The term Colonialism can be defined as the Relationship in which one country is subject to the authority of another (Bishop,

cecily ,
kestner, & Nassali, 2014). Colonialism is a practice of domination, which involves the subjugation [rule or defeat] of one people to
another.

The meaning of Colonial Rule was that the indigenous people of the country no longer perceived themselves as people that were
ruling themselves. The different kingdoms and chiefdoms in of the country were taken as subordinates to another authority and that
authority was the colonial power [the British].

The colonization of modern day Zambia began in the 1890s, when the Lozi chief Lewanika was deceived/persuaded into signing a
concession that gave the British South Africa Company (BSAC) an excuse to invade their land. Upon obtaining this concession the
BSAC began mining copper and lead. In addition they sold land to British farmers, sometimes for as little as 10 cents a hectare in
order to encourage more European settlers. However, in 1924 the British South Africa Company gave up control over Northern
Rhodesia. Thereafter, it was administered by the British government (Lambert, 2018). By the 1st April, 1924, Administration of
Northern Rhodesia was completely in the hands of British Colonial Office. As time was moving, the Company itself could not
continue to manage the administration of the country. Therefore, the British Government itself had to come in now as the colonial
power to take responsibility. In 1924 therefore, the colonial rule was transferred from the Company to the British government and
hence with that, all sorts of new administrative structures were put in place. I.e. Background of the legislative council, the lexical - the
foundations of the Zambian parliament was put in place and the same structures are being used in Zambia and other colonized
countries like Malawi and Zimbabwe.

The colonial rule in Zambia thrived at the backbone of many factors; among them, the desire by the weaker ethnic groups to seek
protection from the Europeans and then in the process the Europeans got a way to effectively bring colonialism.

Colonialism impacted Zambia and African at large in so many different ways which includes social, political and economic which
brought forth a number of positive and negative prints as end results in themselves. Therefore this paper will critically look at some of
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the positive and negative social, economic and political impacts of colonialism to Zambia, it will further give some examples on some
of the outcomes of the Colonial process.

The Colonialism in itself as a system of governance has led Zambia into the country it is today and among others the following are the
positives aspects of the system to the country;

Religion: The earliest being traced through Dr Livingstone in 1853, we had the settling of Some missionaries being Francois
Collard’s, Paris Evangelical Missionary Society (PEMS); the Plymouth Brethren Mission of Christian Mission to Many Lands
(CMML) under Frederick Stanley Arnot. Sooner than later, the London Missionary Society (LMS), Primitive Methodist Church
(PMC), the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) and the Universities Mission to Central Africa (UMCA) and many more others, (Chuba,
2005).The introduction of Christianity saw the reduction or completely cutting off of certain traditional practices in the country that
may be said to have been hindering development. The introduction of Christianity saw the do away of certain bad traditional practices
these included the cleansing of a woman after the husband passes away among other this was a positive in that through such practices
women were made to feel how inferior they were over men and that was normal until the introduction of religion to Zambia.

Cultural practices, such as wife inheritance(chokolo) and sexual cleansing, in which a newly widowed woman must have sex with one
of her husband’s male relatives in order to “exorcise” his spirit, are not only abominable, but they also increased the risk of contracting
HIV, (network, 2011). The Chewa people also practiced chidyerano , a sexual initiation where men exchanged their wives for sexual
variety, while the fisi (hyena) concept where parents employ a mystery man (hyena) to test sexual skills of a girl who has reached
puberty, throwing away some part of your food before eating, as they believed the spirit would eat the thrown piece. These have with
been done away with the coming of religion as most of them just led to a wide spread of diseases.

Education: Many schools were set up by the missionaries as they settled, (Snelson, 1974: 15). Some of them being Frederick Knapp
(now Rokana Primary School), Prince Charles Primary School (now Matete Secondary School), Riverrain, Valley View and Kitwe
Primary School, among others. Wusakile, Mutende and Mindolo primary schools. Despite the segregation in these schools many
Zambians received education during this time. The only form of education that existed before the missionaries was that of adulthood.
Where men and women where taught how to live when married when they reached the right age. Education also saw the realization of
the full potential of women after education. Women are now holding big positions and excelling in their academics.

The introduction of schools by the missionaries took a different approach, where chemistry, physics and mathematics was taught.
They also taught the locals their language which has helped bridge Zambia to other countries for various reasons such as trade,
technology advancements and enables Zambian students go for student exchange programs with other countries.

Technology: The use of Umwenge (this were some logs are put on the roof to dry and are used as lamps) was done with after the
introduction of electrical lamps. The introduction of letters, stoves, fax, e.t.c. There was also the introduction of new weapons that
helped them defend them against their enemies unlike cutting off heads. There was also improvement in the military system

Infrastructure development: The colonizers introduced plantation which led to the production of sugar. This led to the
infrastructure development of Zambia sugar which is still standing even today in Zambia and has provided many Zambians with jobs
(Kennedy, 2013). Schools, hospitals, courts.

