Christian missionaries were the first to introduce European-style education in sub-Saharan Africa. They did a lot to impact the social and economic lives of Africans. Copyright 2003 - 2023 - UKEssays is a trading name of Business Bliss Consultants FZE, a company registered in United Arab Emirates. Cookies are small, safe and secure text files that sit on your computer which we use to give you a better experience on our site and help us improve the service that we provide to you. The copies of letters received, 1890-1927, mention the plan from 1914 to gain control of future Ashanti Chiefs using education. African poetry Human Zoos: Untold History of Suppression, The Legend of King Ulu (Ancient Thai Folklore), The Kingdom of Saud of The Arabs (Saudi Arabia), The Wesley Brothers of Oxford University (1700s), Razia Sultan of Medieval India (786 Years Ago), The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade (The Revelation), Education in Africa: The Impact of Colonialism, Why The Legendary Geneva Bible was Banned. Indeed, the quality of the education could be so poor that the colonial governments complained, as in the case of the Nigerian government, which complained that the secondary school graduates provided by the missions were illiterate and ignorant and therefore poorly suited to fill the lower levels of the administration (Ayandele 1966:294-5). student life Longman Publishing Group, 1980. Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Bremen, Research Center on Inequality and Social Policy (SOCIUM), Universitt Bremen. They discovered that the holy book did not clearly prescribe monogamy, and contained several examples of renowned Christian polygamists. Africa Christian Press, 1996. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Your email address will not be published. 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. When he arrived in Nkwatia-Kwahu to teach English at St. Peters Secondary School, the town had yet to benefit from electricity and running water. 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. In fact, the Christian missionaries encouraged Ghanaians to reject African names and choose Christian names instead. I also matched up locations that differed in proximity to the mission stations, but otherwise had similar preconditions for educational development. Crampton, Edmund Patrick Thurman. By February 2, 1918, all Basel missionaries had been deported from the Gold Coast. homework help Before 1925, there were only three secondary schools and three teacher training colleges in Ghana. This company promoted the import and export trade in Ghana. The pastors of the Church Missionary Society, from Badagry and later from Sierra Leone, visited these Christian communities in Abeokuta and other towns. The First Missionaries were sent as a result of a request by Major de Richelieu, Governor of Christiansborg. Being ignorant of the significance of certain institutions and practices of the people of West Africa, and occasionally being misled by their over-zealous followings into wrongly interpreting the peoples heritage, the missionaries compelled pupils in their schools and docile adult converts to shun their own ancestral practices. Among other missionary hospitals of long standing and reputation are those run by the Methodists at Wenkyi in the Brong-Ahafo Region, and by the Seventh Day Adventists at Kwahu Atibie in the Eastern Region. African Drama Often drumming and the harmless songs and dances of the people were condemned. For instance, in Nigeria in 2006, approximately only 51.2% of primary school teachers of either gender were trained as teachers, and the enrolment rate in primary education for both genders in 2000 stood at about 62.7%, compared to 99.5% in Canada (UN Data 2010). The American Episcopal Evangelical (A.M.E.) Zion Church owes its foundation in Ghana to Bishop J. Bryan Small, who started work first at Keta in 1898. Burns & Oates, 1979. C.M.S. 2 (1983): 116-143. From simple essay plans, through to full dissertations, you can guarantee we have a service perfectly matched to your needs. In addition, the contributions of celebrity missionaries, such as Christian Schwartz, William Carey, Alexander Duff, and James . Before we examine the contribution of Christian missionaries in Ghana, we need to identify the missionaries that came to Ghana. This made it difficult for the early missionaries to stay in the country for long. History books tended to exaggerate in achievements of Europeans, making no reference to Africans own great past. Wm. Initially,. The CMS began to work in the freed slave villages in Sierra Leone in 1804 and the Methodist in 1811. Secondary Schools in the Protectorate started later, following the establishment of Bo Government Secondary School in 1906. EVANGELICAL MOVEMENTS AND MISSIONARY SOCIETIES IN THE ENGLISH COLONIES. Again, in West-Africa, the efforts to go beyond the coast to reach those inland with the gospel coincided with the southwards expansion of Islam which posed some threat to the expansion of the work of Christian evangelizing missions. Website design and development by Americaneagle.com, Inc, Society of the Divine Word- Western Province, Society of the Divine Word- Southern Province. The Christian Connector Scholarship. Other difficulties the early Christians faced were the problems of the many languages and dialects and their ignorance of the true meaning of the various cultures, beliefs, values and ways of life of the people whom they set out to convert to Christianity. For example, they preached against human sacrifice. The missionaries also greatly improved the health services. The work of the Basel Missionary Society was taken over with the consent of the Basel Mission Home Board by the United Free Church of Scotland whose ecclesiastical organization was Presbyterian. In the field of education, however, the missionaries had to adjust their programmes to fit in with the policy of assimilation. Missionaries travelled through dense evergreen forests, crossed rivers and climbed mountains to bring the Gospel to as many Ghanaians as they could. Joseph Dunwell. 