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Effect of colonialism on african culture and civilization
The impact of colonialism on African culture
The impact of colonialism on African culture
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Alex Heidel Doctor Aaron Sarr Class Section (Wednesday Aaron Brown) HIST 1330 23 March 2014 The Topic of Modern Colonization “Educate and nurture them as you will, I do not believe that you will succeed in modifying the stock. History shows me one way, and one way only, in which a high state of civilization has been produced, namely, the struggle of race with race, and the survival of the physically and mentally fitter race.” The above words are those of Karl Pearson, who was not only a strong proponent of colonization, but also of eugenics. His words do a great job of illustrating the true intentions of modern colonization. Another strong proponent of colonization was an Englishman by the name of Cecil Rhodes. He is quoted for saying, “… Just fancy those parts that are at present inhabited by the despicable specimens of human beings what an alteration there would be if they were brought under Anglo-Saxon influence.” It quickly becomes apparent that those who were integral to the modern colonization of South Asia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa were not doing so out of the goodness of their hearts. Without delving too deeply into the actual statistics of the good done for these “barbaric” cultures, it may seem as if colonization was a positive occurrence. In all actuality, however, the ulterior motives and imperialistic attitudes of the key players in colonization brought much more harm than gain. The benefits of colonialism were almost entirely one-sided at the unfortunate loss of the other side’s culture, inhabitants, resources and overall way of life. It is easy to fall for the propaganda styled argument that patrons of colonialism constructed to support their actions, but looking at actual evidence sheds light ... ... middle of paper ... ...ed Okonkwo, “[The white man] says that our customs are bad. But how can he understand our customs when he does not even speak our tongue?” This powerful line from the book Things Fall Apart, captures the very essence of the negatives of colonialism. The Europeans did not see the cultures that once flourished or the ancient traditions embedded in the local tribes. They did not see the sense of community and belongingness that their victims once shared. Instead of taking their differences as unique, the Europeans saw them as a threat to their economic progress. They took so much away from the civilizations that will never be regained, simply for their own imperialistic, monetary purposes. European nations may have reached an all time high in terms of economic prosperity, but it was not and will never be worth the loss of humanity and morality necessary to achieve it.
Césaire states that “colonization works to decline the colonizer, to brutalize him in the truest sense of the word, to degrade him, to awaken him to buried instincts, to covetousness, violence, race hatred and moral relativism” (Césaire, 173). This can be seen
" Once the natives have thus been banished from collective memory, at least as people of numerical and cultural consequence, the settler group's moral and intellectual right to conquest is claimed to be established without question." (Stannard, 382) " The fact that indigenous societies had their own system of order was dismissed.they were not fully human, they were not civilized enough to have systems, they were not literate, and their languages and modes of thought were inadequate. " Smith, 28. In some instances the erasing of a history was not enough though; to further justify the take over and occupation of a given area, historians maintain "that there were very few indigenous people in the area of colonization prior to the arrival of colonists.
The beginnings of colonialism, allowed Europeans to travel the world and meet different kinds of people. Their first encounter with the New World and these new peoples, created the opening ideas of inequality. These new people were called indigenous people and alien like. Europeans began to question if these people were really human and had the same intellectual capacity as Europeans did. “Alternative ideas about the origins and identities of indigenous peoples also began to appear early in the 16th century...
British colonialism began in the early fifteen hundreds and even continues today with the British rule of the British Virgin Islands. For centuries, literature has served as a type of historical documentation of colonization as many authors wrote about colonization from both a colonized and a colonizer's point of view. During colonization, and post-colonization, the physical environment of each colony was changed. Using references to A Small Place, A Passage to India, and Robinson Crusoe, I will provide examples of the physical changes to the colonized societies made by England and discuss the reactions of the colonized people.
There are many legacies of colonialism that impacted the development of Latin American republics. As well, many of these legacies still thrive throughout modern Latin America. A legacy that impacted Latin America and still continues to affect it, is the change that colonialism caused with ancestral knowledge. Before colonialism, many parts of Latin America were inhibited by many tribes such as the Mayans. As colonialism swept through these parts of Latin America, these tribes started to diminish because of the “growing and ecological strains”, when this occurred, tribes disbanded and ceased to continued. Now these societies which once flourished, has not gone back to the way that it once was. One of the most profound legacies is religion in Latin America. The Catholic church had a part in the development of the continent. Missionaries helped build premises such as schools, hospitals and other buildings which benefited the communities. Even with the help they provided, missionaries also did harm. They caused people to change the way the practiced their religion. The aspects of the way religion was practiced before changed for the worst. The people had to entirely alter how they practiced religion and by doing so, many parts of their true identity needed to be forgotten. Lastly, colonialism
During the European expedition in America, they founded colonies in North America that attracted thousands of settlers. The Europeans tried to get rid of the Native Americans in order to get what they wanted, which was economic wealth, landowning, slave trade, property ownership, and tobacco. M. Zylstra writes about “Colonization of History”, hybridization of history, and what the colonization of the natives by the Europeans lead to. Zylstra states.
