Effects Of American Colonialism

The motivation behind conquering colonies in Africa starts with the opportunity to thrive economically. In document 9 from the Resolution of the German Social Democratic Party Congress 1900, it states that acquiring new lands, “…corresponds…to the greedy desire of the bourgeoisie for new opportunities to invest… [in] new markets. This shows one of the motivations for colonization; to invest and open new markets in the new lands in hope to make a profit. The desire for new markets in Europe was getting bigger and bigger now that the population was rising and jobs were becoming scarce. Colonizing new areas in Africa would lead to more imports and exports leading to more jobs which seemed appealing to most people. Supporting the idea of creating a better economy is document 4, which is a speech in 1888 by Joseph Chamberlain. In his speech he says, “We have suffered much in this country from depression of trade. We know how many of our fellow-subjects are at this moment unemployed.” This quote shows that Britain’s trade is declining with other nations and many of the people are unemployed. This is motivation for the British to colonize in Africa because with new colonies in Africa, trade would

The first chapter in Boahen’s book is titled “Eve of Colonial Conquest” and this section gives the readers a background of the colonialism in Africa through a look at the fundamental economic, political, and social changes that occurred just a few decades before colonialism took root. Boahen states that the trade of “natural products” is the most significant economic change in Africa by 1880. Just before the trading of “natural products” slave trades were abolished.

For centuries, European nations had been trading slaves, gold, ivory, and more with the west coast of Africa. Throughout the early 1800s, Europeans barely knew anything about the rest of the country of Africa. This quickly changed as Europe grew a sudden interest in exploring the rest of the country and taking advantage of their many valuable resources. Many wonder what motivated Europeans to Imperialize Africa, or extend their country’s power throughout Africa. The driving forces behind European Imperialism in Africa were the strive for ultimate power in Africa between competing countries, the need for money and technological advancements in European civilizations, and the constant attempt for Europeans to spread their cultures throughout

Between the period from 1880 to 1914, European powers went after overseas empires in Africa. The governments and political leaders of the European powers believed that this colonization of the African empires was necessary to maintain their global influence. A second group of people supposed that African colonization was the result of the greedy Capitalists who \only cared for new resources and markets. The third group of people claimed it to be their job to enlighten and educate the uncivilized people of Africa. Although the political leaders of European powers encouraged colonization of African empires to advance their nation’s global influence, others argued that it was only for the profiteering of the Capitalists who sought new

Some effects of American Imperialism were in the Western Hemisphere and the pacific with Spanish war and the creation of a colonial empire. Also there were some positive effects over America imperialism like the further protection of human rights ands social institutions.

Since the beginning of modern civilization, man has had a burning desire for land. European nations in particular are well known for being those of imperialists, the act of extending a nation’s power or economy through the process of acquiring land. The strive for power in Africa can be seen dating back to the late 18th century, and continued throughout the early 20th. Europeans practiced imperialism in Africa for several centuries for reasons including economic opportunities, national pride, and the interpreted moral responsibilities.

It is easy to see that throughout history there have been many instances of colonization. Colonization is defined as “The action or process of settling among and establishing control over the indigenous people of an area” (Oxford Dictionary Online). In many cases, this has been extremely detrimental to cultures of other civilizations. Culture is “the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group” (Merriam Webster Online). The overly ambitious use of colonization has not only stripped people of their culture and identity, but caused more harm than help.

Imperialism helped shape the world into how it functions today. Since cross-world travel has been introduced to the European powers, Britain led the charge in colonizing massive parts of the world. The travel and trade across the world had boosted the lifestyle of the rich and gave the poor a good chance to restart their lives and become prosperous in the New World. Imperialism helped shape the world into how it functions today. Throughout the world, Great Britain has colonized multiple major countries for the profit of the mainland.

Imperialism had many positive effects even when people neglected it. There were different effects in the certain countries which were China, Middle East, Africa and Asia. The one that had the most positive effects were India. The Europeans wanted to modernize these countries and that is what they did. The improved transportation with boats, railroads, and trains and had advantages that involved stronger economies, organized government, powerful militaries, technology and weaponry, advanced medical knowledge,etc.

