European Colonialism And Social Darwinism

Colonialism became a prominent world practice once the age of exploration was in full swing. At this time, there were many underlying reasons why the Europeans needed to explore and colonize, but many of them could be traced back to the continents’ exhaustion of their natural resources. Too add to this, the Catholic church wanted to bring in new members, and the new world was full of natives who were not familiar with catholicism and it was the perfect opportunity for missionaries to spread the religion. The reasons to colonize just started to become more plentiful, so the European countries did not hesitate. “Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492” is a phrase commonly heard in elementary school classrooms, but less often do we hear

The Europeans needed resources, but even with the economic need, a social justification would be necessary to push colonialism into the force that it became. A Eurocentric attitude soon emerged, solidifying the European cause. “On the Origin of Species” was published by English scientist Charles Darwin in the late 19th century, and not long after would his scientific words be contorted into a racist philosophy. Charles Darwin’s personal beliefs on social injustice are debated, but his book was on evolution and did not contain a hidden social commentary or agenda. People interpreted his writing on natural selection and applied it to human nature, believing that since “it was natural, normal, and proper for the strong to thrive at the expense of the weak,” colonizing the weak Africa was justified by science. Natural selection happens in the wild with other organisms, so they believed that they were obligated to take the resources and land that the weaker humans

But there is one element of colonialism that many people forget: the Europeans’ impact on the environment. Depending on the location, the landscape might be completely different now than it was in its pre-colonial days. In America, settlers exhausted the land by excessive farming, causing the Dust Bowl. In order to produce enough coffee, French colonialists burned the forests of Madagascar to make room for their cash crop. This replaced local subsistence farming, bringing in the need to clear even more land as the displaced local farmers attempted to grow coffee as well as their traditional crops. It is believed that "roughly 70% of the primary forest was destroyed in the 30 years between 1895 and 1925" (qtd. in Kanji 2). This consequence of colonialism lasts much longer than any social repercussions. It can take up to 4000 years for a forest to fully regenerate (Brahic 1). In order to restore the land to its former state, reforestation efforts will need to be implemented as strongly. One of the main issues with this is that some fear the resources are still needed at a high rate, so focusing on regrowth will limit economic development. To compromise, farmers and industries will need to work with environmentalists to install sustainable and environmentally friendly business