David Livingstone
(March 19, 1813 – May 1, 1873)
David Livingstone is one of the most important figure in Africa. He has waled over 29,000 miles in Africa. He was very popular with the natives in Africa, because he went against slavery, a medical savior to many of the people, and he brought Christianity to them. The natives paid respect to him with a long and honorable funeral process. Even though his physical body is sent back to England, his heart remained in Africa. He discovered a lot about southern and central Africa.
David Livingstone is one of the most important figure in Africa. He was born at Blantyre, Scotland to a working-class family. Livingstone had a hard working childhood. He worked at the family mill, while having school in the evening. He had the fortunate of going to the University of Glasgow to study medicine and theology in 1836. However after two years of studying, he decided to go to the London Missionary Society. He finished his medical studies in the British and Foreign Medical School. He wanted to be a missioner to China, but the opium war blocked the possibility for David to go. Livingstone was sent to Kalahari Desert in southern Africa in 1841. He had many small expeditions in this time period before getting married. His left hand was hurt while exploring Africa. One of his most famous expedition was from the upper coast of the Zambezi River to the western coast of Africa. He was the first European to do so. This expedition too him four years, but it helped the Europeans understand more about Africa. He married Mary Moffat in 1845, a daughter of one his missionary friend. He begin his expeditions in 1849 with a group of explorers. They crossed over the Kalahari Desert, and they found Lake Ngami. Later in 1852, he traveled again from the upper part of the Zambezi River to find the mouth of the Zambezi River. He made a very big discovery in the November of 1855. He found Victoria Falls, which is currently a big tourism spot all around the world. In 1857, he returned back to England. He wrote one of his most famous book Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa. David spend many times traveling around the world to tell them about the situations in Africa. Many British people were fascinated by them.
Soon in 1858, David Livingstone went back to Africa for a governmental purposes. His job was to discover more about the eastern and center part of Africa. He became more of a explorer than a missioner now. He discovered Lake Nyasa in 1858 and the Chilwa River in 1859. Livingstone was described as mad, whenever he worked for this expedition. He did discover some new parts of Africa, but it wasn't as good as before. The companions of Livingstone described him as mad during the expeditions. Adding to the sad news, his wife died in 1862 due to malaria. Eventually the British government pulled back Livingstone to Britain, after unsuccessful work in 1864. This time he preached across Britain about the abolition of slavery. At the same he was saving money for another expedition across Africa. He started another expedition in 1866, because he wanted to find more about the Nile River. He didn't successfully find the Nile River, due to the lack of the medication supply, food supply, and the diseases that he caught while on the expedition. What he saw at that time was actually the Upper Congo Lake. David lost contact lost with the rest of the world for many yeas, so many people thought that he had died. That is when journalist Henry Stanley came in to search for David Livingstone. Henry Stanley found David on the shores of Lake Tanganyika in 1871. People have said that David Livingstone died while praying.
Henry Stanley
Even though Henry Stanley was famous for finding David Livingstone, he did have some explorations himself. He alike to David added many more knowledge for the rest of the world about the geography of Africa. He might not have been great like David Livingstone, but he has been a great contribution to the discovery of Africa. Henry was famous for changing up his child hood, because he didn't had that great of a childhood. He has made up lies about his heritage and the place of his birth.
His original given name is John Rowland. He doesn't have the child hood that David Livingstone had. His father died early whenever he was born, and his mother totally ignored him. He was sent to custody with his uncles and his grandfather. Henry did receive a some what good education while growing up with St. Asaph Workhouse. Soon, whenever he was seventeen, he moved to New Orleans hoping for a new life. Henry got him self a name too in New Orleans which is Henry Stanley. He took this name from the cotton broker whom he worked for a long time.
