1935 Copperbelt strike

1935 Copperbelt strike
Date29 May 1935
LocationMufulira, Nkana and Roan Antelope
CauseTax increase
Deaths6
Non-fatal injuries20

A major strike broke out among African mineworkers in the Copperbelt Province of Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) on 29 May 1935 in protest against taxes levied by the British colonial administration. The strike involved three of the province's four major copper mines: those in Mufulira, Nkana and Roan Antelope. Near the latter, six protesters were killed by police and the strike ended. Although it failed, the strike was the first organized industrial agitation in Northern Rhodesia and is viewed by some as the first overt action against colonial rule.[1] It caught the attention of a number of African townsmen, leading to the creation of trade unions and African nationalist politics, and is seen as the birth of African nationalism.

The strike and others in Africa during the period dramatically changed the British government's urban and migration policies. The unrest gave missionaries a chance to respond to the "Watchtower movement",[a] joining the mining companies to provide a Christian education and create a disciplined workforce. The colonial administration, foreseeing a future drop in copper prices, also created social-service schemes for rural relatives of the urban workers.

  1. ^ Adam, Christopher S.; Simpasa, Anthony M. (2010). "The Economics of Copper Price Boom in Zambia". In A., Fraser; M., Larmer (eds.). Zambia, Mining, and Neoliberalism: Boom and Bust on the Globalized Copperbelt. Springer. p. 61. ISBN 978-0-230-11559-0.
  2. ^ Morris, Brian (2006). Religion and Anthropology: A Critical Introduction. Cambridge University Press. p. 171. ISBN 978-0-521-85241-8.
  3. ^ Gordon 2012, p. 72
  4. ^ Anderson, Allan (2001). African Reformation: African Initiated Christianity in the 20th Century. Africa World Press. p. 134. ISBN 978-0-86543-883-5.
  5. ^ Mukwena 2016, pp. 14–5.


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