French peace and railroads fatally disrupted longstanding African social order.

Evidence

There had been, Van Vollenhoven began, a deplorable absence of unified doctrine in West Africa over the past thirty years. On account of lack of documentation and the problems posed by organizing these vast territories, actions had been undertaken piecemeal, often with the best of intentions. This approach had, through no one individual’s fault, “necessarily and fatally” disrupted African society. The first elements contributing to this disorganization had been the establishment of French peace and the introduction of the railroad; they had broken down the isolation in which Africans had lived for centuries. Such isolation, Van Vollenhoven intimated, deserved to be ended. It was, in and of itself, the “fruit of barbarism.” This isolation nevertheless had had certain advantages: “Traditions remained alive, custom was rigorously observed, social and family discipline was everywhere respected, and everywhere punishment for deviation was ruthlessly applied.” — Alice L. Conklin, A Mission to Civilize_ The Republican…, 640

Categorization

• SEED: A compelling irony for an essay: the supposed gifts of pacification and connection were themselves diagnosed by the colonizer as the fatal disruptors of stable African communities.