The age of colonialism and imperialism began in the 15th century during the “Age of Discovery”, led by the Portuguese. Specifically, western colonialism came with the discovery of sea and trade routes leading to the occupation of Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Along with European settlers, colonialism introduced disease, Christianity, and an enforcement of new standards. The effects of colonialism still linger in societies, affecting international and national affairs. Unfortunately, it wasn’t until 1960 when the last nations were finally able to decolonize. Africa was carved up by Western nations at The Berlin Conference for its resources without any regard for its native people. Along with the arrival of Europeans came the spread of Christianity and the role of missionaries to spread the gospel. Ghana was a nation that experienced invaders in the 1400s, and saw the effects of of Christianity within society and how it tore apart national identity, culture, and an established an inferiority complex. This paper attempts to analyze the spread of Christianity during the colonial period, with consideration to Ghana, from the standpoint of Frantz Fanon’s, The Wretched of The Earth”.
Present day Ghana is located on the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa, and originally was called “The Gold Coast” by Europeans because of its vast amount of gold located within the country. Ghana had its first encounter with Europeans in 1471, with the arrival of the Portuguese (Miller 1). At the time, Ghana was comprised of different kingdoms that each controlled deposits of gold in different parts of the region. When the Portuguese realized the vast amount of resources the country had, they decided to establish a permanent residency by constructing the Elmina Castle–the first European settlement on the coast. The castle became a hub for the trading of goods, especially the beginning of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Additionally, the Swedish erected Cape Coast Castle–another trading post that became a Slave Trade port– thanks to the fast-growing profits. Along with the Portuguese and Swedish, the English, Dutch, Danish, and Prussian also arrived in attempts to capitalize on the discovery of natural resources and human labor in the region (Miller 1). Through the years, there was a transition of power between Europeans and the ports that had been erected. Elmina Castle eventually fell under Dutch and later British control. Cape Coast Castle, less than ten miles away, also ended up in British control.
In 1821, the British seized all the private land along the coast, officially making Ghana the “British Gold Coast” (Miller 1). Their expansion of the country came from invading of the local kingdoms that held control prior to the settlement of Europeans. Four wars were fought between the British and the two largest kingdoms– Asante Confederacy and Fante–with changing alliances (Miller 2). In January 1874, the British launched an attack on the Asante capital Kumasi with a large military force, resulting in an occupation and burning of the capital (Miller). As a result, the members of the kingdom were forced to sign a peace treaty that ultimately relinquished their claim to any of their territories. As one would expect, the power and “warrior like” spirit of the Asante people disintegrated as they felt defeated. This did not stop rebel groups of the Asante people, who continued to organize attacks and outbreaks of violence. Eventually, the Asante people were annexed and exiled, and the full colonization of Ghana became a reality for the British (Miller 4). One of the main sources of opposition was removed from the British, giving them a green light to push forward with full control over the colony.
In Sylvester Johnson’s book, African American Religions 1500-2000, he discusses how the intersection of commerce and the growing Atlantic empire was influenced by religion. An integral part of growing Atlantic colonialism was the desire for Christian expansionism. During this time, Britain was priding itself on its separation from the Vatican in Rome. Following the break from the Pope, King James nationalized the newly established religion as The Church of England (the Anglican Church) and sponsored an English translation of Christian scripture (Johnson 39). In order to spread their new religious message to the colonies, organizations such as Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK) and Society for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts (SPG) were created with the intention to maintain Christian fidelity among colonies and merchants settled abroad (Johnson 39). As a result, the interest in missionizing the Africans and Natives was accompanied naturally as a way to attempt to control the territories and decrease the number of Catholic converts. Johnson goes further to state that the higher number of encounters between the European Christians and Native peoples altered the import of expansionist theology, and for the first time now carried with it the prospect of massive economic prosperity through globalization (Johnson 40).The prospect of converting people now offered economic and political gain, setting the stakes even higher to send missionaries to the colonies.