Between 1870 and 1914, European countries ceased about ninety percent of Africa. Native Africans faced political, military, and imperialism pressure from various European countries. After the end of the profitable slave trade in Africa, due to abolishing of slavery, Europeans explored for new guaranteed markets, and heavily profitable investments. In addition, European countries were under industrialization, the demand for raw materials heavily increased. Europeans as well faced power struggles with one another and competition for political influence in Africa. European power struggle ultimately lead to the “Scramble for Africa.” Europeans undertook the process of imperialism in Africa in the late 19th century by exercising political, economic, and military power on their African colonies. Some African leaders and societies welcomed Europeans in hopes to protect and develop their native land. Some African leaders and societies responded to European occupation by gathering resistance groups in attempt to fight off foreign imperialists.

Colonization was a huge part of making America the way it is today. Without the colonization of America there would be no migration which means no settlers. Jamestown was the first English colony with a permanent settlement and the peak of colonization. Colonization basically started with Christopher Columbus and continued to grow from there. Other European countries such as Portugal, Spain, and England became interested and wanted to colonize America because of the want of land and power. England finally established a successful colony that grew and soon had a profit from having plantations and growing cash crops. Plantations were a huge part of the success of colonization because they allowed the colony to gain money and grow the economy.

There have been many discussions and debate regarding the issues of colonialism. It is hard to argue that colonialism did not have any negative impacts on people. Those affected by it are divided into two specific categories, that of the colonizers and the colonized. However, there exist people who belong to neither category but who were just as affected by colonialism as the colonizers and colonized. Peter van Dommelen argues that the stories of these people as well as an understanding that the simple categorization of colonizers and colonized does not always apply are both necessary factors in properly understanding the history of a postcolonial era. The following essay aims to elaborate on van Dommelen’s argument as well as discuss pop

Throughout history, colonialism has impacted many cultures. Some have been completely transformed into something new, while others didn’t really change. Colonialist come into a culture and try to alter it for their own good, and to mirror their beliefs. Even with forceful colonialist, sometimes they didn’t always make the changes they want with a certain culture, some stuck with their culture, no matter who came in and tried to change it. Colonialism in cultures did not always strip it of its identity, but was incorporated in with the preexisting culture native to that part of the world.

When looking back on history, it becomes very clear to see the negative role colonialism played in the past and its shadows that still remain today. Colonialism was bad for the world because not only did it cause millions of deaths and tragedies but it also ruined globalization, thereby becoming the catalyst for the stark income inequality now seen between and within modern nations. Because of the unequal playing field colonialism created natural laws on capitalism were influenced and the whole world was pushed off point. It is crucial to look upon the past, learn from its mistakes, and then use that information to try to find a solution to the current global issues nations deal with.

However, the economic advantages to the colonist have been argued to come at the cost of the economies of the colonies. Those that argue that colonisation was economically detrimental to the colonies often point to the short-term impact of deindustrialisation and the long-term impacts of inequality and the inability of colonies to pursue development policies, that the European powers had on their colonies. Deindustrialisation of colonies was caused by the industrialisation of the European powers which shifted the colonies comparative advantage from manufacturing to agriculture. In addition to this, colonies had to export primary products to pay for capital imports form their metropolitan state (Clark, 2007, p.315), further shifting their comparative advantage towards agriculture as they increased their productivity in the primary sector to pay for more imports of industrial goods. This source is an academic book and can be taken at face value to the author's use of good academic practice. Due to deindustrialisation, the Indian economy shrunk from generating 23% of world GDP to a third world country (Tharoor, 2017), clearly showing that colonisation was detrimental to the colonies as not only did it prevent growth through industrialisation it leads to economic decline. Whilst this source is a newspaper article rather than a more reliable medium, its information is in line with other reliable sources that demonstrate the deindustrialisation of many colonies, thus its