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The first missionaries to come to Ghana were the Roman Catholic missionaries in the 15th century and the Anglican missionaries. Indeed, in some situations the converts were taught to feel that they were absolved from obeying their own traditional rulers and certain laws of the state. 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 home page of Compassion Canada is that of a stereotypical Northern charity: showing pictures of suffering children alternating with those of post-intervention, happy children. Thomas Birch Freeman, son of a London-based West Indian father and an English mother. 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. hR]0+^$%K{_"/HevgV+bH6L %)`\ #\E*63Z_TsxlRZj:[/\IL-1b-i The South African War is not covered in this grouping of letters. Copyright 2023 ABWE. A special memorial Mass was celebrated at the Holy Spirit Cathedral in Accra, Ghana, on Oct. 9. Among the first missionaries was the Rev. They were closed down in 1852 in favour of schools opened in Lagos which, in 1851, had one time British control. Lastly, the missionaries were not used to eating our local foods. As much as the governments liked to assign blame to the missions, they were also accountable for the poor education through their educational policies. In 1902 the Methodists opened a clinic at Igbo-Ora. Discipleship and leadership development are needed in order to support local churches and their growth in Ghana. 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. Andreas Riis, assisted by a team of West Indian evangelists, laid the foundations of the Basel Missionary Church in the country. The governor had observed the bad moral life of the Europeans in the fort. The missionaries also greatly improved the health services. The Journal of Negro Education (JNE), a scholarly refereed journal, was founded at Howard University in 1932. Lack of transport from the coast to the interior parts of West Africa was one of the major difficulties encountered by the missionaries. Some observers have argued that the Europeans used the Christian bible to justify the practice of slavery and the slave trade. Establishment of Christian Churches In Sierra Leone. These missionary societies laid the foundations of the Roman Catholic Church in West Africa, which lasted through to the independence period when African clergy replaced the white pastors. For example, the missionaries preached against certain aspects of African culture they considered barbaric or satanic or both. Four volumes of incoming correspondence marked "West Africa" on the spine. The pastors of the Church Missionary Society, from Badagry and later from Sierra Leone, visited these Christian communities in Abeokuta and other towns. The vast majority of the people of The Gambia are Moslems; but a sizeable percentage of the population, especially in and around the capital Banjul, are Christians. Burns & Oates, 1979. (with Examples), Top 20 Topics in English for Academic Purposes, 7 Rules of Referencing and Citation in Academic Writing, 10 Importance of Referencing and Citation in Academic Writing, How to Get a Degree Without Going to High School, Joseph Rhodes Dunwell Methodist Missionary, 1835, Thomas Birch Freeman Methodist Missionary, 1838, Thomas Thompson Society for the Propagation of the Gospel/Anglican, 1752, Wesley Girls High School, Cape Coast Methodist missionaries, Mfantsipim School, Cape Coast Methodist, Adisadel College, Cape Coast Anglican Missionaries, Holy Child School, Cape Coast Roman Catholic, St Augustines College, Cape Coast Roman Catholic, Archbishop Potter Girls School, Takoradi, Aburi Girls Secondary School Presbyterian, St Monicas High School, Mampong Anglican. EVANGELICAL MOVEMENTS AND MISSIONARY SOCIETIES IN THE ENGLISH COLONIES. 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. Soon after secondary schools were opened in other parts of southern Nigeria, including Bonny High School, which was taken over by government in 1904. Hugh Goldie and William Anderson. Metadata. Request Permissions. 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. After an unsuccessful beginning by the society of African Missions (SMA), this missionary body moved into other territories in what is now Liberia, Ghana and Nigeria. Furthermore, they were skilled farmers that could grow cash crops to be consumed back in the mother country, such as cocoa from Ghana (Foster 1965: 153). This involved learning to read in the vernacular (Hadfield cited in Bone 1969:7). Its general scope extends to both Roman Catholic as well as Protestant missionaries in relation to education works. A permanent station was established in Lagos in 1868, soon followed by others at Lokoja, Abeokuta and Ibadan. The Journal of Negro Education, 2019 3 (2002): 555-584. She succeeded in stopping the killing of twins in the areas where she served. He was followed, three years afterwards, by the Rev. B. et al. The others included the Christian responsibility for the regeneration of African peoples. The city of Akuropong capital of the Akan state of Akuapem in Ghana, has known the Christian presence during the last 186 years, initially centered on the Basel Mission, then on the Free Church of Scotland, and now on the Presbyterian Church of Ghana. This comes at no extra cost to you. In addition to studying the impact of these struggles on education, we also need to understand how they influenced gender inequality. These commercial activities, therefore, made an important contribution to the economic development of Ghana. The Roman Catholics established their first secondary school, St Augustines, at Cape Coast in 1936. The missions agricultural schools were especially beneficial for colonial governments considering that governments believed that manual labour was a means to prevent discontent and unrest in the tribes (Hansen 1984:232). This item is part of a JSTOR Collection. The role of the Christian missionaries in Ghana and West Africa was not limited to the education and agricultural sectors alone. Lets now take a closer look at both the positive and negative impacts of the activities of the Christian missionaries in Ghana and the rest of Africa. The coming of the Christian missionaries to Ghana had a positive impact on agriculture. 