Western Imperialism Essay

Western imperialism in the 1800s and early 1900s had positive, negative, and long-lasting effects in countries like India, regions of South East Asia, and Africa. There were many social, economic, and political changes. For example, in Hawaii there was an abundance of sugar cane crops and the U.S sought out to make money by occupying Hawaii. This was beneficial for the businessmen because they were receiving large quantities of money. However, the local peoples deeply opposed the selling of their crops. Throughout the course of imperialism in the 1800s and early 1900s, many other countries and regions such as India, regions of South East Asia, and Africa were faced with hardships while the imperialists raced to gain the most control.

Western imperialism was a positive shift in the 1800s and early 1900s because of the end to internal conflicts, improvement in infrastructure, education and health in Africa, India, and French Indochina. During the British rule of India, or the Raj, there was an end to internal conflicts within the country. Before the British occupations, ethnic and religious groups fought against each other due to bitter rivalry that grew over time. During the Raj however, laws were enforced to reduce violence so the conflicts gradually decreased. Secondly, in French Indochina the infrastructure of the region improved drastically. There was the development of roads, harbors, rail systems that improved communication and transportation of the citizens. This added to the British efforts to modernize India using imperialization methods. Thirdly, in French Indochina education, health, and sanitation was improved. Across the region, schools were built to increase the literacy rates of the population, hospitals were improv...

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...ean imperialists came to these continents they believed that they must spread the Christian religion to the rest of the world. A large amount of the native people of Asia and Africa converted to Christianity. In addition, countries in Asia and Africa still face problems and many are considered “third-world countries” because of being imperialized by European countries for a long period of time. When each country was decolonized and granted independence, the governments were filled with grief and confusion about how to properly control their nation. As a result, economies faced problems and poverty struck the populations. In conclusion, western imperialism in the 1800s and early 1900s had positive long-lasting effects such as spread of a new religion, Christianity and negative long-lasting results such as religious conflicts and turning into “third-world countries.”