indigenous resistance 6.3

Causes of Anti-Colonial Resistance

• Political Authority Questions

  • Enlightenment ideas like popular sovereignty and the social contract influenced educated colonized peoples to doubt the legitimacy of imperial rule.

  • While Western education played a role, native resistance existed independently of it.

• Growing Nationalism

  • The imposition of foreign culture and language by imperial powers stirred a sense of nationalism in the colonized peoples, spurring their desire for independence and self-rule.

Examples of Resistance against Imperial Intrusion

• Direct Resistance Movements

  • People fought back with arms; significant examples include:

    • 1857 Rebellion in India: An uprising against British control.

    • Tupac Amaru's Rebellion in Peru: A resistance against Spanish rule.

    • Ya Asantewa War (War of the Golden Stool):

      • Context: British attempts to take the Asante Kingdom for its gold.

      • The British made multiple attempts to conquer it, but the final decisive conflict was led by Yaa Asantewaa, the queen mother who mobilized her people to defend the culturally significant Golden Stool.

      • The British victory led to Asante territorial loss despite courageous resistance from the Asante people.

• Creation of New States

  • Cherokee Nation:

  • Originated in response to American westward expansion following the US independence.

  • Assimilation efforts were not enough to prevent removal through the Indian Removal Act of 1835.

  • The Cherokee established a semi-autonomous government in Oklahoma but eventually faced further marginalization as American settlers expanded westward.

• Religiously Inspired Resistance Movements

  • Xhosa Cattle Killing Movement:

  • The Xhosa faced land defeat and cattle diseases due to European encroachment.

  • A prophetic movement encouraged the slaughtering of cattle to bring back healthy livestock and ancestral spirits to reclaim their land.

  • Result: Instead of restoration, this led to starvation, allowing easier British territorial claims over Xhosa land.