A Brief
History Of Briton From 8,000 B.C.E to 1960s
The
contributions from people of African descent to Britain, is anything
but new. Africans have been contributing to the UK since the earliest
of times. There have been many waves of Africans immigrating to the
UK over millenniums. The earliest times would be when man rose from
the cradle of civilization in central east Africa and millenniums
later migrated throughout the entire world and this included Britain.
The second entry into the Britain were the people we refer to now as
ancient Britons or Iberian Celt (Black Celts) who walked the British
shores around 8,000 B.C.E.
The
third came with the Roman conquest of Britain around 79 C.E., and the
occupation of it in 197C.E. by Emperor Septimius Severus, who was an
African. Romans were known for assimilating people who they conquered
into their armies in order to expand their empire. Some of those
conquered were Africans who eventually ascended to the very top ranks
of the Roman army as well as society. One of these was Emperor
Septimius Severus, who lead a Roman army, which included other
Africans, into Britain. Their legacy can be seen all over Britain
such as great road constructions, Hadrian's Wall in North England,
and water and sewage systems example of which can be seen in the city
of Bath and some roads throughout England.
Around
700 AD Africans can once again be seen in numbers in Britain, they
were referred to as Black Moors, Blackamoore or just Moors. These
Africans again having a huge impact on the British historical
landscape by leaving their culture which still effects us all today.
One example of this is Morris dancing usually performed in the North
of England. There is also evidence that it was the Moors who brought
the bagpipes from Spain to Scotland.
The
fifth wave of Africans was during the Tudor times 1457-1509, at first
not as slaves but free people engaged in trade and commerce. An
example is 'Blacke Trumpet' John Blanke was a musician who played in
the court of Henry the VII and Henry the VIII for a salary of £20.00
per month.
The
sixth was in the 1700s, when a large group of enslaved and free
Africans fought alongside the British during the American War for
Independence. The enslaved Africans were promised freedom, financial
compensation and resettlement in England as a reward for their help.
- It must be noted that they did not receive any financial
compensation and became part of the Black poor in London.
One
would think that after the cruel treatment, which Africans suffered
during the “Trans-Atlantic Enslavement Trade”, they would stay
clear of Europe and Europeans. Not so, in the early 1900s and 1940s
there was a seventh migration of Africans who came to Britain's aid
to help keep Britain free from Nazi occupation during the First and
Second World Wars. These Africans from the West Indies along with
their African American brothers --who incidentally suffered under the
same western European slavery system -- came to Britain volunteering
their services to help, what they thought, was their mother country
in her time of great need.
"Black Scientists & Inventors in the U.K: Millenniums of Inventions & Innovations - Book 5"
The
Windrush Years, Africans again travelled from the Caribbean to
England during the late 1940s, to help rebuild Britain after the WW
II and due to poverty because Britain (the Mother country) improvised
it's Caribbean colonies and the people in that region by draining the
wealth from the Islands to take to the UK.
Within
the pages of BLACK SCIENTISTS & INVENTORS IN THE UK you
will discover how Africans from the continent of Africa and its
diaspora are continuing what their ancestors did in the past and that
is positively contributing to the social and wider fabric of Britain.
There by helping her maintain her place on the global map despite
Britain’s "Colour Bar", prejudices and racial
discrimination of Africans in Britain in the preceding centuries.
Herein are poignant examples of perseverance, staying power and
achievements against all odds and adversaries.
