Theory question 107
Nationalism(a) What is proto nationalism?
(b) Identify four features of proto nationalism.
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(a) Proto-nationalism is the early (first) phase of nationalism in West Africa, from about the late 19th century to the 1920s/30s, in which Africans protested against particular colonial policies and sought reforms within the colonial system rather than independence.
(b) Any four:
1. Led by educated elite and chiefs; small elite base.
2. Aimed at reforms, not independence.
3. Moderate methods: petitions, delegations, newspapers.
4. Local/territorial in scope; not mass-based.
5. Protests against specific issues (land, taxes, water rate).
6. Examples: Aborigines' Rights Protection Society (Gold Coast, 1897), NCBWA (1920), Lagos protests.
7. Loyal to the British Crown.
Contrast with later mass nationalism that demanded independence.