Educated Africans used French native courts to challenge colonial authority

Evidence

As the few existing studies of native court records show, educated Africans in particular were quick to see in the native justice system an opportunity to challenge the authority of the French and their collaborators. For the great majority of Africans the results were more mixed. “The natives tolerate easily enough the change in their traditions,” a frustrated administrator wrote in 1924, “but they do not understand it and remain opposed to it in the depths of their conscience.” — Alice L. Conklin, A Mission to Civilize_ The Republican…, 451

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the theme of colonized peoples repurposing colonial institutions against their masters, as in the broader anti-colonial historiography. — connects to: African colonized subjects used colonial courts for their own purposes; Colonial courts served both French and African interests.; France’s segregationist native courts reflected the ideology of the colonial era (+3 more)
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Alice L. Conklin, A Mission to Civilize_ The Republican…, 451

Broader Connections

• Missionary-educated Africans became politically demanding and threatened colonial administrators. #expands (0.80)
• France’s segregationist native courts reflected the ideology of the colonial era #complicates (0.75)
• Colonial courts served both French and African interests. #qualifies (0.70)