Debrunner, Hans Werner. Renewed evangelism started when the Basel (later known as Presbyterian) missionaries started work at Osu (Accra). Prior to advent of the Christian missionaries and indeed well into the pre-independence period, most sick people depended for cure upon concoction herbs and roots and barks of trees. Mission schools were popular because of the new skills and opportunities they offered. Arnold, 1986. By 1885, the church had spread further inland, thanks to Father Joseph Lutz who started work around Onitsha in 1886 and spread the gospel in many parts of the present day Imo and Anambra States. But Annor (1989) writes that before Europeans came to colonize Africa, Africans had a way of producing artifacts. Discipleship and leadership development are needed in order to support local churches and their growth in Ghana. 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 . It was however in the coastal territories filled with mulattos and other European trading communities that Christianity won some of its early success. The lead was followed by other missionaries, notably the Roman Catholic, whose first higher institution was St Edwards Secondary School in Freetown. The Journal of Negro Education (JNE), a refereed scholarly periodical, was founded at Howard University in 1932 to fill the need for a scholarly journal that would identify and define the problems that characterized the education of Black people in the United States and elsewhere, provide a forum for analysis and solutions, and serve as a vehicle for sharing statistics and research on a national basis. In Sierra Leone, among the earliest higher institutions which the C.M.S. Following agitation by the people in 1934, the government opened the old Yaba Higher College and Medical School, which awarded diplomas acceptable only locally. All rights reserved. In fact, most of the norms opposed by missionaries concerned gender relationships. Church history, history of Christianity, religious history: some reflections on British missionary enterprise since the late eighteenth century. Church History 71, no. Teaching in the vernacular had an additional use as it further strengthened colonial rule, of which missionaries were often agents, for as the Kikuyu people of Kenya were aware, [the] inability to communicate in English would be a crucial factor in the perpetuation of their subordinate status in the colony (Berman 1974:531). 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). As happened in other territories, the Christian missionaries did not confine their work to the spread of the gospel alone. We must not lose sight of the fact that the colonial government in Ghana and elsewhere in Africa relied on the activities of the missionaries to help them achieve the objectives of colonial rule. (As at December 2020). Another valuable contribution of the Christian missionaries in West Africa was the development of literature in the local vernaculars, this included the translation of the Bible into some of the important local languages. Initially,. Literature New team members can be part of establishing a biblical foundation for the next generation of believers, the growth of nationally-led churches, and church planting in Ghana. Although the aim of the traders was to practice commerce 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. 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). From 1835 to the middle of the nineteenth century the Church was in opposition to traditional religion. These new movements considered such ventures to be their contribution to Europes reparation for centuries of exploitation of Africans, reparation for the centuries of exploitation which the Trans Atlantic slave trade had caused to African society. It is possible to hear the tune of this missionary hymn. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Your email address will not be published. As happened in other West African countries, many more mission-sponsored hospitals were founded in the course of the twentieth century. Africa Christian Press, 1996. The Essay Writing ExpertsUK Essay Experts. Before 1925, there were only three secondary schools and three teacher training colleges in Ghana. They were at the forefront during the fight for self-rule in Ghana. Young Vincent began his studies with the Society of the Divine Word at Divine Word Seminary at Miramar in Massachusetts in 1947. They did a lot to impact the social and economic lives of Africans. 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. Required fields are marked *. This research was funded by the European Research Council. Brief History. The European Christian missions preached the Gospel, built churches, and seminaries translated the Bible to Ghanaian Languages such as Ewe, Ga, and Twi. 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). Email: henrydonsco@gmail.com Thank you! Instruction in the Colonial School and the Wesleyan Mission schools at Cape Coast Castle was in English despite the fact that Fanti was the language of the native people. Lastly, the missionaries were not used to eating our local foods. Please click this link to download the chapter. As churches of the Volta Region begin reproducing, ABWE wants to reach out to Ghanas unreached people groups in its eight other regions. Get full access to all 9,566 pages that make up the Ghana in Records from Colonial Missionaries, 1886-1951 collection. Johannes Zimmermann wrote a grammar of the Ga language, and in 1874 the Rev. Then share it on your favourite social media platform for the benefit of others you care about. Missionaries and the intellectual history of Africa: a historical survey. Itinerario 7, no. After earlier unsuccessful attempts by the missionaries Chretien Proten, Henrick Huckuff and Jacobus Capitein, the Anglican, Rev. From simple essay plans, through to full dissertations, you can guarantee we have a service perfectly matched to your needs. Longman Group Ltd. London and Basingstoke, 1986, Fage, J.D. 