Modern Colonization Essay

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 ...

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...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.