The Senegal Tribe Essay, Research Paper

The Senegal Tribe

Many students of African history wonder why the native people of Africa

did not rise up in violent rebellion against their Imperialist conquerers. What

many do not know though, is that some tribes did. One of these tribes was the

nation that we now know as Senegal.

In the 1800’s, there was no Senegal but there was a nation that became

Senegal much later. The tribe was ruled by Samori Toure when the Europeans

started coming. Samori Toure signed an agreement with the French in an effort to

keep the land they had owned for centuries. Unfortunately, the French broke the

agreement and war broke out for 7 years. The people of Senegal were defeated in

1898. This war was one of the few examples of overt resistance during the

colonization of Africa.

The geographical situation of the people of Senegal was one of the

reasons that lost the war. First of all, Senegal is located on the North Western

coast of Africa, making it easily accessible for the Europeans. Also, one very

negative feature was the flatness of the land, which made the natives face the

superior weapons of the French head on.

Bibliography

Websters Concise World Atlas Barnes and Noble Books, New York 1995

Scramble for Africa Anthony Nutting E.P. Dutton and Co. , San Francisco 1971

World History Burton F. Beers Prentice Hall , New York 1993