Let them Bow to the Queen

The governmental system radically changed once the missionaries came to the clan. Before the missionaries began to implement their system of government, Umuofia had their own idea about how to run their clan most effectively. Page 92 provides an example for readers of a trial that Umuofia held regarding a run-away bride. The bride ran away because her husband was beating her too much (not that beating her was a crime, just the amount of time he did so) that her life was threatened. Her mother land took her away from her husband until the husband proved to be fit to have her again. In doing so, they reclaimed her bride price and refused to hand her over to her husband. The husband was furious and went to the clan's gods to settle the dispute and what he saw as injustice. The crowd gathered, the men representing the gods listened to both sides, then the men representative of the gods rendered a decision. Government, any form of legal system, is everywhere. But when the missionaries came they viewed Umuofia's form of government as insufficient. As a result, the British built a cour system where they appointed a District Commissioner. It was through the DC that trials were heard and judged, "They had built a court where the DC judged cases in ignorance. He had court messengers who brought men to him for trial...they had built the center of their religion and trade and government," (page 174). I do not believe that the British Empire should have rejected the quality of the clan's tribe so hastily. True, the clan had to tweak their governmental system, but the British took over without properly educating the clansmen which only made the British superior over the clansmen. The clan lost control of their own tribes because of the lack of education. Had they been educated on proper governmental system instead of overthrown, the clansmen could have changed their government within the tribe. The clan was not given the opportunity to do so. They were being taught about the Christian God and his power, but they were not being taught governmental skills or even new morals. Changing a government changes the way a people group runs and ultimately changes the morality of the group. Unfortunately for the clan, they were changing too quickly to keep up and understand properly everything that was occurring.