Before the introduction of courts, there was ichiwanse and Pasako, where women sat down to discuss marriage issues and the latter
being for men meeting. This practice was sometimes biased but the use of courts brought a balance with the introduction of the law
which can be applied anywhere to protect all citizens.

Agricultural development: It brought better ways of farming with improved tools such as hoes. Farming throughout the year was
also introduced through the use of plantations. This enabled Zambia to engage in trade throughout the year and hence improved trade.
The improved trade also called for better ways of exchanging good and services through the use of money unlike the disadvantageous
barter system which was very involving.

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Trade: They left Zambia rich in material and financial resources which the Zambians failed to maintain. Going by the abundance of
natural resources, Africa was the richest continent 500 years ago. Sadly, it is still the richest continent endowed with natural resources.
It is estimated that in the year 1500, United States’ GDP was about $800 million while Africa’s GDP was an impressive 20 billion
dollars. Today, the United States’ GDP is over $16 trillion while Africa’s GDP is only $2 trillion. If our resources were managed by
the Europeans methods, African countries, Zambia inclusive would be a place the rest of the world would hold in high esteem. The
truth is Africans cannot plan, Africans are not economic managers and Africans lack the patience that comes with building wealth.
Instead Africans leaders prefer to put in place policies that benefit them individually as opposed to policies that benefit the masses,
(Times, 2014). After colonialism Zambia had enough resources even for the construction of schools, hospitals and University of
Zambia which was done by Israelites.

Despite the fact that on one hand Colonialism had a number of positives to Zambia, there exist exploration of its negative aspects on
the other hand. Among the negative of colonialism a few are outline in this paper as below:

Trade: The history of Zambia‘s participation in the trade has been traced from the 18th century through to the end of the 19th century
when the long distance trade in Central Africa was at its peak. Zambians were taken as slaves to the new world and forced to work on
the plantations without pay on one hand. On the other hand the Europeans seized land from the natives to establish plantations for the
growing of cash crops and forced the people to work on these plantations for a meagre[very small amount or salaries] ( Mbulo, 2008).

However, “The most affected areas of Zambia were Northern, Luapula, Copperbelt, Northwest, Central and Eastern provinces. Most
studies which have been undertaken have revealed that the slave trade had telling impacts on Zambia. It has been established that by
1860, large numbers of slaves were produced by warfare and raiding. It is estimated that 19, 000 slaves from Zambia and Malawi
passed through the customhouse of Zanzibar in Tanzania. “In Zambia alone, there are reports of over 5,000 annually, others who
were traded by relatives to the Sultan within Zanzibar. These did not pass through the custom house in Zanzibar so no duty was paid
for them,”.Mbala was the most out post established in the early 1890s for checking slave routes to the east and to counter Bemba
raids for slaves in the area (Mbulo, 2008).

Families were torn apart due to partition of Africa which created new boundaries leading to present conflicts and the slave trade which
took millions of people away from their families and homelands. About 19 000 Zambians and more forcibly were recruited as porters
for the British forces in East Africa during the First World War perished of disease or debilitation[weakness and chemotherapy
exhausted]. Parts of Zambia were virtually depopulated of able-bodies men, large tracts of land (including the fine area where
Livingstone would have established his colony) were handed over to White settlers.

There was unfair trade between the natives and the colonialists in that, they brought less valued items in exchange of intrinsic
materials like copper and lead in exchange with clothes and Beads among others.

Zambians and Africans at large enjoyed little or no say in their destiny, but the basic education provided for them by missionaries was
not long in producing a cadre of politically conscious individuals (The Zambian, 2012)

Agricultural development: In order to develop an abundant workforce for the mines, the colonial government would charge taxes
and prevent the local farmers from the ability to sell cattle and crops on the European market. In addition, the colonial government
created reserves where they placed all farmers who had been removed from fertile land. Most of the reserves were overcrowded and
the locals could not produce enough to feed their families. As a result, local farmers were forced to become low paid workers in the
Copperbelt in Zambia and in the mines in South Africa (Global Black History, 2015)

Despite the fact that colonialism brought transformation in the agriculture sector to a huge extent it stole more that it was supposed to
have brought. The fertile lands were taken away from the natives and people were forced to be working on the plantation and mines on
a very low pay for them to survive. Settle (1996) stated that during colonialism, agriculture became increasingly commercialized. "The
commercialization of land provided an avenue of escape for many of the males of the servile [people who were eager to serve] and
cheap labor force in agriculture and added the price of land to the cost of production. Thus colonialism saw the rise of a large, landless
5
class of laborers who traveled from place to place in search of work. It became easier to provide wage labor than to produce for the
export market. It was certainly an easier and more secure way of obtaining money for taxes and for purchasing consumer goods.
Colonialism also changed patterns of work and gender roles. The demands of the cash crop economy forced many women and
children into the production system. "These women and children performed the bulk of the labor in farming enterprises that
considerably enriched many owners. Colonialism and its economic demands irrevocably altered the social structure of many African
societies and set the stage for later problems in African economic development.

