Colonialism was a national policy of overseas territorial conquest and annexation adopted by European Powers ever since the early European explorers set out to discover the wider world. This essay examines the impact of colonialism on the development of countries in Latin America, Asia and Africa after their independence.
By the late 19th century, all continents had some form of colonial rule imposed on them. Imperialism by the European powers was carried out in the name of God, Glory or Gold. While continental European powers concentrated more on South America and later Africa, it was the British who had a truly global empire. The Europeans considered the strange ways and religious practices of the natives as barbaric and considered it to be their moral duty to ‘civilize’ the ‘sub humans’ that they had subjugated leading to a superiority complex resulting in racism and racist policies which were put to practice with brutal effect in Africa and Asia, as was typified by the Apartheid regime in South Africa.
In Latin America, the European powers concentrated solely on denuding the continent of its resources leaving behind no real institutions that could govern the country. This led to institutionalized exploitation of the masses, poverty, unstable regimes and provided a fertile ground for Marxist ideologies to take root.
The scramble for Africa’s resources led to economic imperialism of the continent by the western powers and their economic prosperity. This led to the triangular trade carrying slaves from Africa to Caribbean and American colonies, thereon cash crops and raw material to European homeland where manufactured goods were produced. The socio-economic impact of this practice led to the creation of an underclass of ‘native’ population who remained poor, dependent on their rulers and uneducated for most parts. The enslavement of Africans, Manning argues, was a sacrifice that served to benefit the Occident and the Orient (Manning 3) whose masses were spared the forced migrations and thus could in the modern world compete with the West. Africa’s losses of human capital during the slavery period have in a large way contributed to its present poverty.
Humiliation, a general outcome of Western Imperialism, led impetus for the Chinese people and other oppressed peoples of the world to stand up (Hevia 334). The century of subjugation of China and its division into ‘Spheres of Influence’ by the colonial powers at the turn of the century was used by the Chinese Communist Party to whip up nationalism and steer the country in the early years after independence.
It can thus be concluded that colonialism led to a view that it was the White man’s responsibility to civilize the world for their own good, a view that led to development of a superiority complex, brutal oppression of the subjugated masses and racism. Colonialism bred humiliation among those ruled leading to growth of nationalism, counter political ideologies and calls for independence. Colonialism was mostly a negative phenomenon that has led to gross social and economic inequalities across the world.
Works Cited
Hevia, James Louis. English Lessons. Durham: Duke University Press, 2003.
Manning, Patrick. Slavery and African Life: Occidental, Oriental, and African Slave Trades. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990.