The European colonization had a major impact on Africa. 1845 marked the start of the colonization of Kenya, before that, Kenya was not considered to be an ordinary country, but rather it was composed of multiple different tribes that lived next to one another. Kenya was given to Britain at the time. Europeans brought with them medicine, education, technology, and religion that were never seen before by the people of Kenya. The new way of life did have a major impact on the people of Kenya and it did help them in many ways but, it also had drawbacks on the people of Kenya because their old way of living was quickly being demolished and they were forced to adapt to the new western lifestyle. .
Education was one of the things that changed Kenya after the British introduced it. Education is a key factor for equality between genders because education empowers a person. At the time education was mainly for men because most women were housewives and they took care of the children and the house necessities. This didn't stop Wangari from attending school. She started attending St. Cecelia's Catholic boarding school when she was eleven and that is where she was introduced the Catholicism. Today Kenya is predominantly Christians with about seventy-five percent of its current population. .
It was 1952 when the Mau Mau Rebellion began. The British, who were now in charge of Kenya, forbade the African's from owning land and changed their centuries old farming methods that the farmers in Kenya were used to. Tensions were beginning to rise between the Africans and the British. The main goal of the Mau Mau rebellion was to try to claim independence from Britain and have the right to own land. The colonial powers have a policy set when concurring new land. The policy is called divide and rule. When the colonial powers took control of Africa, they divided all of Africa into smaller and less powerful counties and assigned one of the colonial powers to take control of it.