European Settlers and Christianity in Africa

Christian evangelism and European settlers, often seen as covalent aspects of colonialism in Africa, were more often than not antagonistic forces. Because much of the continent was unsuitable for the settlers, their influence was most felt in the broad belt of arable land stretching northeastward from the Cape of Good Hope to the inter-lacustrine region of East Africa. The first settlers at the Cape treated their Christian religion as a birthright and obstructed the operations of foreign missionaries, fearing justifiably that evangelism would lead Africans to claim equality before the law. The antagonistic relationship survived the transition from Dutch East India Company to British rule. Settlers of whatever origin blamed mission Christianity for interfering with the proper relations of masters and slaves, promoting abolition, retarding the conquest of African lands, and bad-mouthing settlers to imperial governments back in Europe. These attitudes persisted as settlers pushed into new regions. Settler demands for self-government were often cast in terms of freeing themselves from interfering Christian busybodies—not just missionaries but philanthropic societies advocating better treatment of subject populations. Awareness of settler hostility did a great deal to shape the character of African Christianity.