...y and exposure to the existence of the Indian Ocean trade circuit evoked a significant colonialist response. The Europeans utilized their comparative advantage in maritime technology and firepower to subject the Indian Ocean to witness political takeover and exploitation of land, people and pre-established trade networks, in order to fulfill the primary objective of satisfying the needs and wants of the European economy. Through the accumulation of gross profits, the Europeans became a dominant economic and political force worldwide. European greed and desire for wealth was defended through the justifications of economic trade benefits, political/national competitiveness, exploration and religion. These justifications were merely for the purpose of legitimizing their barbaric and inhumane (colonialist) activities that were carried out in the Indian Ocean region.
The ceaseless slaughter, which occurred on the Western Front during World War I, raised uncertainty among the colonies regarding Europe’s suitability to rule. Due to the unnecessary and extensive death of youth in Europe, the famous image of Europeans being superior and civilized beings slowly diminished. As a result, some of the top thinkers and political leaders among the colonized individuals of Africa and Asia openly criticized the Europeans and expressed their overall disillusionment with the West. In the excerpts on page 658 titled, “Lessons for the Colonized from the Slaughter in the Trenches,” the writers from these civilizations champion various aspects of their own culture, both explicitly and implicitly, as alternatives to the West;
It is important to understand that an individual's actions and decisions whether positive or negative will not only have a great impact over their lives but they will also have a tremendous impact over the lives of their families, their societies, and future generations. In addition, it is important to understand that a society's media has a great power to persuade an individual's actions and decisions. The negative actions and decisions taken by Europeans during the era of colonialism did not only have a great impact on their civilization at the time but they changed forever the course of human history. The negative actions and decisions taken by the Europeans were encouraged and supported by their media during the era of colonialism. The most popular media during the era of colonialism were books, news papers, and propaganda. The media played a major role in influencing the way European's behaved; therefore Colonialism in Africa and India had terrible consequences. Colonialism marked the beginning of the era of discrimination between human beings in terms of skin color. In addition, during colonialism the natives of the African continent were forced to become the European's slaves against their own will. Finally, Colonialism exploited the colonies' hard to get natural resources such as Rubber and Ivory for the Europeans own economic benefit. However, what were the reasons that motivated the Europeans to do the terrible things they did during the era of colonialism? The reasons that motivated Europeans to do the things they did during the period of time of colonia...
Some argue that colonization help countries develop faster through industrial revolution and bring modern civilization to the once “underdeveloped” country. Dr. Walter Williams wrote in 2011 that the United States, Australia, and Hong Kong were once colonies and now they’re the superpower countries in the world, but countries that were never colonized like Nepal continued to stay in poverty and is considered a third world country. I argue that colonization does not have to do anything with poverty. For example, the Philippines was conquered by the Spanish for more than 300 years, yet the Philippines is still considered a third world country amongst many southeast Asian countries. In addition, Jamaica was a colony under the British Empire much like the United States, but there is a drastic difference in wealth between the two countries today. Therefore, although the United States and Hong Kong are great examples, colonization does not affect the wealth of the colonized
... nations of the time saw their expansion and imperialism as a profoundly nobly pursuit. The native people of Asia and Africa were considered to be savages and uncultured. The influence of European ideals and ways of life would, in the minds of their conquerors, help these people achieve better lives and a lead them to a better existence.
Exploration led to colonization and was carried out for many reasons but the main reasons include religion, status, economic purposes, resources and militarily tactical purposes. Much of early colonization was for trading of raw materials between continents and countries. Dominant religions sought to spread gospel and “civilize” the indigenous people by making them conform to Western beliefs and ways. Status and recognition was also pursued by country leaders w...
While Collins does a succinct job of examining the economic and political factors that heightened colonization, he fails to hone in on the mental warfare that was an essential tool in creating African division and ultimately European conquest. Not only was the systematic dehumanization tactics crippling for the African society, but also, the system of racial hierarchy created the division essential for European success. The spillover effects of colonialism imparted detrimental affects on the African psyche, ultimately causing many, like Shanu, to, “become victims to the white man’s greed.”
Colonial Mentality theory grounds this study in recognition of colonialism’s lingering impact. Colonial Mentality theory attempts to shift the dominant ways in which people perceive the world (Young, 2003). Young (2003) stated, “Colonialism claims the right of all people on this earth to the same material and cultural well-being” (p.2). Young (2003) asserted that colonialism “names a politics and a philosophy of activism” that challenges the pervasive inequality in the world. In a different way, it resumes anti-colonial struggles of the past. Historically, American powers, deemed the west, subjected many regions, the non-west, to colonial and imperial rule. American powers felt it was their duty to colonize and felt justified in doing so: Colonial
An overwhelming majority of African nations has reclaimed their independence from their European mother countries. This did not stop the Europeans from leaving a permanent mark on the continent however. European colonialism has shaped modern-day Africa, a considerable amount for the worse, but also some for the better. Including these positive and negative effects, colonialism has also touched much of Africa’s history and culture especially in recent years.