1. They were followed by other major missionary bodies, including the Methodists and the Roman Catholics. Within ten years the C.M.S had opened twelve more schools in what is today Cross Rivers State. They relied very much on their home churches for their funds. grammatical name Origins, organization and effects in the development of West Africa, 3: Islam in West Africa. This single problem made the missionary work very difficult. They include Sierra Leone 1900-1933; Ghana 1903; Cape Verde 1904-1910; and St Vincent 1907-1912. Their greatest legacy in the field of education was the foundation which the Methodist laid for what is today the Gambia High school. They were closed down in 1852 in favour of schools opened in Lagos which, in 1851, had one time British control. And yet this was what earlier missionaries in pagan Europe had done when, for example, they had changed the Sabbath to suit the pagan Sun Day (hence Sunday), and had also adopted the dates of the pagan festivals to celebrate Christmas Day and the Easter festival. Public money was spent only on the small number of government schools, totaling nineteen when Governor Guggisberg assumed office in 1919. Through academic lessons and lessons on Western etiquette and hygiene, mission students were isolated from their traditional cultures, a traumatic experience that would continue to trouble many students for the rest of their lives. Other Roman Catholic hospitals were built in all the nine regions of the country; including those at Asikuma and Foso (Central Region), Akyem Swedru (Eastern Region), Berekum (BrongAhafo), Maase (Asante Region) and Anfoega (Volta Region). Some early success included the Liberian coast where Afro-Americans and freed slaves were converted. Being able to speak and write in the colonisers language was considered a privilege. Soon after secondary schools were opened in other parts of southern Nigeria, including Bonny High School, which was taken over by government in 1904. These missionaries saw death in the course of their evangelizing work as a means to ascend to heavenly glory. Christianity reborn: the global expansion of evangelicalism in the twentieth century. In the Gambia, as happened in other territories, the Christian missionaries did not confine their work to the spread of the Gospel alone. Properly meant by Anglo-Saxon standards. However hypocritical, government support for the schools should not be surprising, considering the benefits the colonial governments stood to gain. After completing that assignment, Father Burkes superiors asked him to teach English as a second language (ESL) to Divine Word missionaries who did not know the language. J. C. Taylor, in these parts of southern Nigeria can still be seen today. Both the academic and vocational forms of education the missions provided served to strengthen the rule of the colonial powers, so that the native inhabitants were second-class citizens in their own land. Establishment of Christian Churches In The Gambia. While they frowned upon bridewealth, female genital cutting, or matrilineality, they held a special grudge against polygamy. Third, rivalry between the various Christian denominations also contributed to the poor standards of education. He moved to Techny in 2016. Many Ghanaian communities got divided along religious lines. It is one of the oldest continuously published periodicals by and about Black people. For several years they paid attention to slave trade rather than evangelization and Christianization of the people of West-Africa. Bamgboye & Company Press, 1976. The European missionaries believed that European culture was superior to African culture. further studies Purchase a license below to view the full collection. Almost all the missions in West Africa faced financial problems in the early stages of their missionary work. 4>Ofv}TMdQ! As a member of the Church of England, it interests me to see echoes of Christian educational efforts by organizations such as Compassion Canada in the educational efforts of the missionary branch of the Anglican Church, the Church Missionary Society, or CMS. The Christian missionaries have been credited with the discontinuation of some obnoxious traditional practices among Ghanaians. Johann Christaller produced a similar work in Twi. The missionaries opened schools further inland, and by 1880, the Wesleyan Mission had eighty -three schools. missionaries was the development of literature in Yoruba. endstream endobj startxref Another reason why the Europeans came to spread the Christian religion in Ghana was to pave their own way into eternal glory. Porter, Andrew. skills for his or her future role in the society (Hetherington, 1979; Davidoff, 