1.4.2

Missionaries

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The Role of Missionaries

Missionaries were committed to spreading God's message to the "uncivilised" in the colonies. Missionaries often paved the way for Britain to impose its rule officially.

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Types of missionaries

  • Anglicans, Roman Catholics, Presbyterians and Methodists were all branches of Christianity that wanted to spread the Gospel and Bible to Africa.
  • At the start of the 19th Century, conversion was seen by many as a part of a Christian’s duty.
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Muscular Christianity

  • Muscular Christianity was a type of British cultural supremacy, which viewed the native traditions of potential territories as inferior and uncivilized.
    • Muscular Christianity placed importance on Christian values, masculinity, and athleticism.
  • This movement occurred mostly within all-boys' public schools in England.
  • At the time, most government and military officials had attended such schools.
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The missionaries

  • The missionary movement was also conflated (combined and inseparable) with the Empire.
  • David Livingstone was a missionary, but also explored the Zambezi for natural resources.
  • William Carey was a missionary who was most known for his conversions of Indian people to Christianity in the late 1700s. However, the East India Company didn't support missionaries in India at this time.
  • Missionaries both opened territories to British influence (e.g. Congo and inland China) and followed the British flag (e.g. Punjab in the 1850s).
  • John MacKenzie was a Methodist missionary who put pressure on the British government to establish a protectorate over Bechuanaland (now Botswana) in 1885.
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Female missionaries

  • Women's roles in Victorian society were very restrictive and there was a very conservative worldview with defined gender roles.
  • Becoming a missionary allowed some women to escape strict gender roles.
  • Key female missionaries included:
    • Mary Carpenter, who went to India.
    • Mary Slessor, who went to Nigeria.

Jump to other topics

1High Water Mark of the British Empire, 1857-1914

2Imperial Consolidation & Liberal Rule, 1890-1914

3Imperialism Challenged, 1914-1967

4The Wind of Change, 1947-1967

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