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The negative impacts of colonialism
The negative impacts of colonialism
Political impacts of colonialism in Africa
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Colonialism, which was a major cause of the north-south gap that occurred in the period following the Second World War, is the takeover by a nation of foreign territories; making them part of it to aid its own economical, social and political structures. The mother countries succeed in doing that by using the colony’s natural resources, money savings, and their lands, which leads the colony to rely on the mother country and therefore, leaving the country underdeveloped. Hence, the world wide scramble for colonies, particularly in the late 19th – early 20th century, had a tremendous negative effect on the economic, social, and political structures of indigenous, non-industrialized peoples.
Mother countries tend to take their colony’s natural resourses, raw materials, and agricultural products, and then use them to manufacture their own products. This process causes the colony to depend on their mother country’s products rather than their own, which in turn leads to a tremendous deterioration of the colony’s local goods and products. For example. The Ecological and Political Impact of Colonialism).This quote shows how products of the mother country affect the production of goods in the colony negatively. Therefore, many of the farmers and gatherers, who were making a living by selling their local goods and products, would be separated from their families and taken to the mother country to farm and work on plantations and crops.
The mother country also had control over a colony’s infrastructure, making the colony more dependent on its mother country. All these factors led to a tremendous negative effect on the economic structure. Also, a crash in the mother country’s economy would severely shak...
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...igger civil wars and riots which eventually lead to a corrupt government and an uncivilized society.
Sometimes, religious discrimination can induce civil wars as well. For example,(The Ecological and Political Impact of Colonialism) This example shows how discrimination led to a civil war.
In the end, people in a colony will endure great suffering, even if they get their independence because the colony was once fully dependent on its mother country which makes it really hard for it to advance by itself. The scramble for colonies had a tremendous negative effect on the economic, social, and political structures of indigenous peoples. Therefore colonization must be ceased because it did not do any good but only made things worse. Its sole purpose is to seize a country’s natural resources, raw materials, and agricultural products.
In a similar economic revolution, the colonies outgrew their mercantile relationship with the mother country and developed an expanding capitalist system of their own. In England, the common view was that the colonies only purpose was to compliment and support the homeland. This resulted in a series of laws and protocols called th...
One facet of this unique system involved the numerous economic differences between England and the colonies. The English government subscribed to the economic theory of mercantilism, which demanded that the individual subordinate his economic activity to the interests of the state (Text, 49). In order to promote mercantilism in all her colonies, Great Britain passed the Navigation Acts in 1651, which controlled the output of British holdings by subsidizing. Under the Navigation Acts, each holding was assigned a product, and the Crown dictated the quantity to be produced. The West Indies, for example, were assigned sugar production and any other colony exporting sugar would face stiff penalties (Text, 50). This was done in order to ensure the economic prosperity of King Charles II, but it also served to restrict economic freedom. The geographical layout of the American colonies made mercantilism impractical there. The cit...
In the early years of the British Colonies, business and trade were very important because they were major factors of growth. Therefore, there had to be little barriers to trade in the newly founded colonies, and the...
A true saying is “Colonization often does more damage than contribution.” Colonialism encouraged Africa’s development in some areas, but in many others it severely damaged the natural progress of the continent. If colonialism was never imposed on Africa, Africa’s developments would be significantly different and many of the problems that the continent faces now would not exist today. In conclusion, at first it seems that colonialism has both positive and negative effects, but the truth is it only damages the colonized nation.
The practice of colonialism by several nations led to the possession and exploitation of weaker countries. It resulted in the strengthening of the mother country and oppression of the indigenous people of the colonies (Nowell, 2013). Colonial cities were deliberately developed within colonial societies in order to centralize political and economic control. Essentially, colonial cities facilitated the consolidation and exportation of wealth to the dominating nation (The Editors of the Encyclopædia Britannica, 2014).
