Imagine that you are with your family in your house and a neighbor comes to tell you that aliens have invaded a distant city and taken half of its population and killed the other half. Chances are you'll think they've lost their minds and ignore them. In our society today, such a situation seems highly unlikely. Now imagine that you and your family have a good relationship with the city that was invaded. You played sports against them growing up and you shop there. You know that the citizens of this city are tough individuals and will not be easily defeated. The tribes of the lower Niger River had experienced the same things at the end of the 19th century. Although they haven't been invaded by aliens, they have been invaded by aliens. They were invaded by Christian missionaries from England. The natives did not believe the stories of destruction of their neighboring village and suffered the consequences. When British imperialism entered Africa, it had quite profound effects on the indigenous populations, such as the deterioration of ancient tribal practices, hostile situations, and death and suffering on both sides. In the village of Umuofia, located near the lower reaches of the Niger River, the citizens lived what they would have considered a normal life. They worked, built houses and survived. In Umuofia, the men must have been tough. They worked all day doing what they considered a man's job. Any man who did not want to do this work was considered weak, lazy and effeminate. (Achebe 13.14) Another part of Umuofian society was that there were four titles in the village that every man should aim to obtain. If a man failed to get a title, he was considered middle of paper...to hear his side of the story. After their arrival, they arrested them and kept them imprisoned for three days without giving them food or water. The only way to free them was for the villages to pay two hundred and fifty bags of cowrie shells to the high court. After receiving the money, the commissioner let the exhausted elders leave. (Achebe 193-197) It seemed that the commissioner was trying to show all the villagers what they were facing. In conclusion, English missionaries and soldiers were too much for the small African villages. Some Africans decided to fight to the end and others decided to join the Europeans. The power of Europeans allowed them to impose their way of life and beliefs on Africans and bring about compulsory assimilation. Works Cited Achebe, Chinua. Things are falling apart. New York: Anchor Books, 1959. Document.