Film Lesson: "Mountains of the Moon"

1) In the film "Mountains of the Moon", what were some of the hardships that Europeans faced as they explored Africa?

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As John Speak and Richard Burton explored Africa, they faced many hardships. Because they were white, they stood out from others and looked odd to native Africans. Because of this, African tribes did not hesitate to attack the invading Europeans. In a very gruesome scene in Mountains of the Moon, a tribe member throws a javelin into Richard Burton's head. Luckily, it only went through a minor area and the javelin only pierced his cheeks.

John Speak and Richard Burton also had trouble gaining the faith and trust of the people they hired. Some people would run away and steal their goods, and some would betray Speak and Burton while in the middle of their expedition.

John Speak and Richard Burton had to deal with diseases and fatigue. After traveling for months, John Speak got a bug in his ear and he had to ruin his ear in order to kill the bug. Richard Burton also caught a disease which weakened his legs.

Last but not least, John Speak and Richard Burton discovered a lake when travelling for about six months. This lake was very large. In order to confirm that the lake was the source of the Nile River, they had to circle the lake and observe its shores. It ended up that the lake was NOT the source of the Nile.



2) Why is it strange that the source of the Nile River, (Lake Victoria - the third largest lake in the world) is named after a British Queen?
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It is odd that an African lake is named after a British Queen because the lake was already "named." It was named by the original inhabitants of Africa. The British pretty much marched into Africa and named a foreign like which they did not own. Although the lake was undiscovered to Europeans, the lake was already known to hundreds of thousands of people in Africa.



3) What was the primary technological advantage that Europeans had over African people? Why were Europeans eventually able to conquer Africa so easily?
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Europeans had many technological advantages over African people. African people had never seen white men before. Europeans had guns and powerful weapons. In one scene in the movie, John Speak and Richard Burton give a handgun to the chief of a village. The chief is fascinated with the gun and all the people in the tribe are scared when the gun goes off. Europeans also had telescopes that allowed them to see things from far away.

Eventually, Europeans easily conquered Africa because of their guns and ships. In their ships, they carried a large army of people with machineguns. They easily took over the country.



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