The London Missionary Society played a crucial role in the colonization of Africa, whether it knew it or not, by sending David Livingstone to Africa the London Missionary Society is one of the reasons why Europeans came to settle in the interior of Africa and ultimately oppressing thousands of natives. Although David Livingstone had good intent when traveling through Africa, discovering new tribes of people, lakes, and rivers, in the end it had a negative effect on the people of Africa.
The London Missionary Society, like other religious organizations that were created during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, came from the evangelical revival in England originated by Whitefield and the Wesleys. The first proposal for the society came in 1794 and after much debate the society was created in 1795 with the help from Edward Williams and John Ryland (Lovett, P. 6). The Society’s aim was to spread Christianity around the world with no intent to gain political or economic advantage, at the inauguration of the society Rev. Thomas Haweis said during his speech, “No schemes of worldly advantage-no projects of vain ambition-no selfish ends or aims-contaminate our views.” (Lovett, P. 26). Soon after the society started sending missionaries all around the world including David Livingstone to southern Africa.
David Livingstone was born in Blantyre, Scotland; in 1813, he was the second of five children in a struggling family. At the age of ten Livingstone had to work in the local cotton mill to help the family make ends meet. When he was thirteen, he began attending night school after work and eventually attended Glasgow University to study medicine. During his time at Glasgow he was greatly influenced by the works of Dr. Thomas Dick, "The Philosophy of Religion" and "The Philosophy of a Future State" and it was there that he discovered that religion and science are not hostile, but friendly to each other, fully proved and enforced (Livingstone, P. 5). After this rediscovery of religion, Livingstone decided to join the London Missionary Society, in his book: Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa, he writes “In the glow of love which Christianity inspires, I soon resolved to devote my life to the alleviation of human misery.” (Livingstone, P. 5). Livingstone’s original plan was to go to China but the Opium War (1839-1842) kept missionaries out of the country. Then in 1840, Livingstone embarked for Africa, reaching Cape Town after a three-month voyage.
Once in Africa the directors of the London Missionary Society instructed Livingstone to travel north to the village of Kuruman where he converted his one and only native, Chief Sechele. Soon after Livingstone left Kuruman and headed north into uncharted land. During his time exploring the interior of Africa Livingstone discovered the Portuguese slave-trade, 28 new tribes, Victoria Falls, multiple lakes including Lake Malawi, upper Zambezi River, and became the first European to travel coast to coast through the interior of Africa.
As an advocate for trade and an anti-slavery crusader Livingstone’s whole reason behind his travels was to find a trading route into the interior of Africa in hopes that it would create legitimate trade and destroy the slave-trade. He had good intentions but through his discoveries of new, fast, routes in and through Africa; only helped the Portuguese slave-trade. His discovery of the habitable interior of Africa did do some good, it opened the door for missionaries to come which then initiated the education and healthcare for Africans. On the other hand by Livingstone opening central Africa to Europe created the white settler rush and the colonization of Africa. If Livingstone would have never explored and discover central Africa then the colonization of those areas may have never happened.
References
Livingstone, David. Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa. Project Gutenberg, n.d. EBSCOhost.
Lovett, Richard. 1899. The History of the [[London]] [[Missionary]] [[Society]], Vol 1. Oxford University Press: Henry Frowde. Available through: Adam Matthew, Marlborough, Empire Online, http://www.empire.amdigital.co.uk/Documents/Details/The History of the London Missionary Society by Richard Lovett
Missions and Empire, edited by Norman Etherington, Oxford University Press, UK, 2005. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/csbsju/detail.action?docID=422564.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Livingstone