People in the country saw it as the best opportunity to find jobs in the plantations and farms for The Colonial masters which came with
an infinitesimal wage rates. Colonialism exploited the people

Infrastructure development: Colonialism quite alright brought Infrastructure development to Zambia but is should be noted that the
schools, hospitals, and many more that was belt was to facilitate their stay in the countries they colonized. The Colonialist were so
much free in that they created the environment that needed to remind them of going back to their countries. If they needed to bring
development like the Liberal school of thought stated they would have been insuring that the indigenous people had full access to the
infrastructure that was built. The infrastructure that was developed was designed to exploit the natural resources of the colonies (settle,
1996).

Technology: The Technology that was brought mostly was to persuade the people into allowing them to settle on the country’s lands.
This can purely be seen from the way chief Lewanika was played into believing that the colonialist came to corporate with him so that
he could use their help and defend his people from the Ndebele (Lambert, 2018). After being granted the opportunity, they could
bring Guns, clothes, beads phones and many more. And through this blind ford the Europeans had a chance of getting the resources of
the country
The technological and industrial development that had been occurring in Africa was stalled by the imposition of colonialism. The
Europeans took away most of their resources especially gold, diamonds, ivory and agricultural primary products. This never gave the
Africans the opportunity to learn how to use their own resources for development.

Religion: The African culture was diluted, traditions were taken away and their ways of life were destroyed. The African tradition
religion was also destroyed due to the introduction of Christianity, they forced the people to learn their language, taught them how to
eat European food and dress like Europeans abandoning their own traditional way of eating habits and dressing and more. Certain
biblical teachings refuted the keeping and eating of certain animals because they are believed to be unclean. This striped away the
pride that came with the owning of those particular animals which was a symbol of wealth in a traditional set up.

Education: Education is traced back to the time when the European had not come to temper with Zambia and the African Continent at
large. According to Champango (2017) he stated that Educational systems existed in African societies prior to the coming of the
Europeans. Such education was for the induction of members of the society into activities and mode of thought that were considered
worthwhile (Fafunwa, 1974). This same education is what existed in Zambia. Indigenous knowledge systems, a tradition in which
communities teach and learn from themselves through daily life rather than strict education, were also highly important and effective
(Omotoso, 2010). The apprenticeship perspective was of particular use to ancient Africans; by modelling the necessary skills for
others, junior members of the community learned to hunt, gather water, hold meetings, etc. The overall purpose of this task-orientation
type of education was to both learn specific skills and "produce an individual who is honest, respectable, skilled, and cooperative and
conforms to the societal order of the day."(Fafunwa, 1962)

Champango Further stated that the main method of teaching in the traditional education system was learning by doing and storytelling
which was employed effectively in teaching local history to the young ones (Fafunwa, 1974). The process of inculcating in-depth
knowledge and understanding of the ethics and principles of traditional medicine, carpentry, sorcery, or cultism was restricted to certain
families and training for these was done through apprenticeship system. Practical objects were handled by the learners during the course

7
of their training. Assessment of learners' performances was on a continuous basis (an idea that is being revisited in contemporary
educational system today). A practical test relevant to the learners' experiences and level of development was the final examination.
Champango recorded that the onset of the colonial period in the 19th century marked the beginning of the end for traditional African
education. European forces, missionaries, and colonists all came ready and willing to change existing traditions to meet their own needs
and ambitions (Walter, 1972). By demanding that communities create physical schools with strict curriculum, the foreign powers were
able to dictate what the people learned, adjusting it to further their agenda. This not only forced new form and content to education, but
abandoned the knowledge gained from the largely informal education. With less community awareness, efficiency in learning skills,
and especially understanding of the past, African communities began to dwindle in education and prosperity. Because of this as a country
and a continent at large we are strangling to use other people’s approached [European way] in solving our problems because Europeans
without proper thoughts to some extent, Europeans thoughtlessly applied their own curricula without reference to African conditions.
The Europeans quickly realized that the only way to gain full control over the territories was through the centralized learning system
which was so much familiar with them already. This brought so much problem to the continent in that there was limited capacity to
shape the education to fit the African context.Just as the European controlled African participation in the new economic order, they
carefully structured African education, so as to perpetuate their underdevelopment and dependency (Walter, 1972).whatever that was
taught to Africa was to gripe the fact that Africans were inferior than whites and this enabled them to have comfortable positions in
foreign lands. Kelly and Altbach (1984) states that “colonial schools sought to extend foreign domination and economic exploitation of
the colony. They felt that education in the colonies seems directed at absorption into metropolis and not separate and dependent
development of the colonized in their own society and culture. They concluded that the process is an attempt to strip the colonized
people away from their indigenous learning structures and draw them towards the structures of the colonizers.
Colonial System of education stripped and limited African and its people the propensity to effectively move through the stages of
society’s development. It got the propensity of African to effectively interact with its environment. Colonial education system thus
dispossessed and put out the control of the African intellectuality the necessary forces for directing the life and development of his/her
society. What more could Zambia and Africa at large be through the root of its Education system if it was not for Colonialism?

