In the nineteenth century, Great Britain held a range of perceptions about the missionary movement. These perceptions shifted and fluctuated from the beginning of the century to the end. For example, missionary groups and other religious segments of society made heroes out of individual missionaries and evoked images to romanticize the movement, particularly toward the end of the century when they felt more of a need to justify their presence in Africa. Other groups were indifferent. Some groups, including geographical and anthropological groups, saw the missionaries as useful for their particular cause. However, because of the incredible range in opinion regarding the missionary endeavor, this series of articles deals only with the strain of thought which expressed the idea that missionaries were heroic but misguided, or admirable but unable to accomplish their goal to convert and civilize the continent of Africa. This was one of the most articulated criticisms of the nineteenth century.
Beck, Roger B. "Bibles and Beads: Missionaries as Traders in Southern Africa in the Early Nineteenth Century." Journal of African History 30 (1989): 211-225.
Blyden, Edward W. Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1967 [1887].
British Parliamentary Papers, Colonies Africa. Vols. 2, 63. Shannon, Ireland: Irish University Press, 1970.
Chidester, David. Savage Systems: Colonialism and Comparative Religion in Southern Africa. Charlottesville, Va.: University Press of Virginia, 1996.
Comaroff, Jean and John L. Comaroff. Of Revelation and Revolution. Vol. 1, Christianity, Colonialism, and Consciousness in South Africa. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1991.
Comaroff, Jean and John L. Comaroff. Of Revelation and Revolution. Vol. 2, The Dialectics of Modernity on a South African Frontier. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1997.
Dickens, Charles. "The Niger Expedition." In The Works of Charles Dickens. Vol. 18, Miscellaneous Papers, Plays and Poems. National Library Edition. New York: Bigelow, Brown and Co., 1920 [1848].
Dickens, Charles. "The Noble Savage." In The Works of Charles Dickens. Vol. 34, Reprinted Pieces, The Lamplighter, To Be Read at Dusk, and Sunday Under Three Heads. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1907 [1853].
Elliott-Binns, L.E. Religion in the Victorian Era. London: Lutterworth Press, 1936.
Hansard, Record of the Debates of the Houses of Commons and Lords.
Livingstone, David. Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1858.
Parsons, Neil. King Khama, Emperor Joe and the Great White Queen: Victorian Britain through African Eyes. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998.
Porter, Bernard. The Lion's Share: A Short History of British Imperialism 1850-1995. New York: Longman, 1996.
