Title: The Origins and Proliferation of Pan-Africanism
Headings: The Origins, Purpose, and Proliferation of Pan-Africanism
The Origins, Purpose, and Proliferation of Pan-Africanism
History of Pan-Africanism
African Association and Pan-African Congresses
African Independence
Modern Pan-Africanism
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Content: The Origins and Proliferation of Pan-Africanism
Humanities › History & Culture
The Origins, Purpose, and Proliferation of Pan-Africanism
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By
Alistair Boddy-Evans
History Expert
Postgraduate Certificate in Education, University College London
M.S., Imperial College London
B.S., Heriot-Watt University
Alistair Boddy-Evans is a teacher and African history scholar with more than 25 years of experience. our editorial process
Alistair Boddy-Evans
Updated November 21, 2019
Pan-Africanism was initially an anti-slavery and anti-colonial movement amongst Black people of Africa and the diaspora in the late 19th century. Its aims have evolved through the ensuing decades. Pan-Africanism has covered calls for African unity (both as a continent and as a people), nationalism, independence, political and economic cooperation, and historical and cultural awareness (especially for Afrocentric versus Eurocentric interpretations). History of Pan-Africanism
Some claim that Pan-Africanism goes back to the writings of formerly enslaved people such as Olaudah Equiano and Ottobah Cugoano. Pan-Africanism here relates to the ending of the trading of enslaved people and the need to rebut the "scientific" claims of African inferiority. For Pan-Africanists, such as Edward Wilmot Blyden, part of the call for African unity was to return the diaspora to Africa, whereas others, such as Frederick Douglass, called for rights in their adopted countries. Blyden and James Africanus Beale Horton, working in Africa, are seen as the true fathers of Pan-Africanism, writing about the potential for African nationalism and self-government amidst growing European colonialism. They, in turn, inspired a new generation of Pan-Africanists at the turn of the twentieth century, including JE Casely Hayford, and Martin Robinson Delany (who coined the phrase "Africa for Africans" later picked up by Marcus Garvey ). African Association and Pan-African Congresses
Pan-Africanism gained legitimacy with the founding of the African Association in London in 1897, and the first Pan-African conference held, again in London, in 1900.