Things Fall Apart Chapter 22-23: Umuofia Leaders Caged and Mistreated

"He told the court messengers, when he left the guardroom, to treat the men with respect because they were the leaders of Umuofia...As soon as the District Commissioner left, the head messenger, who was also the prisoners' barber, took down his razor and shaved off all the hair on the men's heads. They were still handcuffed, and they just sat and moped...The six men ate nothing throughout the day and the next. They were not even given any water to drink, and they could not go out to urinate or go into the bush when they were pressed. At night the messengers came in to taunt them and to knock their shaven heads together" (Achebe 194-195). 

According to the text(s), what effect did imperialism have on the people who lived through it?

In Chapter 23 we get a sense of the violence that erupted between the clan and the white Christians. After receiving an invitation from the District Commissioner to discuss the fighting that had erupted, the men of high title within the clan decide to go and meet with the District Commissioner. When they arrive at the meeting they are seated. The District Commissioner then invited twelve of his men to the meeting as well for the purpose of "hearing the story." The men of high title are suddenly handcuffed and led into the guardroom. The District Commissioner tells his men to treat the men of Umuofia with respect because they were the leaders of Umuofia. Although the men agree they later begin to treat the men of Umuofia like animals. They shave their heads, do not allow them food or water, and let them urinate on themselves. The way the white men treat the prestigious leaders of Umuofia goes to show the lack of respect the white men  had for the men of other color. Imperialism caused people to be treated like less of human as new people invaded their territory and made it their own.