Advantages and Disadvantages of Colonialism

The colonization of the Americas began in the year of 1492, when Christopher Columbus and his band of explorers arrived off the coast of the Bahamas. This new “discovery” for Europe would have drastic effects not only on the settlers themselves, but on the natives and their environment. It is without a doubt that the appearance of these explorers placed the Indians on a dangerous trajectory. Now, it is currently understood how the colonization of the American continent brought disease, war and ultimately death for many of the natives. Early exploration, conquest and settlement brought about new economies for the Europeans, new religious freedoms, and knowledge of the world and of exploration, producing great benefits for the colonists. Although the settlers did face risks and sometimes death during their conquest, they undoubtedly benefitted from this expansion. The Indians, however, were dealt a different hand. The culture that they had developed and the immense civilizations that had evolved were ultimately destroyed as the spread of epidemics, constant war, and brutal exploitation brought these prosperous and hospitable peoples to their knees.

The thirteen colonies each governed themselves differently, with positives and negatives attributes to each form. The three different types of government in colonial America were royal, proprietary, and self-governing. The English colonies drove to create new forms of government that worked best for them, and generated some of the foundations of our democratic country now.

Despite being arguably the most powerful nations in the world, European nations such as Great Britain, France, and Germany in the late 1800s could not ignore the colonial ambitions presented to them. All around the globe, once independent and peaceful countries became battlefields of war and conquering due to European invasion. The reasons for these aggressions varied immensely, with some seizing new territory with intentions to accomplish any given set of goals. Countries in frequent cases found use in a region’s natural resources that could be used to manufacture goods or create new markets. On the other hand, some leader’s motives to expand were simply fueled by nationalism, with their nation adding new areas to build upon their empire and gain more power. Some even developed the size of their land to openly promote their culture, ideas, and technology. Although all of these purposes may seem like they could be beneficial to both parties involved, the concept of Imperialism proved to be quite harmful to the colony nation. European imperialism throughout Africa and Asia was more negative because of economic, political, and social factors.

Greed was one of the leading causes to the English exploration of the Americas. During the reign of Queen Elizabeth, Spain took the lead in exploring and setting up colonies much in North America which in turn caused the English to become wary of a possible new powerhouse and threat. Along with a fear of threat was also a want to inhabit the new land and thus gain trading partners, find treasure, and expand before Spain had a chance to flood more of the vast new land. Elizabeth rapidly set out to build a colony, first giving a charter to Sir Humphrey Gilbert, Sir Walter Raleigh, no such English colony would exist until James I came to rule (Shi and Tindall 48-49). Eventually, Religious tension, a want for gold, and a desire for new goods led the English to expand and configure colonies in the New World.

The truth is that imperialism was never idealistic. It has always been driven by economic or strategic interests.”

The colonization of America was a rude awakening to the early settlers coming from across the world. Starting a new life and getting away from England sounded beneficial to many. In 1607 the first colony, Jamestown was founded. No one was properly prepared for the first year. Expectations were not met and many disappointments were brought upon them. Men, women, and children made a very long journey across the world to America expecting new and great opportunities and riches for themselves as well as their families. Unfortunately after one year in Jamestown, there were only 34 survivors, which means that seventy percent of the population passed away. Not only was the weather unfit for planting crops due the extremely harsh winters and the hot and humid summers, but there was also no qualified land for farming on account of the marshes. This caused starvation and malnourishment by reason of no vigorous food supply accessible to anyone. They were unprepared for the harsh climate conditions, which caused many deaths due to incurable diseases and health issues. At this day in age, medicine was unavailable and diseases were incurable. Another significant disappointment for the new settlers was the lack of riches that were held at a high expectation for coming to America. In conclusion, the colonization of Jamestown brought a greater amount of issues than benefits including starvation, death and disease, conflicts with native Americans, and no profit.

Colonialism is the establishment, exploitation, maintenance, acquisition, and expansion of colony in one territory by a political power from another territory. It is a set of unequal relationships between the colonial power and the colony and often between the colonists and the indigenous population.