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. Next, branches of the C.M.S. The latter, non-academic form of education provided by the missions has stimulated much interest among scholars, who are particularly interested in the failure of many of these schools and the hypocritical government support for the schools, seeing as the import of cheap goods from the mother countries caused many vocational school graduates, such as seamstresses, to be unemployed (Ayandele 1966:296; Foster 1965:134). Missionary, educator contributed to building independent Ghana. In the same year as the Basel missionaries settled in Akuapem 1835 the Wesleyan (later Methodist) Church was established at Cape Coast by the Rev. Their personal and family choices influenced the expansion speed of missionary education. The reservation of high-level positions in the colonial administrations for Europeans and the corresponding mission education that provided education fit only for lower positions meant that the withdrawal of European rule could cause serious political instability in the newly independent colonies. Until almost the end of the colonial period education was still largely in the hands of the churches. senior high school English Being able to speak and write in the colonisers language was considered a privilege. The missionary activities in Nigeria, especially their educational programs helped to whip-up the consciousness of a shared identity and helped to train a new set of elite that championed the course of nationalism and constituted a virile leadership for the young nation at independence.Click to see full answer What is missionary education?A mission school or [] History The First Missionaries were sent as a result of a request by Major de Richelieu, Governor of Christiansborg. Grammar School for Boys in 1859, St Gregorys College opened by the Catholics in 1876, Methodist Boys High School 1878 and Methodist Girls High School 1879. 1931. And thats why I decided to look deeply into this issue. senior high school government senior high school history . He is survived by two brothers, Walter and Kevin Burke. essay writing A new attempt to spread Christianity was made when the Church Missionary Society (CMS) arrived from Britain in 1821. However, the early missionaries established medical centres, at first at their mission posts, and later far and wide, to attend to the sick. The kingdom of God in Africa: A short history of African Christianity. As one Eritrean student remarks, Our sisters [the Italian Sisters] would have undoubtedly taught better and more, but the Italian government in the colony did not permit Eritreans to get good instruction (T.T. others adopted a system of education varied from one and the other hence, lacking consistency in the educational sector [3]. 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). Box 2 of the papers relating to the Society's activities in West Africa. Crampton, Edmund Patrick Thurman. Hundreds of believers were baptized, branches organized, and a mission established. 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. A large percentage of Ghanas 30 million people are nominally Christian (more than 70% as of the last census), and 28% consider themselves evangelical believers. In many instances, they made their converts rebel against traditional rulers and other spiritual leaders. skills for his or her future role in the society (Hetherington, 1979; Davidoff, 1980; Aboagye, 1997). senior high school crs In the case of Ghana, like other nations, the impact . station in 1858, it was not until 1889 that the missionaries entered Hausaland, which was predominantly Muslim. The three models of Secondary education in Ghana since colonial times are the Mfantsipim School founded by the Church (mission) in 1876, Achimota School in 1927 established by the British Colonial government The others include the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1804, which was tasked with the responsibility of promoting the translation and printing of the Holy Bible. Development of Education in Sierra Leone. Your email address will not be published. A history of Christianity in Ghana. It is important for several reasons. Therefore, whether through their rigid educational polices or lack thereof, colonial governments contributed to the poor education, though there is no denying that missionaries also contributed to the quality of education to a great extent. A large body of studies show that missionaries had a lasting impact beyond their early years. Perhaps the greatest service of the missionaries was the promotion of western education and the development of vernacular literature. adult education The Methodists founded the Boys High School in 1874, and another high school for girls six years later. In addition, the contributions of celebrity missionaries, such as Christian Schwartz, William Carey, Alexander Duff, and James . The European missionaries engaged in trading and other commercial activities as well. That missionaries used the vernacular illustrates the fact that missionaries were principally evangelists, and that they considered their other roles, including their role as educators, as less important. The impact of Christianity on West African society has persisted to this day. Technical and vocational education had been emphasized in the education system in Ghana since the colonial era. The high temperatures coupled with high rainfall patterns in some parts of the country experienced during the daytime, made the missionaries stay indoors, which slowed down their activities. 