Guinea-Bissau 

History

The Colonial Period

 Integrated Project Delivery 

Page Editor is Sergio A. Sandoval. Please email me with suggestions, comments, or compliments!

Spring 2011

After five centuries of Trading (slaves, gold, ivory, pepper, etc.)

 

The Colonial Period

started by the end of the 19th century

when

 Guinea-Bissau became a

Separate Colonial Territory in 1879

During this period they had the

Berlin Congress

(1884-1885)

Where the English demands                                 and the French demands

 the South territory                                              the North territory

 And because of these actions

 the Guinea People

 responded with

Resistance, Revolt, Mutiny

[Despite the centrality of Guinea-Bissau to the Portuguese slave trade (and the area's resultant occupation/ colonization) as early as the fifteenth century, the Bijagós long remained unconquered due to the wildness and remoteness of the archipelago's terrain.  However, by the twentieth century, as colonial might expanded, the Bijagós - like Africans across the continent - were subject to forced labor; their labor was exploited to harvest palm fruits and to build factories and machines for industrialized agriculture.  A sustained revolt by the Bijagós from 1917 to 1925 resulted in greater Portuguese oppression.  Sacred Land Film Project, a site listed by Becky, here.  -Kristina]

One of the reasons  the Bijagós suffered under a system of forced labor, climbing palm trees to gather the fruits from which kernels and oil were extracted, and building the factories and machines used by the Portuguese and British who were industrializing the harvesting process. The Bijagós led a prolonged revolt throughout the archipelago from 1917 to 1925, resulting in further Portuguese oppression, including a policy of complete segregation of the indigenous peoples from the colonials.

A Few years later, Portugal decided to start the 

“PACIFICATION CAMPAIGNS”

which were a series of brutal military actions 

against

The Guinea Population

led by Capt. João Teixeira Pinto

1913-----------1915-----------------------------------1936

( This is an image of How the "Pacification Campaigns" actually were)

( This is an image of the "Pacification Campaigns" as it should be)

Then, while fighting during W.W. II 

Africans gained military and political experience  

and through this emerged the 

African nationalist movements

1960s, most western African countries became independent

(through protest, petition, demonstration, and other largely peaceful means). 

Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde 

will become independent

from Portugal later in 1970’s

Sources:

http://leadinternational.com/about/history_gb.php

http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ad46