1980; Aboagye, 1997). In 1892, the Church Missionary Society opened the Iyi Enu Hospital in Onitsha which is today a leading hospital in Anambra state. One is led to ask, why this sudden development? The achievement of the purpose of these Christian Missions came with some costs. In fact in 1966, Father Burke led students to a victory in a national educational contest called the Ghana TV Cup. Foremost in the contribution of the early Christian missionaries to the development of Ghana is their efforts to bring Western education to Ghanaians. Today almost all of the population is Presbyterian, although the ancestral royal cult and many spirit cults still flourish. bible knowledge For example, the missionaries preached against certain aspects of African culture they considered barbaric or satanic or both. In 1880, two Roman Catholic priests of the Society of African Missions (S.M.A. A large body of studies show that missionaries had a lasting impact beyond their early years. The late Eighteenth Century witnessed the rise of Christian groups in Europe that resorted to the evangelization of Africa. Brief History. By the close of the nineteenth century the major Christian missionary churches had opened elementary schools in many part of southern Nigeria with an enrolment of about 74,000 by the First World War. English grammar Establishment of Christian Churches In Sierra Leone. It was also terribly hard for a woman to be driven away, and to lose her status in the society where she is respected as a wife and a mother. Please read our privacy policy to find out more. The Christian religion teaches the doctrine of one supreme God and is opposed to the worship of any other forms of deity. Today, local communities and ethnic groups that were more exposed to mission schools, still achieve higher levels of education, when compared to communities where there were no schools. First, alignment can help you communicate your . All rights reserved. The evangelical societies founded in the Americas included the Baptist Missionary Board and the Nova Scotian Methodists, whose members went to work among the Maroons, who had settled mainly in Liberia. J. G. Christaller produced a Twi Grammar and Dictionary. At the time of its inception, however, there was no publication that systematically or comprehensively addressed the enormous problems that characterized the education of Blacks in the United States and elsewhere. The American Episcopal Evangelical (A.M.E.) Zion Church owes its foundation in Ghana to Bishop J. Bryan Small, who started work first at Keta in 1898. Among his pioneering achievements, he arranged for three youths to be sent to England for training as evangelists. The school, which was established the year of independence in 1957, was a work in progress. The restrictions intensified until in the second week of 1917, when all German missionaries were rounded up, brought to Accra and deportations began on December 16. . Please click this link to download the chapter. These missions significantly influenced the systematic educational development in the Gold Coast. Economics Other difficulties they faced were the problems of the many languages and dialects and their ignorance of the true meaning of the various cultures, beliefs, values and ways of life of the people whom they set out to convert to Christianity. I wanted to buy a smartphone for him, but when he got to know the price of the cell phone, he humbly declined. Do you have a 2:1 degree or higher? The missionary impact on education would have far-reaching consequences, as their creation of a weak basis of education would slow down the political and educational development of many former colonies in Africa. Within a short time the missionaries spread their activities inland. However, the early missionaries established medical centres, at first at their mission posts, and later far and wide, to attend to the sick. 2 Longman Group Ltd. London 1974, Ampadu B.K Notes on History of Ghana for Senior High Schools. the role of administrators, chiefs and the missions; first attempts at agricultural and industrial training; girls' education and teacher training before 1850; some chief factors in educational expansion 1850-1900; government official policy in educational expansion 1850-1900; agricultural, industrial and vernacular training 1850-1900 The foreign exchange earnings helped to develop Ghanas infrastructure. The coming of the Christian missionaries to Ghana had a positive impact on agriculture. Founded in 1875 by St. Arnold Janssen, we number more than 6,000 missionaries. (As at December 2020). Amidst much honest missionary activity in the country for two centuries, prosperity gospel teachers have also gained influence, and numerous indigenous cults have arisen with distinct appeal and just enough truth to create confusion and syncretism. Christian Missionaries. It is interesting to note that this project is not a new concept. The common response among traditionally polygamous people is well illustrated by a passage in Jomo Kenyattas famous book on the Gikuyu in colonial Kenya: This [the insistence on monogamy] caused a great confusion, for the African could not understand how he could drive away his wives and children, especially in a community where motherhood is looked upon as a religious duty; the children are regarded as part and parcel, not only of the father, but of the whole clan (mbari), and without them the mbari is lost. Baker Pub Group, 1996. For instance, on 2nd October 1792, the Baptist Missionary Society was formed followed by the interdenominational London Missionary Society which was established in 1795. The people received the message with indifference. English for life Similar developments were carried out by the missionaries in other Nigerian languages, Efik, Kanuri, Igbo, etc. The country has diverse geography, people groups, and languageswith English as the common language, and more than 11 others with state recognition. This Western education imparted to the Ameru by the Church of Scotland Missionaries, Consolata . Request Permissions. Then share it on your favourite social media platform for the benefit of others you care about. His immigrant Irish-born parents instilled faith and a firm work ethic in their sons. The early European Christian missionaries in West Africa experienced a number of difficulties, some arising from factors outside their control and others of their own making. As happened in other West African countries, many more mission-sponsored hospitals were founded in the course of the twentieth century. The Basel missionaries arrived on the shores of the Gold Coast in 1828 and ), Father Auguste Moreau and Father Eugene Murat, arrived at Elmina and revived the Roman Catholic Church in Ghana. First, I looked at how educational outcomes depended on the distance to historical missions. In addition to promoting a monogamous lifestyle in their schools, missionaries often insisted on divorces before polygamists or their children could even enrol. Discipleship and leadership development are needed in order to support local churches and their growth in Ghana. Amma Darko Thus missionaries, by imparting education that promoted dependence on colonial rule, arguably contributed to the political instability that continues in the present day in many former African colonies, such as Kenya and Eritrea. NUUT Co. Ltd. Kumasi, Ghana, 2011, Baarkinado. Another negative impact of mission education was that it weakened traditional societies, which in many ways further served the colonial cause. Because of rivalry, instead of building one common, multi-denominational school in a village that really only needed the one school, missionaries each built a school for their particular denomination and competed for students (Berman 1974:533). 3 (2002): 555-584. This hymn sums up the reasons why the Christian missionaries came to Africa and other parts of the world. Box 6000, Techny, IL 60082-6000. For instance, the Basel Mission established the first teacher training college in Ghana. According to the Head of the Methodist Church in Ghana, Mmofraturo was established in Kumasi, 'when it dawned on the early Wesleyan Missionaries that when the girl child was educated, she could grow up to face the challenges of the fast-changing world. Soon after, in 1835 they moved up to Akropon on the hills in Akuapem, where the pioneer missionary the Rev. This instruction in 1948 developed into the University College in Ibadan. Debrunner, Hans Werner. Besides education, they cared for the sick. The Basel and Methodist Missions, for example, introduced scientific agriculture in Ghana. The role of the Christian missionaries in Ghana and West Africa was not limited to the education and agricultural sectors alone. I found that while educational outcomes are generally better in places that were exposed to Christian missions in the colonial era, traditionally polygamous societies benefited less. There were several reasons for this poor education, some intentional and some not. It is important to emphasize that the modern history of the Christian Mission in Africa started from the late Eighteenth Century, the Catholics had been there earlier in the first centuries of the Christian era especially during the first Portuguese adventures. The Committee for Women's Work was responsible for the education of native girls. Find below a list of mission schools that still exist in Ghana today. Instead of adapting the teachings and practices of the new religion to suit indigenous values, as it did when the same Christian religion adopted Greek, Roman, German and Anglo-Saxon native practices, the early Christian missionaries condemned totally as pagan, and to be avoided by their converts, whatever they considered strange. Technical and vocational education had been emphasized in the education system in Ghana since the colonial era. First, missions saw education foremost as a means of conversion (Ayandele 1966: 286; Bassey 1991: 36; Berman 1974:527; Foster 1965:85; Sheffield 1973:11). 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. The South African War is not covered in this grouping of letters. Moreover, mission education formed a poor foundation for future educational conditions in the former colonies. Father Burke became director of the Divine Word Language and Cultural Centre in Ghana. This was a bitter pill for the Basel Mission to swallow after 19 years of devoted service in the mission field in the Gold Coast but they were not dismayed when they considered that in education and agriculture and artisan training and in the development of commerce, and medical services and concern for social welfare of the people, the name Basel by the time of expulsion of the mission from the country, had become a treasured word in the minds of the people.