First of all, imperialism improved the lives of the colonized people by aiding economic growth. The imperial powers prompted industrialization in the colonies, which is the development of advanced technology, leading to modernization in the colony. This is the change to a more modern, a more advanced country with new technology and better standards of living. These improvements then led to an increase in self-sufficiency, being able to maintain the colony’s economy by itself. In addition, industrialism
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 New Spain settled in its new territory, their system began to create its inner cores. New Spain from now on would be under direction of the mother country Spain. Its colonial system would be entrenched in the new colony and therefore, its economy would strive to gain profit to make Spain richer and stronger. Their economy was based on agriculture, ranching, mining, industry, and commerce. For the most labor that would go into doing these jobs would be the indigenous peoples, or “Indians”. While in some cases many were paid decent wages, most were treated unfairly or poorly and would be worked for many long hard hours. In mines, the “Indians” would suffer greatly dust and fumes inhaled in the damp, dark shafts of the mines. Countless died from having worked there. The ranching industry in the north would gain most of its production of cultivation to large amounts of livestock through labor from the “Indians”. Haciendas , with again the labor of “Indians”, would provide throughout New Spain agricultural needs such as, fruits, vegetables, and grains introduced by the Spaniards. “Without slaves and forced labor, who was to carry out the necessary takes of labor?” The answer would be the “Indians” who would go on to build New Spain’s lower aspect of the economy. Soon enough it wasn’t long for many other resisting “Indians” to give in to their new occupant’s demands for labor and start to work for them. It wasn’t long till some “Indians” found refuge.
Throughout history, imperialism by one nation on another has had many negative influences on the nation being colonized. The legacy of European imperialism in Africa in the 19th century was negative. Imperialism negatively affected Africa politically, economically, and culturally. In terms of political changes, European imperialism negatively affected Africa. Firstly, European colonization created enormous conflict between colonists and the African people.
This theory of economics said that colonies are only here to serve and glorify their mother country, in this case Britain. This lead to Britain's passing of the Navigation Laws. These laws mandated that all goods from the colonies had to be carried by British ships, thus making British merchants rich and important because everybody wanted goods form the New World and now they would have to go threw Britain to get them. The Navigational Acts were tolerated to a certain extent but also disobeyed by the common people when necessary. In 1763, the Seven-Year War in Europe and the French and Indian War in the colonies was over, and with the end came a British debt of ove...
Colonialism has plagued indigenous people worldwide and has spelled disaster for countless cultures, languages, and traditions. Over the past 500 years there have been different phases of colonization in Africa as well as other various parts of earth. There were many reasons behind exploration and colonization including economic and tactical reasons, religion, and prestige. Colonialism has shaped the contemporary understanding of individuals from Niger as well as other parts of Africa and other places too, like the Chambri and Tlingit people; mainly in economics. Because of the colonial past of so many cultures, numerous indigenous people today face many issues.
Marker, S, 2003, “Effects of Colonization." Beyond Intractability. Eds. Guy Burgess and Heidi Burgess. Conflict Research Consortium, University of Colorado, Boulder. [Online] available at [accessed on 12 November 2010]
influences of the colonizer, still felt by the countries colonized and their people. The abolition of
The effects of colonialism, whether positive or negative, are subjective wherever colonialism was practiced. Colonialism, a practice of one country exploiting another country for economic gain or for population expansion, affects both the colonizers and the colonized. There are times where the colonizers have profited and the colonized have suffered while there are times where neither the colonizers nor the colonized have profited. Because this is so, any benefits or losses occurring because of colonialism negate each other.
Colonialism was a concept of superiority of one territory over another; it was a concept that originated centuries ago. Colonialism had been put into action throughout a long line of history and did not end after World War II in 1945. Even with resistance and efforts from independent states after the war, colonialism did not disappear and continued as a dominant system. It remained and changed its form, resulted in the process of globalization, which continued to control over newly independent states following World War II. Globalization, a form of colonialism, maintained power for the system over states or regions through economic terms with the development of the World Bank, and its derivation of structural adjustments. This financial institution was formed and contributed to colonialism; it assisted in the economic affairs of colonized nation(s). Along with class, professor Manfred B. Steger's book, Globalization: A Very Short Introduction, and I.B. Logan and Kidane Mengisteab's article, "IMF – World Bank Adjustment and Structural Transformation in Sub-Saharan Africa," discussed the indirect rule of colonial powers through globalization.