the number of British employees they’d need to pay
>The Ashanti protectorate was South, and the Northern protectorate covered Northern peoples such as the Dagomba
>Each governor answered to the Gold Coast governor
>After WWII many veterans had difficulty adjusting to life as mere colonial subjects
>By 1950 43% of gold coast children were attending school
>Gold Coast was the richest and best educated colony in west africa post WWII

>The seeds of nationalism were sown back in the 1920’s by the african legislative council’s visit to London to discuss better representation in government
>They were turned away as a “small minority” of urbanized africans who didn’t represent the interests of the majority
>These intellectuals and elites asked for representation in the form of a vote for council members instead of being appointed by the governor
>These men claimed loyalty to the crown, and a desire to be treated as proper subjects with voting rights
>Around 1925 the colony had a new system where paramount chiefs (except in the north) would form a council able to vote on nominees for the Legislative Council.
>With the restriction being that their votes were mere “suggestions” and that the africans who were elected would remain a minority and only serve in an advisory function without actual powers.
>African newspapers began pushing for change in the 1930’s
>And by 1946 the constitution of the Gold Coast was changed
>18 members were elected, 6 nominated by chiefs, and 6 ex-officio
>There was no more official colonial majority, and the Ashanti were allowed representation
>Even so, Britain continued to see the Gold Coast as a giant mine
>Ga chief Nii Kwabena Bonne II ordered boycott of expensive european goods
>In 1948 Gold Coast veterans of WWII who fought alongside the British in Burma against the Japanese were among the most decorated and respected African soldiers
>They were promised pensions and jobs after the war, yet received nothing
>So they peacefully marched towards the Governor’s residence to petition for what was promised
>But they were stopped by the police, who would not let them pass
>The British head of police demanded his subordinate shoot into the crowd, but the subordinate refused
>Angered, Superintendent Imray grabbed the man’s gun and shot wildly into the crowd
>3 soldiers died and 60 were injured in the shooting
>

>If Europe didn't colonize Africa:
There would be some kangdoms on the coast of Africa(Kongo) and some Muslim states in Hausa and Western Africa. Most of Africa would be a tribal land and would be in poverty because it would not be able to compete with the world economy.

>This infuriated the population and caused 5 days of rioting, in which european & asian business were burned and looted
>The Big Six (leading activists of the UGCC party) were arrested and taken to a remote location, where teachers demonstrated for their release
>The Big Six were seen as national heroes for standing up to the unfair & useless Legislative Council, out of touch Governor, and predatory AWAM organization
>The British government initiated the Watson Commission to investigate, explain, and rectify the causes of the riot
>It was suggested that the Gold Coast draft it’s own constitution and fix the weaknesses of the 1946 constitution
>The government excluded “radicals” like the Big Six for fear of a Declaration of Independence
>By 1949, Kwame Nkrumah had broken away from the UGCC to form the Convention People's Party, (CPP), with the motto "Self-government now"
>The CPP party advocated for the working class rather than the educated elites who still wanted some level of reconciliation with Colonial wishes
>Nkrumah grew a mass following by 1949
>In 1951 a new constitution was drafted, yet once again failed to satisfy the CPP
>The constitution allowed for a majority of africans in the executive council, also an assembly of 50% elected town & village officials and 50% traditional chieftain council members
>Executive Power was still British and the legislature was biased towards the ultimately powerless traditionalist chiefs
>In early 1950 Nkrumah began his campaign of nonviolent “positive action” and resistance to British power
>After release from prison, he was given a position similar to prime minister and worked with the governor to create a parliamentary system
>African traditionalists strongly opposed this change, by the popular opinion was against them
>By 1952 Nkrumah was officially prime minister
>In 1954 the tribal councils were dissolved, the assembly had power over all National affairs except military and foreign policy

>CPP wanted political centralization and was opposed by the new National Liberation Movement, who advocated for federal government
>The NLM was mostly Ashanti and cooperated with the Northern People’s party
>When drafting a new constitution, they both walked out of deliberations
>NLM accuses CPP of having delusions of benevolent dictatorship
>CPP worried the British would not grant independence if they seemed so disunited
>But the British only required there be a definite majority vote on the matter in the new legislature
>In 1956 a vote was held, and CPP won
>British Togoland voted for union with Ghana, and the Ewe people vehemently rejected this choice, they wanted to join their kin in French Togoland
>The Dagomba & Ashanti were happy to unite with their brethren in Gold Coast
>The new assembly voted unanimously for Gold Coast independence
>The country was named “Ghana” after the medieval west african empire the Akan peoples claim origin from
>Ghana remained part of the commonwealth until 1960
>Nkrumah was a Pan-Africanist who hoped this would lead to similar changes all over the continent
>Nkrumah’s policy was based on immediate modernization of communications, education, and industry
>He was also somewhat of an authoritarian who deported his political opponents for the sake of unity
>Nkrumah wished to bring Africa up to par with the rest of the world to avoid becoming a chewtoy for the West and the Communists
>He funded rebels and militias everywhere from Niger to Rhodesia
>He dreamed of an alliance between Ghana, Mali, and Guinea that would form the bedrock of a United States of Africa
>Nkrumah’s national development and covert military projects were very costly, and people grew angry about taxes
>Urbanites were angry about the high taxes and enforced savings program
>And in 1961 people began to protest such policies
>CPP became the single party of Ghana and Nkrumah’s opponents tried to kill him with a thrown bomb

>He had a show trial, and initially sentenced the suspects to death, but decided on 20 years in jail instead
>The National Liberation Council launched a coup in 1966 while Nkrumah was in China
>Nkrumah spent the rest of his life living in Guinea
>The NLC claimed CPP was corrupt, undemocratic, and too aggressive in its african policies
>Many claim the CIA was behind the coup
>There were a few struggles between various political factions until around 1992 when one party rule was ended and the economy picked up at long last
>Employment rose again and Ghana was able to pay back it’s debts

Did they have electricity before colonialism? No so they are better off now shut up.

What is are fucking pointless especially if we don't have enough data

>what if

Fixed

>Without it some areas of the world would still be isolated tribes.

False since pretty much all tribes had some firm of contact with the outside world. They really weren't amazon isolated tier. infact the ways colonies were drawn up and policies that prevented interaction across different imperial power colony lines actually increased isolation by a huge degree and contributed to the modern infrastructure problem.

>now it sucks for both the settlers left there and the natives.

Whites are flat-out better off then the natives by far though.

>the colonialists didn't "obliterate" the old order in many places anyway

They did though. Either that or tender it castrated or set up new structures that benefit colony purpises like the "chiefs"

>Some peoples benefited from colonialism

Which ones?

Africa is fucked because of the Cold War and unending flows of AK-47’s into newly created states.
Post-colonial tripe is nothing more than ideological western opinions, most Africans see it in a decidedly neutral light.

That's actually wrong though. Africans are "seen" as better or "superior" than white people. It's probably due to their overwhelming culture dominating every ethnic group it touches.

This user gets it.

>Which ones?

The parts that got roads and schools built in it, the ones fucked are the resources being stolen to go to Europe.

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