Once the Civil War started, Henry Stanley joined the Confederates Army in 1862. Whenever he was captured by the Union, he decided to switch side to the Union. When the war was over, he worked as a clerk in 1864. At the same time he was a free-lance journalist. He had a wonderful life in the United States at that time, because many people enjoyed his writings. Historians believed that he improved and made up stories for the readers. In 1867, he became a special correspondent for the New York Herald. He was assigned the job to find David Livingstone, because then the company would gain a lot for a story about David Livingstone. He left for Africa in 1871 with 170 to the island Zanzibar. He found David Livingstone in November of the same year, David Livingstone was on the eastern coast of Lake Tanganyika. One of Stanley's most famous line was "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?". Stanley researched with Livingstone for four months together, and he left for London to tell his tales with David Livingstone. Stanley's viewpoint is quite different from Livingstone's. Henry didn't think Livingstone deserved all that honor, because his intentions weren't about imperialism. David wanted to create peace between the Africans and the British. However, Stanely was racist against the Africans, and he despised all kind of non-Caucasians. Henry started his second trip to Africa in 1874, and he followed many of Livingstone's footsteps. He discovered the Shimeeyu River, and he eventually came down to the Atlantic Ocean on the Congo River. His trip ended in 1878, he carried loads of Ivory back.
King Leopold II of Belgium wanted more land control in Africa. So he hired Henry Stanley as the leader of the imperialism in Africa. Stanley had abundant amount of resources, and he is expected to create a empire in Africa. He started his journey from the Atlantic coast near the Congo River. There were many workers with him this time. Stanley made many contacts with African tribes, but he usually cheat or use force to get the tribe's land. He was brutal with the Africans, and he created the modern Congo. That piece of land was privately owned by King Leopold until 1908, when the Belgium took the piece of land back. King Leopold was ruthless in Congo. He killed and tortured many Africans to work.
Stanely returned back to U.S. once he was finished with Africa.Stanely lectured around United States, and he was highly honored everywhere. Henry Stanely was offered a sit in the parliament of Britian from 1895-1900.
Shaka Zulu
Shaka Zulu is one of the most warrior of the Zulu tribe, and arguably one of the best leader of the Zulu army. He is a very brutal warrior. His tactics for his army caused much trouble for both the much technology advanced Britain and Boer. In the Battle of Isandlwana, British troops were defeated by the Zulus. British suffered over 1,300 death of soldiers, and many more are injured or captured. British soldiers said that the Zulu warriors are fearless against the British. The Zulus have small amount of modern weapon such as guns, cannons, and many more, but they are not trained to use them. The British needed to send more troops for the second invasion, and they finally defeated the Zulus in the middle of 1879. Even though Shaka Zulu wasn't around for the Anglo-Zulu War, but a lot of the military tactics of the Zulus are invented by him. Zulus have a lot better teamwork and leadership qualities than the British soldiers. Zulus also had the home court advantage over the British, because they know their territory very well. Zulus attack tactics are usually the "buffalo horn", it is an attack where the Zulus just charge right into the center of the British Army. Sometimes their tactics work great, but most of the time it will usually fail. Even if they do win, it is a the cost of thousands of people. The Zulus' tactics work great with other tribes without the modern day weapons.
Shaka was born to the chief of a small clan of Zulus. His mom belong to the He changed the weapons of the Zulus. Shaka developed short spears that could work as swords, he accepted no cowards in his army. Once his father died in 1816, Shaka went back to regain his throne. He killed all the compeitiors that were in his way. He raided tribes to make a Zulu Empire includingElangeni clan. Shaka's father deserted him, because his father had sixteen other wives. So his mom took Shaka to the Mthetwa tribe. He trained with the warriors there, and he became really strong at the age of 23. He was given a role as a leader of an army, he disciplined his army really hard. Buthelezi tribe and the Elangeni tribe. Shaka has a good relationship with the Europeans, because one of them saved his life once. The Zulus population growed from 1,500 to more than 250,000 during Shaka's rule. Whenever his mom died in 1827, Shaka killed over 7,000 people for the grief of his mom. He made many opponents and enemies at that time, some are even in his own tribe and family. His half-brothers killed him in 1828.
Part 1- The Zulu War 1878
I ran away as fast as I could, I didn’t even turn back to find where my journal is. I knew that in order to save myself I need to leave everything behind. I could hear the shouts of many Zulu tribes behind me. I quickly went into cover under a huge boulder that I found yesterday. I could hear my heart about to pump right out of my chest. Why am I always in this kind of situation? All I wanted to do is record some new information about the Zulu tribe, and my father’s army come in to attack the tribe center.
I stayed down for at least an hour before even having the nerve to move my leg muscles out of the boulder. Whenever I came back home, my mom rushed up to hug me. She was really scared that I was caught in the middle of the battle. I went home for my bath, and as I was getting out I heard my father come in.