Conclusion
In a nutshell, Colonialism is the control of state affairs by management of foreign origin. Zambia was exposed to colonialism through
the British South African Company (BSAC) because of its interest to access minerals from the country which led to the persuasion of
king Lewanika of the lozi people in a bid to protect his people from the Ndebele who wanted to over through his kingdom. Through the
BSAC the British managed to gain state control over the country and brought with them various effects which have resulted into the
Zambia that exist today. The process of Colonialism came with a number of benefit to the country which among others is the
globalization: the country got connected with the international community, it brought education, technology, infrastructure development,
made Zambia realize her great potential through the copper and lead among others. However, all these called benefits came with a huge
exploitation of the owners of the land in that: during the Colonial Rule, Discrimination was rife. Amenities for White people were
separate from those for black people; a black person was servant for the white man. Even the natural resources that were extracted in
Zambia never benefited the locals because they were repatriated for which this led to discontent among Natives. All the minerals only
served to develop the European countries, the black people had the right to derive benefits from the natural resources in their land”
Simpungwe (Senior citizen, 2019). It brought with it; Racial Discrimination, Western Technology which was used as a persuading tool,
Education, English Law, Taxation, and Urbanization. It also brought establishment of towns and cities among many other things that
may be clearly seen in the Zambia of today.
Nevertheless, despite all the aspects of colonialism that have been considered in this paper, some may help a reader in appreciation of
Colonialism and some may help in Condemning it. If Zambia was not colonized and formal education was not brought would you
imagine how everything would be today? All the able bodied Men who were taken as slaves leaving women and children, would you

9
imagine the transformation and inventions they would have brought uniquely to shape Zambia? If Zambia and Africa and at large was
not tempered with, would we have the same societal development as of European countries today?

It is almost Impossible so state that the prints and effects of colonialism to Zambia and Africa at large can be made to vanish. This is
because Colonialism is fully part of Africa even today, it may have gone but the system is still running countries. The major duty that
the scholars of Zambia and the continent at large have is to find means and ways of manipulating the system to fit their context the
aspect which the colonial masters may have never considered. The Question still stands, was colonialism beneficial or not to Zambia?

Appendix
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Reference

 ( Bishop, S., cecily , D., kestner, k., & Nassali, F. (2014). Colonialism, Nationalism and Neocolonialism. Ivory Cost.

 Champango, C. H. (2017, january 12). Philosophy of Education In zambia. Retrieved from Academia:
https://www.academia.edu/9130249/Philosophy_of_Education_in_Zambia?auto=download.

 Global Black History. (2015, October 8). www.GlobalBlackHistory.com. Retrieved from globalBlackHistory:
http://www.globalblackhistory.com/2015/10/colonialism-nationalism-independence-in-zambia.html

 Lambert, T. (2018, january 9). local History. Retrieved from www.localhistory.org: http://www.localhistories.org/zambia.html

 Mbulo, E. (2008). History Of Slave Trade In Zambia. Tracing Slave from Zambia, 3-5.

 Stetle, j. (1996). Impact Of colonialism on Africa Development. University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

 The Zambian. (2012, february 6). The Zambian. Retrieved from www.thezambian.com: https://thezambian.com/online/history-
of-zambia/

 David Kennedy and Lizabeth Cohen, The American Pageant: A History of the American People, 15th (AP) edition (Stamford,
CT: Cengage Learning, 2013)
 Network, w. U. (2011, may 2). Zambia - young women harmful cultural practices. Retrieved from wunrn:
https://wunrn.com/2011/05/zambia-young-women-harmful-cultural-practices/

 Perrice Nkombwe,(2019) Keeper – Ethnology. Livingstone Museum [first-hand information retrieved through interview by
Edmond Mulenga] .

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 Richard Mbewe, National Heritage Conservation Commission. Museum [first-hand information retrieved through interview by
Edmond Mulenga] .

 Prof. B.J. Phiri, Historian(2019) – The University of Zambia. Museum[ first-hand information retrieved through interview by
Edmond Mulenga] .