As the SPG employed missionaries, African elites wanted their children to be sent to England to gain an English education that would present a wider array of job opportunities within the English company. One elitist by the name of Cudjoe Caboceer urged for his son to have to option to study abroad, and the missionary Thomas Thompson saw this as a “promising strategy for conversion” (Johnson 41). It was this alliance that led to three African youths being sent abroad to gain an education. Unfortunately, two of them did not survive long enough.The survivor, Philip Quaque, became the first African ordained in the Anglican Church. His young age when he traveled made him vulnerable to the teachings of the British ultimately leading to him losing his native tongue and becoming opposed to African religion. He spent the rest of his life attempting to convert those that used to be his neighbors to Christianity, but did not succeed in any way he or the British hoped for.
In 1807, slave owning was abolished in Europe and following in 1834 the Atlantic Slave trade ceased, acting as turning points for European missionaries. The conversion of freed slaves became a powerful move for the establishment of European Christian missions. Just as Philip Quaque experienced, missions were proved successful because of the education that was accompanied with the word of God. From 1884 to 1885, the Berlin Conference took place and as a result, Africa was divided into nation states among European nations with raw materials that would ultimately fuel their economic growth (Lartey vii). Almost one hundred years later in the 1970’s, many African nations experienced overthrows and coups of governments that led to independence from the European colonists. While many nations sadly fell into military rule and political turmoil, there was a new emergence on the religious front.
While no country or nation is under colonial rule, many of the nations who went through the process of decolonization are dealing with issues that set them back years compared to other nations. Issues include loss of identity, fragile government structures, and unstable economies. A famous theorist by the name of Frantz Fanon detailed his support of decolonization post World War II. He was born in the French colony of Martinique on July 20th, 1925 and his families social status qualified them as part of the black bourgeois (Nicholls). Members of this social strata focused heavily on assimilating into society and fitting in with the white culture. In high school, Fanon was exposed to the philosophy of Negritude, which is described as recognizing and affirming the value of African culture. This movement was launched in the 30’s by French speaking black graduate students in French colonies in Africa and the Caribbean (Banoum). Solidarity was found in coming together to recognize and find pride in their African heritage along with self respect and self reliance. This movement awakened “race consciousness” in those who were part of the African diaspora (Banoum). This new movement was rooted in rediscovering ethnic origins and condemning Western nations for their role in enslavement and the colonization of black people (Banoum). As Fanon began to affirm this new philosophy, he became torn between the politics of negritude and his families comfortability in the colony and left in 1943.
Following the end of the war he stayed in France to study, and he explicitly experienced racism, which led him to begin his writing. His spur of writing began his exploration of Marxism and extentialist ideology (Nicholls). He was offered a job in Algeria, where he worked as a psychiatrist in a hospital, tending to French forces who were suppressing anti-colonialist movements and trauma endured by the Algerian victims (Nicholls). It was during this time that Fanon realized that he could no longer enable the French’s oppression of colonialist forces and resigned to devote all of his efforts to Algerian independence. While working as an ambassador to Ghana, he was diagnosed with leukemia. He was transported to Maryland by a C.I.A agent to receive treatment. While in treatment he wrote his most famous book, “The Wretched of The Earth” which was an “indictment of the violence and savagery of colonialism which he ends with a passionate call for a new history of humanity to be initiated by a decolonized Third World” (Nicholls). His book was heavily criticized for its suggestion of violent insurgency, due to a lack of understanding the force behind Fanon’s words.
Colonization goes hand in hand with religion and the role of colonization. In The Wretched of The Earth, Fanon mentions religion and its role with suppressing the colonized and how it was used as a tool to solely benefit the colonizer. In the first twenty pages of his book Fanon mentions that the colonized lose sight of the colonizer through fatalism (Fanon 17). Fatalism is described as the belief that whatever happens is predetermined by fate, and therefore relieves the oppressor of any responsibility and attributes all the misgivings to God (Fanon 17). This can further reinforce the idea that the colonized are inferior to the European settlers, infringing upon their dignity and worth. Religion is used as a tool, diminishing its value as sacred.