My father, General Bontague, said “Nomeo, where were you today? I thought that I might have lost you. You left without telling us where you were going again.”
I said, “Sorry dad, I was just out exploring more about the Zulu tribe. They don’t worship any sort of devils as you have told me. Also their children are just like us, they are so cute and funny. One of them....”
“Enough all ready! I was worried sick about you, and you were running around looking at the Zulus. So much of my soldiers died today at 10 miles east of the Tugela River. When can you grow up and join the army?” My dad yelled at me.
I said, almost crying, “ I am not that kind of person that can kill a human being. I am more about studying nature, science, cultural, and mathematics.”
I stormed off to my room. I am not like all the other seventeen year olds; I don’t strive to be a general for Britain. I would rather be someone more like David Livingstone. I want to go around Africa explore more about these Africans. However all the other generals only want Africa for its resources? Well, I believe they came to the wrong place. Even though Africa has some amount of diamonds, but what human need the most is food, water, and shelter. The best place for them to go is to Asia. Are France and Germany like Britain? Why can’t we all just leave in peace? I mean these Africans are people too.My dad suddenly appears into my room. He said, “ I am sorry for yelling at you. It is just that I lost of my good friend out there in the battle field. One of my best leader died. I don’t know what to do.”
I ignored him.
“All right, if you want anything I will just be in the dining room. Supper is about to be ready,” My dad said as he leaves.
I look up the sky, and I wondered a question: what does it mean to be a human?
Part 2- First Boer War 1880-1881
I was drawing documenting down the life of a gazelle, when I saw a girl walking around in front of me. I immediately duck down in order to hide from her. I was never a boy that look interested in love. I tried talking to a girl once, but she walked away from me almost immediately. Somehow, I got the nerve to get up and look at her again. This time I couldn’t get down, because I was so caught up in her eyes. She was so beautiful that she made the sun not shining anymore. I didn’t know what to do, but I just kept on staring at her. She got a little scared, and she kind of hide behind the bushes.
I went up and said calmly, “Hey, I am not going to hurt you. I was just out here adding some more information for my information packet.”
I walk towards her with my hand out, but she slipped while getting up. That is how we started this relationship. Even though all I know about her is her name which is Huliet Dapulet, but I knew that we two were meant to last. Soon, my dad started to fight against the Boers. I despised the Boers, because according to my parents they are land starving people. They want every piece of land that they can find. A news almost broke my heart, I can’t believe I didn’t know this about her.
My dad was talking to his other comrade, “I heard that there is a new general with the Boers. His name is General Dapulet right? He has a beautiful daughter. I think that she has brown hair, brown eyes, and her skin is kind of dark too huh?”
My dad’s comrade said, “ Why are you describing her?”
General Bontague said, “ I am thinking about using her as a hostage to get the Boers to surrender.”
I quickly ran toward our meeting place. Luckily, I saw her waiting there for me.
“ You are a Boer huh? Why didn’t you tell that before? I am a British!” said I.
“ How am I suppose to know that you are actually a British. Now, we can’t see each other,” said Huliet.
“It is okay, I will find a way to get back to you. In the mean time, stay out of the British territory! You will be in a lot of trouble here.”
We part our own ways, but I made sure that she left without having any trouble. War started in the 16 of December. There was only little battles, but my father did come home one day with a broken arm. One of the most memorable battle for me is Potcheftstroom, because that was pretty much the beginning of this whole thing. Why can’t the British just leave the Boers alone. If they want to be independent, then we should definitely let them do that. I believe that the Boers will act just like the United States, they will fight until they die. My father called them again devil worshippers, because the Boers are really good snipers hiding in the trees. I didn’t see Huliet for over a two weeks now, because I can’t find where she actually lives.
Finally I got a clue on where she lives with my dad, because he knows where exactly General Dapulet’s house is. So, I sneaked out one night hoping to find her. Even though the walk from our camp to the Boer’s camp is over two hours, but that wasn’t the worst part. The Boer camp is really hard for me to even set a foot in. I need to go through so many security check, but luckily I look enough like a Boer. She was sleeping, whenever I found her and she is still very beautiful.