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. In due course leprosariums and orphanages were built to supplement their medical services. While it has brought undoubted benefits, it has also harmed the traditional way of life. On the opposite side, the coming of the Christian missionaries brought in its wake certain negative developments like disregard for African culture and rebellion against traditional authority. 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. These included the Basel Missionary Society, founded in Switzerland, and the Breman Mission formed in Germany. Your email address will not be published. West African Senior School Certificate Examination. To their minds, Africans were too backward and needed help to become more civilized. 1 (1971): 103-115. Soon after the Methodist experiment, the church Missionary Society set up their own school at Badagry. 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. West Africa and Christianity. As Ayandele points out (1966:285), the ideal of many of the missions was to make their converts live literally as the unlearned and ignorant apostles of old. This ideal, combined with the fact that many missionaries discovered that Africans with only basic education were best at spreading the Gospel, meant that missionaries were reluctant to provide higher primary or secondary education (Ayandele 1966:286). He was followed, three years afterwards, by the Rev. Father Burke became director of the Divine Word Language and Cultural Centre in Ghana. Initially, their activities focused on coastal areas. 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. The First Missionaries were sent as a result of a request by Major de Richelieu, Governor of Christiansborg. The first Europeans arrived at the West-African Coasts at the end of the fifteenth century. Bamgboye & Company Press, 1976. Important among these, all in Lagos, were the Baptist Academy in 1855, the C.M.S. Now, with the burgeoning Cocoa industry, the expansion of commercial activity, the development of gold mines and the building of roads and railways disturbed the traditional lifestyle. Their arrival in South Africa was aimed particularly at spreading the Word of God. For instance, in southern Nigeria, the CMS policy was to teach in the vernacular at the primary level, while the Roman Catholic Missions policy was to teach in English (Bassey 1991:42). Frank Ogodo Ogbeche Wm. Looking for a flexible role? 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 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. He worked zealously as an evangelist and schoolmaster in the Castle School until his death in 1816. Another important Catholic missionary in this area was the Irishman, Bishop Shanahan. Finally, education affects many other aspects of peoples lives, including economic opportunities and political attitudes. All rights reserved. Young Vincent began his studies with the Society of the Divine Word at Divine Word Seminary at Miramar in Massachusetts in 1947. As Sir Henry Johnston, a key figure in the Scramble for Africa says, they [the mission stations] strengthen our hold over the country, they spread the use of the English language, they induct natives into the best kind of civilization, and in fact, each mission station is an essay in colonization (Johnston cited in Sheffield 1973:10). He was very simple in dress and in the use of modern technology, Father Tetteh said. Soon after, in 1835 they moved up to Akropon on the hills in Akuapem, where the pioneer missionary the Rev. In 1845 the C.M.S. 'In view of this idea, Mmofraturo, the first girls boarding school in Ashanti was officially . %%EOF Soon after, in 1835 they moved up to Akropong on the hills in Akuapem, where the pioneer missionary the Rev. 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. 4>Ofv}TMdQ! In December 1868 he went with his wife and child to Anum in the present-day Volta Region of Ghana. Theres still so much to be learned from the history of education in Africa and its long-term consequences. 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. 2 Longman Group Ltd. London 1974, Ampadu B.K Notes on History of Ghana for Senior High Schools. Schools were deemed important. For the West Africans, the acceptance of Christianity meant the total rejection of most of the cherished institutions upon which their society rested. The missionaries believed that in order to stabilize the faith of converts and to assist in character development, it was necessary that they should be able to read the scriptures or other books of religious instruction, translated by the missions. The mission schools trained Africans to be able to work as translators, messengers and office clerks for the colonial government. 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. They relied very much on their home churches for their funds. personal development And yet the Asafo provided most of the services which a community needed: protection against military attacks, communal services, etc. 