1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:03,480 Speaker 1: Hey, history fans, here's a rerun for today, brought to 2 00:00:03,480 --> 00:00:07,440 Speaker 1: you by Tracy V. Wilson. Welcome to this day in 3 00:00:07,520 --> 00:00:10,360 Speaker 1: History Class from how Stuff Works dot Com and from 4 00:00:10,360 --> 00:00:12,600 Speaker 1: the desk of Stuff you missed in History Class. It's 5 00:00:12,640 --> 00:00:14,880 Speaker 1: the show where we explore the past one day at 6 00:00:14,880 --> 00:00:17,079 Speaker 1: a time with a quick look at what happened today 7 00:00:17,079 --> 00:00:25,119 Speaker 1: in history. Hello and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy B. Wilson, 8 00:00:25,239 --> 00:00:28,960 Speaker 1: and it's December three. The trial of Kenya's cap and 9 00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:32,280 Speaker 1: Gurias six began on the state in nineteen fifty two. 10 00:00:33,080 --> 00:00:37,360 Speaker 1: These were six political activists who were arrested under the 11 00:00:37,360 --> 00:00:40,080 Speaker 1: grounds that they were members of the Mau Mau political 12 00:00:40,159 --> 00:00:45,919 Speaker 1: movement against British colonial rule in Kenya. Britain's colonial involvement 13 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:50,880 Speaker 1: in Kenya went back to when that part of Africa 14 00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:55,240 Speaker 1: became part of Britain's East African Protectorate. This was during 15 00:00:55,280 --> 00:00:59,800 Speaker 1: Europe's Scramble for Africa and basically Europe divided up as 16 00:01:00,040 --> 00:01:05,000 Speaker 1: much of Africa as possible amongst themselves without asking any 17 00:01:05,040 --> 00:01:09,959 Speaker 1: Africans about it. In nineteen twenty, Britain formally declared that 18 00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:14,080 Speaker 1: Kenya was a Crown colony. So all of this placed 19 00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:17,200 Speaker 1: Kenya under a white minority government, and that led to 20 00:01:17,280 --> 00:01:22,440 Speaker 1: widespread poverty and racism and oppression and resistance to colonial 21 00:01:22,520 --> 00:01:26,679 Speaker 1: rules started almost immediately. The East Africa Association formed in 22 00:01:26,760 --> 00:01:30,400 Speaker 1: nineteen twenty one, the year after Britain formally declared that 23 00:01:30,480 --> 00:01:34,880 Speaker 1: Kenya was a Crown colony. A man named Jomo Kenyatta, 24 00:01:35,160 --> 00:01:38,800 Speaker 1: who was one of the cap and Curious Six, was 25 00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:41,679 Speaker 1: involved almost from the start of this. He joined the 26 00:01:41,680 --> 00:01:45,840 Speaker 1: East Africa Association in nineteen twenty two. He continued to 27 00:01:45,880 --> 00:01:49,200 Speaker 1: work with a series of independence organizations as they disbanded 28 00:01:49,200 --> 00:01:51,640 Speaker 1: and reformed and started over with new groups over the 29 00:01:51,680 --> 00:01:55,920 Speaker 1: next several years. Sometimes these were because of internal changes, 30 00:01:56,000 --> 00:01:59,680 Speaker 1: sometimes it was because Britain had outlawed a particular organization 31 00:01:59,720 --> 00:02:02,720 Speaker 1: and they had to start over. He also traveled through 32 00:02:02,720 --> 00:02:05,919 Speaker 1: Europe and studied in England. A lot of these first 33 00:02:06,040 --> 00:02:11,000 Speaker 1: organizations were focused on some constitutional reforms, but as time 34 00:02:11,280 --> 00:02:14,800 Speaker 1: passed with seemingly no progress being made, many younger and 35 00:02:14,840 --> 00:02:18,200 Speaker 1: more radical members started to splinter off, and the Mau 36 00:02:18,320 --> 00:02:21,720 Speaker 1: Mau movement was formed in nineteen forty two. It was 37 00:02:21,760 --> 00:02:24,760 Speaker 1: formed when four Kenyan tribes came together and took an 38 00:02:24,760 --> 00:02:28,280 Speaker 1: oath to secretly fight against British rule. This was a 39 00:02:28,440 --> 00:02:32,440 Speaker 1: militant movement. It advocated violent resistance to the British rule 40 00:02:32,480 --> 00:02:37,040 Speaker 1: of Kenya, and their tactics included sabotage and assassination. So 41 00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:40,560 Speaker 1: by the nineteen fifties the British government had outlawed the movement, 42 00:02:41,240 --> 00:02:45,760 Speaker 