The Industrial Revolution was imperative to European Imperialism. Imperialism could not have been as well accomplished, had it not been for the original inventions and innovative procedures to increase production, wealth, and jobs. Both the Industrial Revolution and Imperialism were opportunities for countries in Europe to compete with one another, by show who as dominant, Europe could aid other countries, gain new resources and markets, and spread religion. Even though Europeans saw many positives to the events, it is all about perspective; some Europeans had to endure hazardous factory conditions and many countries suffered greatly because of the race for land and power.

In England, imperialism was the main catalyst that brought about change and the clashing of cultures, which can also have disadvantages. Ethnic people haven't always been treated the same because they are different and have the ability to create change within the nation. Therefore, multiculturalism has shaped England through culture, language and industry. Ethnic diversity is a fundamental part of why England is the way that it is today. In the case of Africans in England, they brought about change through music, literature, and art. This has a significant impact on their popular culture today. However, Africans in Britain to this day still encounter some disadvantages as they have been seen as an inferior race for such a long lapse of time.

With nation-state is on the down trod, the process of globalization has further rendered the realist perceptions as anachronistic, diminishing the capacity of policy making autonomy of state. Since states are not been able to function within its own capacity because they are having compulsory interdependence between each other, its self-decision making is greatly affected, inevitably compromising all social, political and economic regulations. Also the massive proliferation of people (refugees) across different borders, undermines security balance and renders it sometimes ineffective, stating the terrorism attack on Germany Dec 2016 as a reminder of the catastrophe that a de-territorialized state can encounter..

Throughout the age of discovery and exploration Britain established colonies and took control over India, Britain took control in the 17th century and extended their power over India into the 20th century where it ended[6]. British presence in India lasted centuries and took its toll on India. Although many positive outcomes came from British imperialism in India, the negative outcomes outweighed these. The negative effects had a greater impact on the lives of Indian people of all classes than any of the advantages. The disregard for the wellbeing of India and the exploitation of its people resulted in great tragedies.

The british were very unfair and very unattractive to the american colonies mostly because of power and money the american colonies just wanted independence and self ruling for their own colony that's why we had the american revolution. In the 1760s, shortly after the conclusion of the french and indian war, the british parliament passed a series of laws and taxes on the american colonies.They created unfair laws and taxes on the british.The colonist disagreed with great britain on the fairness of these laws and taxes which led to conflict between the two sides.Eventually, this erupted into the American Revolution.(doc 1) The american colonies wanted to make there own decisions and have their independence.But the british wanted to rule and make laws and taxes for the american colonies also to punish the americans for their wrong doings.The american colonies do organized protest in spite of these laws and actions.Patrick henry responds to the stamp act patrick says in one of his speeches king George is a tyrant he breaks rules he is a threat to his own people.When Patrick Henry puts that in his speech it really lets you know that what they were doing was wrong and for king George to be leading it makes it even worst because he knows what he is doing and did not really care alongs as the british colonies were getting money for the debt they were in after the French and Indian war.

Due to the influence of Marxist principles, there is some level of confusion in the usage of the terms imperialism and colonialism. This is due to the similarities of their practice, ending in an interchangeably usage of both terms. First, both imperialism and colonialism involve political and economic involvement over a particular territory. However, in the past colonies and empires deferred drastically. colonialism practices the relocation of population to a new territory, while maintaining political adherence to their country. This implies a political control over a territory and a loss of its sovereignty, which involves the suppression of individuals. Referring to the extension of sovereignty over a territory establishing political control over it as a source of power. “The term colony comes from the Latin word

Modern colonialism started with the Age of Discovery. Portugal and Spain discovered new lands across the oceans and built trading posts. For some people, it is this building of colonies across oceans that differentiates colonialism from other types of expansionism. These new lands were divided between the Portuguese Empire and Spanish Empire, first by the papal bull Inter caetera and then by the Treaty of Tordesillas and the Treaty of Zaragoza (1529).

However, the idea of forcing the western culture on the original people failed. Also, the Spanish brought foreign diseases with them to the Filipinos. Such as smallpox and leprosy. Finally, under the Spanish rule, the Philippines became part of the Spanish monarchy. This made other countries refuse to trade with the Philippines. There were one thing that was successful in the Spanish colonization, this was the influence of the Spanish language. Once the Philippines knows about the Spanish language, it became the main (official) language in Philippines. Wasn't a long amount of time until they changed it again to Tagalog, their old