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. independent learning In 1989-90, the government banned the activities of several religious organizations, including the Church. Of the ten largest congregations for men, the Society of the Divine Word is the fastest growing over the past 50 years. For several years they paid attention to slave trade rather than evangelization and Christianization of the people of West-Africa. After World War I was declared in 1914, the German missionaries were restricted in their movements by the British in the British colonies. The Committee for Women's Work was responsible for the education of native girls. However, as Jonathan Miran (2002) argues in his work on the roles of missionaries and the Italian state in Eritrean education, missionaries should not be held solely accountable for the poor standards of education. In 1950 Albert Academy was founded in Freetown; for-a long lime it was the secondary school in the Colony serving largely children from the provinces, among them were the future heads of state, Sir Milton Margai and Dr. Siaka Stevens. As founder and director at CEGAST, he has successfully coached thousands of students in English, Literature, and related subjects for major international examinations. Indeed, once the souls had been saved and since the students must have been considered clever enough, European languages were almost universally the languages of instruction in the later primary years and in secondary schools (Beck 1966: 120; Foster 1965: 159; Miran 2002:127). 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. His request to the Danish Crown for missionaries was forwarded to . Government & Politics 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. The result is that today, many Africans are alienated from their authentic ways of life. ), Father Auguste Moreau and Father Eugene Murat, arrived at Elmina and revived the Roman Catholic Church in Ghana. Besides, the missionaries had to travel longer distances to inland towns from their southern stations. It is one of the oldest continuously published periodicals by and about Black people. ASSESS THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE CHRISTIAN MISSION TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF GHANA. They were replaced in Sierra Leone by the Holy Ghost Fathers in 1864, who made converts in large numbers not only among the pagans but also among the members of the then competing Christian churches. One of the missions most important contributions to the colonial regimes was their role in educating the native Africans. If a government fails to regulate schools at all, they have no right to complain that the education in their colony is poor. The greatest problem faced by the early European Christian missionaries was, the tropical climate and health Hazards. Father Jean Marie Coquard, operating in and from Abeokuta for forty years, was renowned among the Egba as a priest and surgeon in the second half of the nineteenth century. The achievement of the purpose of these Christian Missions came with some costs. In Ghana the Presbyterians were pioneers in reducing Ga and Twi into writing. A large body of studies show that missionaries had a lasting impact beyond their early years. The work of the missionaries also had little success initially. Africa and the Winder World 3. Among several others, the native Bishop Ajayi Crowther produced the first translation of the Bible in Yoruba. Specifically, it addresses the unique role of Christian missions in. This allowed me to estimate the impact of mission schooling directly. Following agitation by the people in 1934, the government opened the old Yaba Higher College and Medical School, which awarded diplomas acceptable only locally. After earlier unsuccessful attempts by the missionaries Chretien Proten, Henrick Huckuff and Jacobus Capitein, the Anglican, Rev. An attempt to respond to this question informs the underlying interest for this paper, namely, to explore the extent to which these institutions, especially . Some of these new crops were grapes coffee, mango, ginger, and olives. However, the motivation behind teaching Africans basic literacy and mathematics might not have been a cause for concern if not for the fact that the religious motivation curtailed education. 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 the Christian missionaries that came to the Gold Coast (Ghana) were the following. Moreover, they introduced new crops into the Ghanaian economy. The Methodists founded Mfantsipim (1876) for boys and Wesley Girls High School (1884). Porter, Andrew. Consequently, they couldnt do much to promote the cultivation of food crops like maize, cassava, cocoyam and plantain. A short history of education in British West Africa. All work is written to order. The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, the Moravian Mission, the Mission of Bremen, the Methodists, and Roman Catholic missionaries all established themselves on the Gold Coast (Ghana) between 1820 and 1881, opening elementary schools for boys and girls . This conditioning was focused on norms that missionaries deemed incompatible with a Christian way of life. Being able to speak and write in the colonisers language was considered a privilege. senior high school economics In 1859, the first newspaper in Yoruba, called the Iwe-Irohim, was published by the missionaries. 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). Purchase a license below to view the full collection. The original Yaba College in Lagos has grown into a polytechnic. These missionaries saw death in the course of their evangelizing work as a means to ascend to heavenly glory. The education provided in schools in early days also tended to place great emphasis on the superiority of western culture. 