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that year, the Colonial Office took over the territory,
proclaiming it a Protectorate whereby the interests of
Africans would become paramount.
As far as black Africans were concerned, the Colo-
nial Office ruled in a more benign and paternalistic
manner than that of the BSAC. That being said, they
were subjected to racial discrimination, which includ-
ed pass laws, restrictions on the occupation of land,
and they were expected to have their political aspi-
rations fulfilled through a refashioning of the former
tribal system. White Europeans, meanwhile, became
a privileged elite with a protected economic position
within the Protectorate and formed the basis of early
representative government. Mixed people and immi-
grants, mainly traders, from what are today India and
Pakistan, held an ambivalent place under this regime.
Mining
The discovery and development of the rich under-
ground mineral ore bodies along the Zambian Cop-
perbelt in the late 1920s and 1930s would turn this
small region into one of the world's most infamous
sites for mineral rich mining.
Over the years, the industry came to be controlled by
two large groups: the South African Anglo American
Corporation and the Roan Selection Trust, predomi-
nantly backed by US shareholders.
The extraction of minerals in the so-called "Copper-
belt" region of the territory required a large labor force,
and many Zambians were attracted to this region for
its employment opportunities. In 1948, the African
Mineworkers Union was formed, and in 1955, there
was a complete shutdown of mining operations over
pay conditions. This lasted a total of 58 days and
ended in victory for the miners. As a result, the mining
companies seriously began to accommodate workers
needs and facilitated the move of Africans into man-
agement positions.
African nationalist sentiments had been growing since
the First World War, when many Zambians fought for
the Allies in Burma. The end of the 1940s gave way
to the formation of the Northern Rhodesia African Na-
tionalist Congress (ANC). Led by Harry Nkumbula,
the Congress was formed by various Welfare Associ-
ations initiated by the "mission graduates" of the pre-
war decades to address the need for independence.
Federation
The nationalist movement was thrust forward in the
early 1950s when the Colonial Office agreed to merge
Northern Rhodesia into a Federation with Nyasa-
land (Malawi), a British Protectorate, and Southern
Rhodesia (Zimbabwe). Southern Rhodesia, under
white settler rule, was bankrupt and sought to ex-
ploit Northern Rhodesia and its copper wealth.
The Federation faced opposition, but it, neverthe-
less, was formed in 1953. During its ten years of
existence, the White settlers developed an impres-
sive economic structure.
In the mid-fifties, the failed campaign against the
Federation became a struggle, which then trans-
formed into a movement for full independence. The
ANC split after its creator, Nkumbula, hesitated in
responding to the will of the people. Younger and
more dynamic nationalists formed first the Zam-
bia African National Congress (which was soon
banned and its leaders imprisoned) and then, in
1958, the United National Independence Party
(UNIP). Emerging from prison, the charismatic ac-
tivist, Kenneth David Kaunda, became leader of
the new party. UNIP engaged in a continuous and
largely peaceful campaign for independence.
By 1960, the British Government had acknowl-
edged that the days of colonial rule on the continent
were coming to an end. The leader of the white
dominated Federation, Roy Welensky, threatened
to declare unilateral independence from Britain,
but in the end, he did not follow through on his
threat. When Zambian trade unions, including in-
fluential miners, threw their weight behind UNIP,
the nationalist sentiment and its momentum be-
came an unstoppable force throughout Northern
Rhodesia. Intense and often violent rivalry be-
tween Kaunda’s UNIP and Nkumbula’s ANC even-
tually neutralized by way of a transitional coalition
government.
Independence
The Federation was dissolved in 1963, and the
pieced together states finally went their separate
ways. Universal suffrage was introduced into the
region now known as Zambia, and elections were
held. The UNIP won the first election, resulting in
the election of Kenneth Kaunda as its first Prime
Minister. On 24 October 1964, Zambia officially
gained independence.
Kaunda remained in office for 27 years. While in
his early years, great strides were made in the ar-
eas of education, healthcare, and infrastructure.
His attempts to "decolonize" the economy through
the nationalization of industries and operations led
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