We had a conversation that ended with me promising to marry her. I promised her that I would come back for her, once the war was over. I was hurried away, whenever her father came to her room. I was so surprised with the Boers, because their army is nothing compare to the British. Well, the Boers themselves faced a lot of trouble with the Boers too. They don’t have a single army, they are usually being called up randomly. They have great teamwork, because they will all come together once there is a problem. I ran home as fast as I could, because I could hear that another fight was going to happen. My father is not fighting anymore due to the fact that his hand is getting worse. However, the doctor said that amputation is not necessary. Whenever I got home, I realized that I lost my jacket that was given to me by my dad. It has the sign of our majesty, and it represent power. I didn’t thought about it much, because I thought that it was only a little clothing. Little did I know that it will pretty much cost the end of my life.
I couldn’t see her for a while since(I mean like a one or two month.) the war is not turning good on our side. They know the territory way better than us, and they are excellent snipers. One of my best friend, Cenvolio, was killed while going up Majuba Hill. He was really closed to me, and now my anger toward the Boers grew even more. I got a petition against the war around the camp, and it grew all the way to Cape Town.
Finally, Governor William Gladstone decided that the war has gone long enough. He ended the war around March of 1881. Well the Transvaal Boers got their self governance, which I think they deserve. Our army officially left Boer’s land in October 25, 1881.
I went to the Boer camp this time without having to hide from the soldiers. I bought a ring today, because I thought that today would be really perfect for us to get married. As I was walking toward the their house, I saw their house in terrible conditions. There are marks all over the house, and the marks are ugly and terrifying marks. I saw death, traitor, sinner, and much more worse things. I rushed forward to find the house empty, and there was no signs of them existing. I rush down the community centers, and I saw a least of the traitors that they killed. The Dapulet family was on there. They accuse the Dapulet family, because they found a my jacket in there. I didn’t know what to do at that point. I could feel my head making me spin around. Nothing was going right for me a that point. I fell sick immediately, and I had a very high fever for days. I finally figure out the question that I had before: what does it mean to be a human? My answer is that life is too short to figure that out.
Epilouge
Nomeo vowed to get revenge for the Dapulet’s family. While Nomeo was traveling around Africa looking for more resources to report back to Britain, he found large amount of gold thirty miles away from the Boer’s capital. Nomeo wanted to start a war against the Boers, so he joined forces with Cecil Rhodes to make one United British Empires. However, Nomeo still had a kindness in his heart. So, he pushed for a treaty to be done with the Boers without any casualties. The treaty failed, and soon Nomeo regretted his actions for pushing for a war. Loads of people were killed both on both sides. Also the British soldiers many concentration camps around the Boer communities. Nomeo was devastated to see all of this problem going on. He joined the Liberals of Britain, and he fought against the Conservatists of Britain. Liberals at that time went against the going to war with the Boers. Around the same time, he found a letter written by Huliet. Huliet at her last words wanted Nomeo to live a happy life, and to get married to another girl. Nomeo married Marry Luther, a leader of the Fawcett Commission. The Fawcett Commission was a group of women that went against the immoral treatments that the Boers received from the British. Nomeo had a long life with his beloved wife, but he never forgot about Huliet Dapulet.
Egypt Revolution
Hotel Rwanda
Different Perspectives
The situation present in Rwanda is very similar to the situation of a classic school bully. Well, I believe the situation in the Rwanda Civil War is very rse than a classic school bully, but there are still a lot of the similarities. The Tutsi people are the obvious victims of the bullying. The Hutu Impuzamugambi Military and the Hutu Interahamwe Military are the bullies. While the United Nations and many other dominant countries of the world are the bystanders. The Hutus and the Tutsis had been fighting for a long time. There were times in which the Tutsis were killing the Hutus, and also there were times in which the Hutus are killing the Tutsis in the past. People can’t say that whether the Hutus or the Tutsis had been stronger, because in 1972 the Tutsi military slaughtered some 150,000 Hutus civilians in Burundi. Historians believed that the conflict between Hutus and Tutsis is very complicated. Both of them speak the same language, and both of them have the same religion, Christianity. Historians believe the main conflict of this war is the class difference between the Hutus and the Tutsis. The Tutsis established a monarchy over Rwanda before the arrival of Belgium. So Tutsis were dominating the Hutus before the arrival of the Beligum colony in the 1500’s. Even after the colonization, Tutsis was still on the higher class level compare to the Hutus. The Tutsis were the leaders for a long time.
