Imagine you are with your family in your home and a neighbor comes and tells you that aliens have invaded a distant city and taken half of its population and killed the 'other half. Chances are you would think they had lost their minds and ignore them. In our society today we would find something like this to be highly unlikely. Now imagine that you and your family have good relations with the city that was invaded. You played sports against them growing up and shop there. You know that the citizens of that city are tenacious individuals and would not be easily defeated. The tribes of the lower Niger River had experienced the same things in the late 19th century. While they were not invaded by aliens, they were invaded by aliens. They were invaded by Christian missionaries from England. The natives did not believe the stories of the destruction of their nearby village and suffered the consequences. When British imperialism made its way into 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 Niger River, citizens lived what they would consider normal lives. They worked, built houses and survived. In Umuofia men had to be tough. They worked all day doing what they considered man's work. Any man who did not want to do this job 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 gain any title he was considered the center of the paper and could hear their side of the story. After they arrived, they arrested them and held them imprisoned for three days without giving them food or water. The only way to free them was for the villages to pay the district court two hundred and fifty bags of cowries. After receiving the money the commissioner let the exhausted elderly people go. (Achebe 193-197) It seemed like the commissioner was trying to show all the villagers exactly what they were up against. In conclusion, the English missionaries and soldiers were too much for the small African villages. Some Africans decided to fight to the end, others decided to join the Europeans. The power of the Europeans allowed them to impose their lifestyle and beliefs on Africans and cause compulsory assimilation. Works Cited Achebe, Chinua. Things fall apart. New York: Anchor Books, 1959. Document.