1. Later that year, in recognition of his service to the Ghanaian people, President John Dramani Mahama bestowed the honor of Officer of the Order of Volta upon him. 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. hb```,,g@( B(Pi xD r[e}v'$ImK *e()dP#jjTNl=VtN(%!30p0040tt0B GGc2m2@M``a$]x2\YkvIaB1b`h6f` (eAKPU d Although most people are Presbyterians, they can also go to spirit and other cults, mostly Christian and Pentecostal movements, to find cures for disease and lack of success in this world. This was because all the ships that came to the coast at that time were owned by trading firms and companies whose interest were basically on trade. As an institution introduced by agents with radically different values, the Christian religion damaged the culture and traditional beliefs of the people of West Africa. university courses The early success of the missionaries included areas like Freetown and surrounding villages. Apart from giving to the converts a new religious faith which they consider is superior to the traditional religions, the Christian missionaries did pioneering work in introducing new crafts, industries, Western education and modern health services. And yet the Asafo provided most of the services which a community needed: protection against military attacks, communal services, etc. They discovered that the holy book did not clearly prescribe monogamy, and contained several examples of renowned Christian polygamists. As happened in parts of Yorubaland in the last century, some of the Christian missionaries often engaged in local politics and took an active part in helping the colonial authorities in their wars of territorial expansion. 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. In 1859, the first newspaper in Yoruba. Several missionaries died at a youthful age due to the unfriendly tropical climate. Among other things the regulations required that all teachers should be registered, and a minimum salary was fixed. It was not until 1909 that the government opened a teacher training college and a technical school in Accra. hR]0+^$%K{_"/HevgV+bH6L %)`\ #\E*63Z_TsxlRZj:[/\IL-1b-i Joseph Dunwell. Ayandele (1966:283), writing in the 1960s, says, By their [the missions] efforts the main languages of Nigeria have been preserved as a lasting legacy to the Ibo, Yoruba, Efik, Nupe and Hausa. However, this practice was in fact probably more due to stereotypes of African ignorance than an interest in being culturally respectful: missionaries may have believed that it would take too long to teach a superior European language to the unintelligent natives when the natives souls were in such desperate need of saving. 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. The practice of inflicting multiple wounds on the bodies of so-called spirit babies now belongs to history. They even considered traditional drumming and African clothing as practices that were not worthy in the sight of the Lord. CUP Archive, 1979. Two other training colleges opened by the missionaries, in the early days, were the Wesley College in Kumasi (1922) and the Roman Catholic Training College at Amisano, near Elmina (1931) which in 1936 moved to the campus of the newly founded secondary school, St Augustines College at Cape Coast. The early African converts to Christianity, were made to abandon their ancestral culture and way of life as pagan therefore to be shunned. It offered the most direct path towards prestigious jobs in colonial administrations and European enterprises. This box contains: the correspondence of Bishop See thematic groupings of our digital collections, See all of our digital collections in one place, Ghana in Records from Colonial Missionaries, 1886-1951, Copies of letters received, 1890-1927; West Africa, vol. This decreased the zeal with which people began to accept the Gospel leading to nominal Christianity. Wm. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations in the name of Father Burke can be made for the care of elderly and infirm missionaries and sent to The Rector, Divine Word Residence, 1901 Waukegan Road, P.O. 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. Operating from Whydah in what is today the Peoples Republic of Benin (formerly Dahomey), Father Berghero, in 1860, visited Abeokuta and Lagos where freed Catholic slaves from Brazil welcomed him warmly. Mission Statement The study examines the historical foundations of Western education in Meru and factors that influenced its development. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of UKEssays.com. A notable example was the Asafo Company, a purely military and social organisation of the peoples of Ghana, which was condemned by the early missionaries because of its presumed connection with fetish practices. 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. Over time and with the dedication of teachers like Father Burke, the school rose to prominence. 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. DISCLOSURE. The Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist and Anglican missions all made a major contribution to education in Ghana and Africa as a whole. Another contribution of missionaries to the development of Ghana was their pioneering role in writing many local languages. 