1: but that didn't make the movement disappear, and nineteen fifty 43 00:02:45,800 --> 00:02:49,680 Speaker 1: two saw the Mau Mau Uprising that led to a 44 00:02:49,760 --> 00:02:53,240 Speaker 1: massive military engagement between the British Army and members of 45 00:02:53,280 --> 00:02:57,080 Speaker 1: the movement. The Mau Mouth faced devastating losses and members 46 00:02:57,080 --> 00:03:01,320 Speaker 1: were imprisoned during this time when they reported horrifying conditions, 47 00:03:01,720 --> 00:03:06,080 Speaker 1: including torture and abuse. In October of nineteen fifty two, 48 00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:10,119 Speaker 1: following that uprising, Kenyatta and five other leaders were arrested 49 00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:13,320 Speaker 1: on the grounds that they had been directing this outlawed movement, 50 00:03:13,360 --> 00:03:15,880 Speaker 1: and hundreds of other people had been arrested as well. 51 00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:20,400 Speaker 1: At the time, Kenyada was actually leading the Kenyan African Union. 52 00:03:21,240 --> 00:03:24,080 Speaker 1: They were all taken to Capaan, Guria because it was 53 00:03:24,160 --> 00:03:28,280 Speaker 1: a very remote location that authorities thought would be secure 54 00:03:28,560 --> 00:03:31,960 Speaker 1: enough that the other members of the Memo movement couldn't 55 00:03:31,960 --> 00:03:35,320 Speaker 1: break them out. These six men were placed on trial 56 00:03:35,480 --> 00:03:39,160 Speaker 1: from December nineteen fifty two until April nineteen fifty three. 57 00:03:39,720 --> 00:03:43,200 Speaker 1: Although the British colonial government was approaching this as a 58 00:03:43,240 --> 00:03:45,920 Speaker 1: criminal matter, to a lot of the rest of the world, 59 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:49,560 Speaker 1: it really looked like a political trial. They were all 60 00:03:49,600 --> 00:03:52,840 Speaker 1: found guilty. They were sentenced to seven years in prison 61 00:03:52,960 --> 00:03:57,520 Speaker 1: with hard labor. Over the next decade, the British colonial 62 00:03:57,560 --> 00:04:01,920 Speaker 1: government gradually started shifting Kenya toward rule by its African 63 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:06,160 Speaker 1: majority rather than having a white minority government. Kenyatta was 64 00:04:06,200 --> 00:04:08,960 Speaker 1: released from prison in nineteen sixty one, and then he 65 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:12,120 Speaker 1: became one of the negotiators in a conference in London 66 00:04:12,200 --> 00:04:15,880 Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty two. That conference ultimately led to Kenya's 67 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:20,360 Speaker 1: independence from Britain. A political party called the Kenya African 68 00:04:20,440 --> 00:04:23,960 Speaker 1: National Union won the first election, which had actually taken 69 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:29,200 Speaker 1: place before independence, while Kenyatta was still in prison. He 70 00:04:29,279 --> 00:04:32,400 Speaker 1: had been elected the first party president, even though he 71 00:04:32,440 --> 00:04:35,920 Speaker 1: was still imprisoned at the time. Then, after Kenya formally 72 00:04:35,960 --> 00:04:40,080 Speaker 1: became independent on December twelfth, nineteen sixty three, Kenyatta became 73 00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:43,360 Speaker 1: its first prime Minister and later became Kenya's first president. 74 00:04:44,080 --> 00:04:47,480 Speaker 1: In it was announced that Kenyan's who had been tortured 75 00:04:47,640 --> 00:04:51,440 Speaker 1: by colonial forces during the Mamo Uprising would receive payouts 76 00:04:51,520 --> 00:04:56,279 Speaker 1: totaling twenty million pounds. Thanks to Christopher Hasiotis for his 77 00:04:56,360 --> 00:04:58,960 Speaker 1: research work on today's show, and to Casey Pgrim and 78 00:04:59,040 --> 00:05:02,919 Speaker 1: Chandler May's for their audio work on this podcast. You 79 00:05:02,960 --> 00:05:05,640 Speaker 1: can subscribe to the Stay in History Class on Apple podcast, 80 00:05:05,720 --> 00:05:09,000 Speaker 1: Google podcast, the I Heart Radio app, and wherever else 81 00:05:09,040 --> 00:05:12,160 Speaker 1: you get your podcasts. Tune in tomorrow for the birth 82 00:05:12,160 --> 00:05:12,719 Speaker 1: of a poet.