African Independence

Africa changed so much from 1955 to 1975 because they did not want to return to colonial domination like any other countries. In between the wars an educated middle class began to come up. They came up with the Negritude movement. Kwame Nkrumah was a leader who studied in US, helped get the Gold Coast from the British. After getting its independence they named it Ghana after a famous African kingdom. Nkrumah became the first prime minister. There was also a Kenya Nationalist Jomo Kenyatta. Another was the rise of the Mau Mau, a secret society made of Kikuyu farmers. They tried to frighten the white farmers into leaving the land. The Congo's soon got their independence in 1960 from Belgium. Patrice Lumumba became the first prime minster of Congo. Later for 32 years Motubu ruled the country after renaming it to Zaire. In 1962 Algeria then got its independence and Ahmed Ben Bella became the first prime minister and then first president.