Furthermore, it is important to consider that the colonization of Africa was divided among many nations – some of which had different religious affiliation that challenged one another. Within the Christian church there was issues between Protestants and Catholics and issues arose in the north of Africa with Islam as the dominant religion. This further divided the continent of Africa and deepened created rivalries on the continent. Fanon states, “ religion divides the people and sets the spiritual communities, fostered and encouraged by colonialism and its apparatus, at odds with each other” (Fanon 107). Throughout the continent religion is manipulated and used as a driving force to turn people against one another and missionaries continue to play a role in this by attempting to convert individuals and groups and demonizing, creating the idea of “other” for those who do not practice the religion being preached.
Fanon takes a very strong stance against Christianity, stating that it should be placed with “DDT, which destroys parasites, and carriers of disease” because similarly it roots out “hearsay, natural impulses, and evil” (Fanon 6). The Churches that are in the colonies are what Fanon calls a “White Man’s Church” because God is not calling to the people, but calling them to the way of the colonizer. Fanon refers to the colonizer as “the master, the white man, and the oppressor” and that the churches in these states are bringing the colonized to his ways and not the ways of God (Fanon 6). The idea of a white man’s church can be seen all around and is still present in today’s society very obviously with the image of “the white Jesus”. The image of Jesus itself is a tool of power to reinforce that black is inferior to that of the white man – the colonizer. As described above in the case about Ghana, with Philip Quaque, members of the colony were taken and attempted to eradicate anything that connected them to their African identity and use him as a pawn to convert their brothers and sisters.
The colonists are “aided and abetted by religion” because of the pacification in the powers of religion, by manipulating ideas found within the bible such as, “saints who turned the other cheek, who forgave those who trespassed against them, who without flinching, were spat upon and insulted, are championed and shown as an example” (Fanon 28). The idea such as Jesus’ third way and being the bigger person are manipulated to justify the colonizer and oppressors instead of God. This turns religion into a tool of power to manipulate the masses, and strip the last shred of dignity they have left from them. Christianity further rooted the idea of “Manichaeism”, which is a dualistic viewpoint of the world – an us and them mentality. It split the world into good and evil,colonist and colonized, and white and black. During colonization, it was evident that inequality and disparities were rooted into what race you identified with. Fanon states, “ In the colonies the economic infrastructure is also a superstructure. The cause is the effect: You are rich because you are white, you are white because you are rich” (Fanon 5). There was no grey area in the colonies, but a very definite reason for why things were the way they were.
This manipulation of religion was seen all throughout the era of colonization and used in conjunction with violence to “tirelessly punctuate the destruction of the indigenous social fabric” (Fanon 5-6). In Ghana, this was seen with the British as they battled the indigenous communities of the Asante and Fante, and took not only their land, but their customs, dress, traditions, and dignity. With nothing left, the region becomes easier to control and implement the colonists ideology. In Ghana, the traditional African religion was demonized and anything associated with indigenous culture was banned in colonial times. The image of White Jesus flooded the country and European ideas penetrated society. The issues rooted in Ghana did not disappear with the gaining of independence from the British. The colonization and housing of imperialists for centuries touched every aspect of their life, fundamentally challenging everything about themselves and developing a distaste for their own culture. While many nations globally have had decades and even centuries to create nations rich in tradition and culture, many on the African continent have just gained independence and are learning what works best for their people and finding a balance between the remnants of their culture and colonial Christianity.
Countries primarily located in Africa, Asia, and the America’s are still battling the lasting impacts of colonization, decolonization, and now neo-colonization. The power structures between the west and the rest of the world will forever linger causing an imbalance and disparity. Fanon’s book pushes that the only way to overcome this disparity and power imbalance is a new start to humanity that is initiated and controlled by the newly decolonized third world. The theory poses an interesting suggestion, one that frightens many Westerners because a lack of understanding on what it means to be colonized. In a world that has been built on the backs of others and inequality between societies, it is a valid point to consider that the only way for an equal society is to tear it down and completely rebuild it.