The Negative Effects of Colonialism

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“Colonialism is the control or governing influence of a nation over a dependent country, territory, or people.”[1] (Colonialism). Colonialism has caused several factors including the north-south gap which occurred after World War II. Colonialism began in the 1500s; the process works by a mother country using the colony’s natural resources, money savings and their lands to overpower the dependent country. This causes the country to be forced to rely on the mother country. Therefore the world wide scramble for colonies, particularly in the late 19th century- early 20th century had a tremendous negative effect on the economic, social, and political structures of indigenous, non- industrialized peoples. The economic system for a dependent country has many negative effects, once colonialism occurs. The mother countries use all the resources the dependent country has, including its natural resources and agriculture. Over a period of time, the people begin to rely on the mother country’s sources, this causes the economy of the dependent country to be completely reliant on the mother country’s economy. Meaning, if their economy is going through a crisis, so will the dependent country’s economy. The people who originally ran businesses are interrupted by the mother country’s new businesses causing the economy that once had an equilibrium between supply and demand for products, to be disturbed and malfunctioned. Furthermore, this will cause the colony to become much more expensive, because with a larger amount of people, and a larger economy, the larger the expenses. For example, rent and housing will have a greater demand, causing an increase in rent prices. All this may result to having the dependent country... ... middle of paper ... ... Although its wrong, it has been happening since the 1500s and is still happening till this very day. “It is generally recognized that societies undergoing social and economic change are subject to uneven development.” [2] (Colonialism and the economic system) The human race is a greedy race that wants anything it can get its hands on. Therefore, when a government that is stronger economically, socially and politically, it overpowers the dependent country’s original government whether it’s noticeable or through secret because it’s greedy and only cares about surviving and overruling others. Works Cited Colonialism, dictionary. 5 Dec. 2009. < http://dictonary .reference.com/browse/colonialism.> Fenichel, Allen, and Gregg Huff. “Colonialism and the economic system of an independent Burma.” Modern Asian Studies. 5 Dec. 2009. < http://www.jstor.org/pss/311725>

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