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. This hymn sums up the reasons why the Christian missionaries came to Africa and other parts of the world. But with colonial conquest and antimalarial drugs, they moved further into the continent. Box 6000, Techny, IL 60082-6000. People all around the world are searching for hope, but many dont have someone to tell them about the hope found in Jesus. Almost all the missions in West Africa faced financial problems in the early stages of their missionary work. Senior High School Literature Rev. Many missionaries died because of the climate and tropical disease. Then share it on your favourite social media platform for the benefit of others you care about. Then lets begin straightaway. Kalu, Ogbu. Moreover, it was not in the colonial powers interest for the natives to become too educated, as they might become self-reliant and could conceivably demand independence from the colonial power, so encouraging the less intellectual agricultural schools was in the governments interest. Several missionaries died at a youthful age due to the unfriendly tropical climate. They often attributed natural ailments to supernatural causes and resorted to mystic cults to appease the unknown spirit, before applying medicine to the sick person. Not only did mission education strengthen colonial rule, but it also weakened traditional societies and implemented poor standards of Western education. . He knew me as a boy [in Ghana] who washed his car and went with him when he said Mass at mission stations, yet [as an adult] he treated me as an equal, Father Tetteh said. Mission schools were popular because of the new skills and opportunities they offered. We're here to answer any questions you have about our services. With the exception of the first two volumes, marked "West Africa", these items are drawn from the volumes Series CWW. Edward Berman notes that contemporary critics of the missionaries felt that missionaries were more interested in increasing enrolments in their respective churches than in pooling their resources for the benefit of African education (Berman 1974:533). The weakening of traditional societies was not simply a consequence of the efforts of missionaries but one of their main objectives, stemming from their belief in the civilizing mission. Supporters of the civilizing mission believed that European colonial enterprises were justified as the Europeans were imparting their superior Western culture and ideas to the ignorant heathens of Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australasia. Samuel Adu-Gyamfi And Benjamin Kye Ampadu, Ajayi, J..F.A and Michael Crowder History of West Africa. In 1880, two Roman Catholic priests of the Society of African Missions (S.M.A. Their educational activities helped spread literacy and vocational skills training among Ghanaians. Contribution of Christian Missionaries in Ghana, Reasons Why Christian Missionaries Came to Africa, Discontinuation of Outmoded Cultural Practices, Negative Effects of Missionary Activities, Negative Impact on Traditional Authorities, Limited Support for The Production of Local Food Crops. Christian missions also took a leading role in the campaign to end the slave trade and to suppress slavery. One method of discouraging traditional practices was to give students a fully Western education. Non-African Poetry Preventive medicine was hardly known; the result was that epidemics of different kinds were frequent. This thesis discusses and assesses contribution of Christian Missionaries to education in Meru from 1908 to 1963. Daystar Press, 1978. Furthermore, mission schools discouraged traditional ways of life outside of the classroom. 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). Copyright 2003 - 2023 - UKEssays is a trading name of Business Bliss Consultants FZE, a company registered in United Arab Emirates. Despite their significant contributions to education, local language development, agriculture and the economy as a whole, the missionaries have been criticized severally. They include Sierra Leone 1900-1933; Ghana 1903; Cape Verde 1904-1910; and St Vincent 1907-1912. It included the opening up of Africa to forces of change namely commerce (legitimate commerce, i.e. While they frowned upon bridewealth, female genital cutting, or matrilineality, they held a special grudge against polygamy. Called the Iwe-Irohim, was published by the missionaries. 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. senior high school crs 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. 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. The original letters from abroad cover West Africa from 1899 to 1933. There were only bush paths, and no roads in the early times. First, alignment can help you communicate your . A member of the CMS, Henry Venn, boasted that the mission schools of Nigeria would produce an educated African elite that could form an intelligent and influential class of society and become the founders of a Kingdom which shall render incalculable benefits to Africa (Venn cited in Bassey 1991:37). A second reason for the poor education of the mission schools was that in many cases the teachers in mission schools were unqualified as teachers, but were instead preachers by training. The colonial Eritrean government ensured that native Eritreans received poor education by permitting them to only attend school up to the fourth grade (Miran 2002:127). The most momentous discovery in western Africa came in 1471, when Portuguese captains first reached the coast of modern Ghana between the mouths of the Ankobra and Volta rivers. However, the early missionaries established medical centres, at first at their mission posts, and later far and wide, to attend to the sick. if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[250,250],'cegastacademy_com-large-mobile-banner-1','ezslot_15',609,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-cegastacademy_com-large-mobile-banner-1-0');The European missionaries began their activities in Ghana as far back as the early fifteenth century.