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Posted by Chester Morton / Tuesday 6 September 2016 / No comments
The comparison between the chiefs in French and British systems of administration in West Africa
COMPARE CHIEFS IN FRENCH AND BRITISH COLONIAL WEST AFRICA
Introduction
In their administration of their colonies in West Africa, the French and the British employed the services of local chiefs. However, there are few differences between how the chiefs were used by the two colonial powers. The following are the similarities and the differences between how the two colonial powers operated.
SIMILARITIES
Introduction
In their administration of their colonies in West Africa, the French and the British employed the services of local chiefs. However, there are few differences between how the chiefs were used by the two colonial powers. The following are the similarities and the differences between how the two colonial powers operated.
SIMILARITIES
Agents of tax collection
Both
the British and the French colonialists used taxes that they collected
within the territories to run the administration of their overseas
colonial lands. The two also used the local chiefs to collect the taxes.
The underlying principle was that money for administering the colony
must come from the colony itself.
Chiefs lost their former power and prestige
The
chiefs in both French and British colonial West Africa lost their power
under colonial rule. It was the colonial authorities that called the
shots and the chiefs had to carry out their directives. For this reason,
the usual clout they had before the white came was destroyed.
The dilemma of chiefs
The
modus operandi of the colonialists in both the French and the British
colonial officials in the territories put the chiefs in a fix. On the
one hand, they had to fulfill the job requirement given them by the
colonial officials and the other, they desired to please their subjects.
It was so difficult to keep such a delicate balance and therefore they
were kept in a permanent dilemma.
DIFFERENCES
Appointment of chiefs
It
was true that both the British and the French used
chiefs in their colonial administration. However, the difference was
that the British used only those who qualified to be chiefs according to
the tradition of the people. The French, on the other hand, appointed
their own chiefs, disregarding the laid down ascension to the seat.The
French appointed just anybody they felt was loyal to them.
Freedom to operate
In
the doing of the actual work of the chiefs, the British gave more
freedom to the chiefs in their territory than the French did. The
British ensured that the traditional powers of the chiefs to act
remained intact. The French, on the hand, clipped the wings of the
chiefs to the extent where they were just puppets in the hands of the
French authorities.
Respect for chiefs by colonial masters
The
chiefs in British West Africa respected as partners in the total
administration of the colonies but this was not the case for the chiefs
in French overseas territories.
Alteration of traditional land boundaries
The
French did not recognize the traditional boundaries that existed before
the white man entered West Africa. The traditional demarcations were
disregarded. The British on the other respected the traditional
boundaries of the various paramountcies and chiefdoms.
Pitching the chiefs against the educated elite
The
British used the chiefs against the educated elite by giving more
recognition and role to play in the colonial administration, ignoring
the elite. In French West Africa, it was the other way round. The
educated elite enjoyed a lot of rights and privileges at the detriment
of the subjects.
SAMPLE QUESTION(S)
1. Highlight three differences and three similarities between the chiefs in French and British colonial Africa.
2. Highlight six differences between the handling of chiefs in French and British colonial West Africa.
ALSO READ:
The comparison between the chiefs in French and British systems of administration in West Africa
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2. Highlight six differences between the handling of chiefs in French and British colonial West Africa.
ALSO READ:
The comparison between the chiefs in French and British systems of administration in West Africa
<<Back to Home Page
Go to other topics in government>>
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