European Colonization Of South Africa Essay

At the beginning of the 17th century imperialization was all the rage for European countries. Europe, who started industrialization, was the most advanced continent on earth. With the production of more and more products, resources were needed. EXpeditions of other continents lead to the findings of many resources that would prove to be very useful to the Europeans. These other continents didn’t take too kindly to the idea of Europeans taking their stuff, but Aa the time Europe the most advanced weaponry in the world and they were not afraid to use it.
South Africa was first colonized by the Europeans in 1652, specifically the Dutch. The Dutch first colonized South Africa to claim it as a rest stop for their ships that were traveling to Asia. They

came in, and with a mindset of European superiority and very advanced weapons, easily took the land from the native South Africans.
The South Africans fought back with the Europeans with little prevail. Though the Africans far outnumbered the Europeans, the weapons the Europeans brought to the fight crushed the weapons the South Africans had. If the Africans attacked with knives and fists the Europeans would come at them with guns. If the Africans attacked with spears they would be destroyed by the Europeans cannons. The taking of land was plenty bloody in itself but the fight would get much bloodier and a lot more devastating with the discovery of certain valuable resources.
In the 19th century a very pretty rock was found in a South African river. It would be discovered that this pretty rock was a diamond and much exploitation would ensue and a decade later gold would be discovered. The South African people had seen their people taken into slavery for a span of 200 years but once the British colonized South Africa slavery was abolished. With the discovery of valuable materials a long strain of exploitation would begin and the South Africans would be set back at least a hundred years.
Diamonds and gold, along with many other valuable resources were finding a place in industry. The only way to get these resources out is through workers and the cheapest most convenient workers were the Africans. Though the South Africans were not technically slaves they worked strenuously long hours in inhumane working conditions and were paid barely enough to live off of.
Another way the Europeans exploited the Africans was through their own sources of food.

Crops such as cotton became such a lucrative product that farmers that grew food for the communities began to grow these “cash crops” instead. With food crops decreasing famine became a real threat in parts of South Africa.
This treatment of the South Africans would lead to intense racial problems in South Africa, most notably in the 20th century. In the 1940’s laws were passed similar to the Jim Crow laws in the United States. These laws were based on white supremacist views making every other type of people on the same level as some kind of subhuman.
In an argument that the colonization of South Africa benefited the South African’s more than harmed them one might bring up the points of the introduction of modernized ideas and technology. Forcing anything on people is never a good thing even if they are forced with good intent. Just like Europe and Asia, Africa would have more than likely caught up to the advancements of the other continents without outside influence. The colonization of South Africa devastated the groups of native people, destroyed the land, and brought about hundreds of years of racial tension and

inequality.

Jamaica, like South Africa, was a victim of colonization. The Spanish were the first to colonize Jamaica in the late 17th century. Jamaica was not as valuable a place as Cuba was so the Spanish didn’t put much effort into defending it and the British soon took the island for themselves and under their rule paradise would turn deadly.
The British were very interested in things that could grow in the warm tropical weather. A huge part of the Jamaican economy then, and even now, is the growing of sugarcane. Harvesting sugar cane is very hard work and the British were looking to maximize profits so they immediately turned to the slave trade.
Not only were slaves taken from Africa but the native people, the Taino people, were also taken into slavery. Not only were the Taino enslaved but they were also exposed to many European diseases that they had no immunity to. The population of the Tatinos was ravished. In 50 years, according to some historians, more than eighty percent of the Taino population was wiped out.
The slave population grew so much that revolts become frequent and more and more successful. The revolts were becoming so successful that the costs for repairs and lost work made slavery less profitable and lead to the end of the slave trade to Jamaica in 1807. The slaves were then put right back into a loophole of sharecropping and were really still really slaves.
Slavery and exploitation set Jamaica back and the effects are seen even today. Jamaica is in the top ten in crime rates in the world. Today it is a poverty stricken country that's main economical force is tourism.
Both South Africa were colonized by the Europeans and both countries growths were stunted, The growth of a nation takes time and is not something to be forced on the people of the land. Without Europeans, Jamaica and South Africa would have caught up to the advancements of the Europeans.