The International Law of Colonialism in East Africa: Germany, England, and the Doctrine of Discovery

Service-learning as anti-oppressive practice: Promoting partnerships to advance the Christian mission to serve the least of these

“…Indeed, this colonization was justified by European nations legally through the Doctrine of Discovery-an "international" law that European nations used to claim the land of non-European nations. Though it was respected as international law, European nations and the United States were the only nations at the table when the Doctrine of Discovery was officially adopted at the Berlin Conference through the Berlin Act of 1885 (Miller and Stitz, 2021). Nations from the Global South were not present to add their voice.…”

“…Thus, many of the elders today remember having “white people” (mzungu) in charge of governmental affairs. As Miller and Stitz (2021) summarize, “European domination, exploitation, and colonization seriously injured the human, property, sovereign, and self-determination rights of Indigenous nations and people. The effects of colonization are still felt today” (p: 2).…”

“…Essentially, the Act established an agreement for how the European nations would continue to partition and colonialize Africa. To justify the Doctrine of Discovery on moral grounds, colonialists claimed that non-Christians did not have the same rights as Christians (including land, sovereignty, and self-determination) and that Europeans had a divine mandate to convert and civilize not only Indigenous individuals but also entire nations (Miller and Stitz, 2021). Those who were beyond the reach of the church were considered “barbarians”; it took the coordination of the church with the European empire to reach those who were outside (Barreto, 2022).…”

Organizing peace: an algorithmic analysis of four centuries of international law and the decline of war

“…Europeans often argued that these outside groups needed to be civilized for their own good and that it was the duty of Europeans to bring God to them and save them from themselves (Anghie, 2006). Non-European lands were considered "Terra nullius" Latin for "empty lands" and thus able to be "discovered" by Europeans (Miller & Stitz, 2021).…”

“…According to this "doctrine of discovery" indigenous peoples were not recognized as people and thus their land was viewed within the legal system as being entirely uninhabited and thus as soon as Europeans arrived and built a fortification, those already living there "automatically lost their full property rights" and were only allowed to trade with the colonizing force and continue to live on their land, unless they sold it to Europeans, in which event they could no longer live on them (Miller & Stitz, 2021).…”