David Livingstone (March 19, 1813 – May 1, 1873) was a Scottish physician, pioneer, Christian missionary, African explorer, and anti-slavery crusader who became one of the most popular British heroes of the late 19th century era. Victorian through its mission to reach new peoples in the interior of Africa through “Christianity, commerce and civilization”.
Livingstone advocated the establishment of British trade, colonial expansion, and religious missions in central Africa that would displace the slave trade conducted by the Portuguese.
His explorations ultimately contributed to the “Fight for Africa” and African nationalism.
early antecedents
David Livingstone was one of seven children who lived in a single room in the industrial city of Blantyre, Scotland, in a block of flats for the workers of a cotton mill on the banks of the River Clyde.
In 1823, at the age of ten, he was employed at Henry Monteith & Co.’s cotton mill at Blantyre Works, where he and his brother John worked 14-hour days as a butcher, tying broken cotton threads on machines. spinning.
Education
His zeal for education inspired him to attend the Blantyre village school, along with other mill children, despite his long working hours, to improve his future job prospects.
Livingstone’s experiences working in the cotton mill from the ages of 10 to 26 to support his poor family taught him to persevere through thick and thin and developed a natural empathy for all those he toils and endures.
An appeal by the British and American churches in 1834 for qualified medical missionaries to China made Livingstone determined to pursue that profession while still working in the factory.
He began saving money to enter Anderson University, Glasgow in 1836 (now Strathclyde University), as well as attending lectures in Greek and theology at the University of Glasgow.
In 1838, he was accepted by the London Missionary Society (LMS) to work in China and began studies in medical practice, midwifery and botany at Charing Cross Hospital Medical School and at Ongar, Essex to further his missionary training.
He graduated as a Bachelor of the Faculty (now the Royal College) of Physicians and Surgeons, Glasgow on November 16, 1840, and was made an Honorary Fellow of the Faculty on January 5, 1857.
early influences
The Opium War began in 1839 and lasted until 1842, making missions from China difficult.
A speech in 1840, by Robert Moffat, Scotsman, Congregationalist missionary to southern Africa and his future father-in-law, convinced him that Africa was where he should serve.
He was also influenced by T.F. Buxton’s abolitionist arguments that the African slave trade could be destroyed through the influence of “legitimate trade” and the spread of Christianity.
On November 20, 1840, he was ordained a missionary and sailed for Cape Town, South Africa, then set out for Kuruman Station, where Moffat had worked among the Bechuana people.
Expeditions in Africa
David Livingstone undertook three major African expeditions, and through his travels, he earned a reputation as a dedicated Christian, a courageous explorer, and a dedicated anti-slavery advocate.
He treated the natives with respect, and the tribes he visited repaid him with faith and loyalty.
In January 1845, David Livingstone married Mary Moffat (April 12, 1821 – April 27, 1862), the daughter of Scottish missionary Robert Moffat.
Mary spent her early life at Kuruman Station and her knowledge of several African languages aided her missionary journeys throughout the interior of Africa.
First Expedition
In 1849, he traveled to Lake Ngami with William Cotton Oswell, reaching the upper Zambezi River for the first time in 1851.
In 1853, he made his purpose clear: “I will open a way inland, or perish.”
From 1853 to 1856, his expedition crossed southern Africa from coast to coast, discovering the spectacular waterfall he named Victoria Falls in honor of Queen Victoria in 1855.
Livingstone returned to England in 1856 and received a hero’s welcome, a gold medal from the Royal Geographic Society, an honorary doctorate from Oxford University, and a private audience with Queen Victoria.
Second Expedition
On his second expedition, Livingstone discovered Lake Malawi and reached the mouth of the Zambezi River in what is now Mozambique on the Indian Ocean in May 1856.
The Zambezi River linked the Portuguese colonies of Angola and Mozambique that supplied slaves to Brazil, which in turn sold them to Cuba and the United States.
Following the death of his wife in 1862 and the loss of his attendants, Livingstone uttered his famous quote: “I am prepared to go anywhere, so long as it is forward.”
Third Expedition
The third expedition, 1866-73, explored central Africa in an attempt to find the source of the Nile.
Finding the Lualaba River, he mistakenly concluded that it was the upper reaches of the Nile River.
Henry Morton Stanley
Beginning in 1866, Livingstone lost contact with the outside world, and the London Daily Telegraph and New York Herald developed a transatlantic venture to send journalist Henry Morton Stanley to Africa to find him.
Stanley found Livingstone alive near Lake Tanganyika in October 1871 and greeted him with the now-famous quote: “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?”
With these four words, David Livingstone became immortal.
Livingstone replied, “Yes, and I am grateful to be here to welcome you.”
On March 14, 1872, Stanley set out for England unsuccessfully pleading for Livingstone to return with him.
Death
Livingstone grew increasingly ill and breathed his last while kneeling in prayer at his bedside due to internal bleeding due to dysentery and malaria on May 1, 1873, at the age of 60, at Chief Chitambo’s Village , near Lake Bangweulu, Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia). ).
Britain wanted Livingstone’s body to give him a proper ceremony, but the tribe cut out his heart and put a note on the body that read, “You may have his body, but his heart belongs to Africa!”
His heart was buried under a Mvula tree near the place where he died and his body was mummified.
His body and diary were transported over a thousand miles (1,600 km) by his loyal assistants, Chuma and Susi, to the coastal city of Bagamoyo to be returned to Britain.
Henry Stanley was a pallbearer at Livingstone’s funeral.
His remains were interred in Westminster Abbey with the inscription on his grave reading: “Brought by faithful hands over land and sea.”
The geographical knowledge of his voyage of exploration greatly increased central and southern Africa and allowed large regions to be mapped.
