African Independence

For centuries, many of the nations in Africa had been ruled by the European countries. Those countries had plundered and exploited the African nations for their personal gain. However, things had begun to change after World War 2. Many of the African people didn't want to go back to being ruled as colonies after fighting to "defend freedom" in the war. At the same time, many of those European countries were already willing to give these nations their independence. World War 2 had demolished a huge part of Europe, so these countries already had a lot of problems to deal with. They didn't have the time or money to continue to support their colonial empires. The main problem was how and when should the African people be given independence.



One of the first nations to start working towards independence was Ghana-previously known as the Gold Coast. It was originally a British colony, but after the war, the British started paving the way for it to become an independent nation. They started by allowing more Africans get nominated for the Legislative Council. The people of Ghana weren't happy with this. They wanted to have their own elections instead of having others choose who will represent them. Led by Kwame Nkrumah, they began having nonviolent protests in order to bring about change. Their efforts paid off, because despite being imprisoned, multiple times, Ghana was declared an independent nation in 1957. Soon, other nation began to follow in their footsteps. Nations such as Kenya and Congo began to fight for their independence from the European countries.