African Independence

Between 1955 and 1975 Africa started gaining their independence from European Nations. The only countries liberated at this time were Libya, South Africa, Ethiopia and Egypt. This time period was also called the Scramble for Africa. African countries had no say in what the Europeans were doing because they were more dominant in weapons. Their purpose for being in this continent was for natural resources even though africans some africans had no problem in foreign countries taking over their homeland. By 1975 Africa broke through and gained their independence. A very important figure in Africa during this time period that impacted this independence was named Jomo Kenyatta. Jomo gained a good education while growing up and soon studied politics while he worked as a carpenter. He was put in prison for trying to prevent the British from turning the Government system in Africa into communism and after Africa had gained their independence and Jomo became the president of Kenya. Some other important leaders during this time period was Cecil Rhodes. Rhodes was a racist British leader who tried instill British control over Africa. The famous picture of him standing over Africa with puppet strings really shows his character during this harsh time. Two other important figures during this time were Nelson Mandela who soon became president of South Africa and Kwame Nkrumah who was the leader of Ghana.