FIRST CONTACTS IN CAMEROON

The Portuguese

The first Europeans in modern day Cameroon were the Portuguese.  In 1472, Ferdanando Poo came to the Wauri River around the city of Douala. [1] The country’s name of Cameroon came from the Portuguese word Camaroes, meaning shrimps. [2] Poo found an abundance of shrimp through out the Wauri River of today and called it Rios Dos Camaroes, River of Shrimps. [3]

Kamerun, a German Colony

Add caption by Meyers Geographischer Hand-Atlas

                      (own work) [public domain]

                  via Wikimedia Commons

                                                                       https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:091_Kamerun_(1905).png

There was no significant colonization by the Europeans until the middle to late nineteenth century because of diseases, mainly malaria. [4] In 1884, modern Cameroon, came under the control of Germany and became one of its colonies and was named Kamerun.  Germany invested heavily in Kamerun by building a substantial railway and many hospitals. [5] Germany remained in control of Cameroon until the end of World War I and through the Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations, Cameroon was split between Britain and France. [6]

Propsed Kamerun German Flag

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            via Wikimedia Commons

                    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Deutsch_Kamerun.svg

The British and French after World War I

In the split of Cameroon between Britain and France, Britain received the smaller portion of the colony along the eastern border of Nigeria and the remaining area was brought under French control and was known as French Cameroun. [7] The French Cameroun colony developed much more quickly than the smaller British colony both economically and politically, but it also had to deal with issues of independence movements by natives of Cameroon much sooner. [8]

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                      https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/FileCameroon_boundary_changes.png

Reasons for colonization and religion in Cameroon

There are two main reasons that Cameroon was valued as a colony by the Europeans.  First, the location of the country in western Africa on the Atlantic Ocean.  This provided easy access for coastal trade. [9] The second reason was the acquisition of slaves and the slave trade.  The Muslim slave trade network was already established in northern Cameroon and the access to the Atlantic made transportation of slaves much easier. [10] Religion was also an important aspect in the colonization of Cameroon.  Islamic groups from the Sahel had spread into northern Cameroon and Christian missionaries entered the country in the late nineteenth century and are still present today. [11]

[1] “Portugal in Cameroon”, https://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/cameroon.htm , ¶6

[2] “Portugal in Cameroon”, https://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/cameroon.htm , ¶6

[3] “Portugal in Cameroon”, https://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/cameroon.htm , ¶6

[4] “Malaria”, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Cameroon#Early_history , ¶3

[5] “German Kamerun”, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Cameroon#Coloization , ¶2

[6] “German Kamerun”, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Cameroon#Coloization , ¶3

[7] “Britain & France”, https://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ad39 ,

                                       ¶9 and 10

[8] “Britain & France”, https://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ad39 ,

                                       ¶11

[9] “Coastal Trade”, https://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/cameroon.htm , ¶3

[10] “Slaves”, https://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/cameroon.htm , ¶3

[11] “Religion”, https://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/cameroon.htm , ¶3