Tutsis
A lot of teachers and counselors would say that the bystanders have the same crime as the bullies, because the bystanders are not doing anything to stop the bullying. Also the victims would hold a grudge against the bystanders for not helping them out. That was exactly how the Tutsi felt doing that the Civil War. Tutsis were being massacred in Rwanda, and not a lot of countries came to help them. A lot of the Tutsis were powerless against the Hutu’s, because they don’t have many weapons. However during that time, there was an army of Tutsi soldiers called the Rwandan Patriotic Front fighting for the Tutsi freedom. The Tutsis were all desperate for help.
Hutus
The Hutus had been dominated by the Tutsis for a long time during the Belgium Rule. When Belgium left Rwanda in the 1950’s, they left the Hutus in charge. Hutu wanted revenge after being ruled and mistreated by the Tutsis for a long time. They thought of the Tutsis as traitors who worked with the Belgium to take away their land. Also the neighboring country of Rwanda, Burundi, is ruled mainly by the Tutsis. The Tutsis are mistreating the Hutus there. A common term throughout the movie that describes the Tutsis is “cockroaches”. That word can show a lot about the relationship between the Hutus and the Tutsis.
United Nations and the other countries
Many people criticized on how United Nations didn’t do a good job in the Rwandan Genocide. United Nations only had some guards fighting for peace at that time. However a lot of the guards were soon killed by the Hutus. Not a lot of countries supported the Tutsis at that time. Many other countries only took away their people from Rwanda; they didn’t care about the Tutsi Refugees. France supported the Hutus a lot, but almost no countries supported the Tutsis. Only at the end of the genocide, did the United Nation send in people.
Cause and Effect
Major events in one period caused other major events in the next period. There were many major events that led up to the massacre of some 800,000 people in Rwanda in 1994.
1900's-1962
Prior to the independence of Rwanda and Burundi, that area was controlled by Belgium. During that time, the Tutsis were always superior to the Hutus. Belgium gave more power to the Tutsis than to the Hutus. The Hutus were mistreated by the Tutsis at that time. However once Belgium withdraws from the territory in 1961, Belgium favored Hutus as the leader. This was the perfect time for the Hutus to get their revenge.
1972-April of 1994
General Juvenal Habyarimana seizes power in Rwanda in 1973, and he promised a better future for Rwanda as the president. However the better future only came for the Hutus. The Tutsis were limited down to only nine percent of the jobs available in Rwanda. While in Burundi the Tutsis were the more dominant group. The Tutsis were also discriminating against the Hutus in Burundi. In 1986 much of the Tutsi Refugees formed the Rwandan Patriotic Front(RPF) to fight against the Rwandan government. France supported the Rwandan Government in fight against the RPF. The Rwandan government started to train Interhamwe and Impuzamugambi, which are fighters that came from mainly Hutu civilians. The government planned a massive attack against the Tutsis. In the February of 1993, the RPF launched an attack against the Rwandan Government. Finally in August of 1993, Hayarimana and the RPF agreed to the Arusha Peace Accords. This treaty will limit the power of President , and it will add more political parties into the government. The president kept delaying the set up of a power-sharing government despite being pressured. Finally on April 6 of 1994, just when the Accords are about to be start, President Habyarimana was killed on his plane. That night the Genocide began in Rwanda.
April of 1994-July of 1994
The Genocide was mainly led by the Interahamwe and Impuzamugambi. They were people that were trained by the military government of Rwanda. They usually killed the Tutsis with machetes, because machetes were very cheap. The media of Rwanda played a huge role in this Genocide. It connected everyone together, so they will know where to kill the Tutsis. The RTLM, a radio station, encouraged a lot of Hutu to join them in killing the Tutsis. The United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda is a group of Belgian soldiers in Rwanda trying to enforce peace. However they were soon attacked by the Hutus. So a lot of the soldiers left the Tutsi alone in Rwanda facing the Hutus. During that time the Rwandan Patriotic Front, RPF, a rebellion group made up of mainly Tutsis started to fight against the Hutus. They had a successful campaign, and they were able to capture Rwanda’s capital, Kilgali in July of the same year.
July of 1994-Present Day