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. Hope Waddell was later joined by the Rev. Metadata. A history of Christianity in Africa: From antiquity to the present. Schools were deemed important. As they could not recruit British missionary volunteers initially, the Church Missionary Society sponsored the services of German missionaries, who were Lutherans, to come out to Sierra Leone. primarily purposed to outline the contributions of religion and education to national development in Ghana. It is simply one of the gross evils of heathen society which, like habitual murder or slavery, must at all costs be ended. It would be wrong, however, to blame all these ills on the Christian missionaries alone. Although there were many disagreements between European missionaries and African populations, antagonising polygamy is probably the best-documented norm conflict. From the second half of the eighteenth century, a fervent wave of evangelical spirit developed in the United Kingdom, Europe and the New World which inspired men and women with the missionary fervour to found religious societies whose members would go out to Africa and the other lands. In short, it was a very successful mission in making us little black Anglo-Saxon Protestants. 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. This post may contain affiliate links. The Journal of Negro Education, 2019 Porter, Andrew. In Ghana, for instance, they persuaded their converts to reject polygamy and human sacrifice. The role of the Christian missionaries in Ghana and West Africa was not limited to the education and agricultural sectors alone. John G. Christaller (described as the Father of Twi Literature) produced a Twi grammar and dictionary, a collection of Twi proverbs, a Twi translation of the Bible as well as prayers and hymns. Amma Darko Notable among these were cocoa and coffee. He worked zealously as an evangelist and schoolmaster in the Castle School until his death in 1816. 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). Among his pioneering achievements, he arranged for three youths to be sent to England for training as evangelists. In such asituation, provisions and other things had to be sent into the country not in large quantities as would have been desired by the missionaries. Some earlier scholarship on mission education has taken this as a positive impact of the missionaries. Thomas Birch Freeman, son of a London-based West Indian father and an English mother. In the later 19th century, the immense African interior remained the principal object of the Catholic Priests, and from 1867 until his death in November 1892 Cardinal Lavigerie planned the planting of churches in Africa South of the Sahara. Four volumes of incoming correspondence marked "West Africa" on the spine. One reason why the Christian missionaries came to Ghana and the rest of Africa was to convert the people to the Christian faith. Alignment is the degree of congruence between your teaching philosophy and your institution's mission. Christian missionaries were the first to introduce European-style education in sub-Saharan Africa. Besides education, they cared for the sick. Their greatest legacy in the field of education was the foundation which the Methodist laid for what is today the Gambia High school. Their activities had both positive and negative effects on Ghanaian society. The Journal of Negro Education (JNE), a scholarly refereed journal, was founded at Howard University in 1932. But the funds and other needed materials even when available could not reach their station in time. Seeing as missions in the British and Italian colonies had monopolies on education for the nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries, this reluctance meant that there were few secondary schools at all (Ayandele 1966:287; Beck 1966: 120). Thus by training Africans to fill only the lower levels of the colonial administration and providing skilled workers from the vocational and agricultural schools who contributed to the economy and were less likely to question colonial rule than more educated Africans, mission schools helped to strengthen colonial rule. The Rev. In the 19thh century, too, Afro-Brazilians returned to Benin and Nigeria with Catholicism. For more than a year, Ghanaian Saints continued to practice their faith in their homes. Already have a license? B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1995. We've received widespread press coverage since 2003, Your UKEssays purchase is secure and we're rated 4.4/5 on reviews.co.uk. During the first half of the 19th century they targeted healthier places, with relatively lower malaria-risk, where European missionaries could survive and train local African missionaries and teachers (Jedwab et al. Hilliard, F.H., 1957. But despite the work of Portuguese missionaries based on the island of Sao Tome and later of Spanish missionaries in Benin, it was not until the nineteenth century that the Christian religion was firmly established in Nigeria. In the British colonies, as elsewhere, religious missions were instrumental in introducing European-style education. opened was the Christian Institute, established in 1814 for the training of teachers, catechists and priests. This Western education imparted to the Ameru by the Church of Scotland Missionaries, Consolata . The story of the planting of Christianity in Nigeria would be incomplete without a mention of the Italian Roman Catholic priest, Father Berghero. They were followed in turn by the Methodists and the Roman Catholics. In fact, the Christian missionaries encouraged Ghanaians to reject African names and choose Christian names instead. This comes at no extra cost to you. However, attending mission schools also meant exposure to colonial indoctrination. 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. 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. The Methodists, known as the Wesleyan Missionaries (after their founder), arrived in Freetown in 1811. Ekechi, Felix K. Colonialism and Christianity in West Africa: The Igbo Case, 19001915. The Journal of African History 12, no.