What events in Africa inspired Pan-Africanism?

Pan Africanism originated from or inspired by the struggles of the African people against enslavement and colonization. And this struggle may have originated from the first resistance on slave ships, rebellions through the constant plantation and colonial uprisings and the “Back to Africa” movements of the nineteenth century

Not until the twentieth century that Pan Africanism emerged as a distinct political movement. Initiated by people from the Diaspora. In 1900, a conference was called by Henry Sylvester Williams a Trinidadian barrister. The conference was held in Westminster Hall, London to “protest stealing of lands in the colonies, racial discrimination and to deal with other issues of interest to Blacks.

It was from this conference, a letter was drafted to the Queen of England and other European rulers appealing to them to fight racism and grant independence to their colonies. The first Pan African Congress was convened in 1919 in Paris France by Dr. W.E.B Du Bois who was a writer to demanded independence for African nations again. Further congresses – essentially extended meetings of like-minded Africans searching for a way forward - were held in 1921 (London, Brussels, Paris), 1923 (London and Lisbon), 1927 (New York).

Each echoed and refined the demands for rights and freedom and built support for the cause. The 5th Congress held in Manchester in 1945 because for the first time, a large number of Africans from the Continent were present and the meeting provided impetus and momentum for the numerous post-war independence movements.