Christian missions in Nigeria 1841-1891 the making of a new elite
Date
1965
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Publisher
London (48 Grosvenor Street, London W.i): Longmans, Green and Co. LTD
Abstract
Christianity and civilization; The return of the exiles; Missionaries, Traders, and consuls; The mission and the state; Civilization around the mission house; Towards self-government in church and state; Bishop crowther, 1864-77; The turning of the tide;
Description
The years 1841-1891 covered, roughly, the last half-century before the establishment of British rule in Nigeria. 1841, the year of the first Niger Expedition, marked the beginning of the movement to re-establish Christianity in this country, following the failure of earlier Catholic missions in Benin and Warri. 1891, the year of Bishop Crowther’s death, marked the end of the first phase of this new movement, the phase when the success of the missionary enterprise was associated largely with the creation and the encouragement of a Western-educated and Christian middle class. For the history of Christian missions in Nigeria, this first phase was only the ‘seedling’ time in preparation for the great expansion that came later with British rule. For the history of Nigeria, however, it was in this earlier period that the work of the missionaries has its greatest significance. After 1891 their expansion was largely incidental to the establishment of the colonial administration. Before 1891 they had a greater measure of initiapve and their work had its own decisive influence. Things had not ‘fallen apart’.