Colonialism Previous Document Analysis Assignment

Colonialism was a practice in which strong nations took complete control over smaller, less developed nations. Because the settlers occupied top political posts in the nations they conquered and ruled the weaker nations, the control was both political and economic. Colonialists would use the local population as a source of work while exploitation resources like minerals and cash crops. The nations that the settlers conquered were exposed to their civilization. Among other services, they created institutions of higher learning, businesses, and hospitals. This suggests that it had both advantages and disadvantages. I explain why I believe colonialism was not a wholly negative occurrence in this essay. Some of the things that colonialists exported to the inhabitants of the under-developed countries were helpful to them. They continued with them long after the colonialists left their countries and went on to improve on them. In as much as the colonialists mistreated the colonists leading to their rebellion against the act, they enlightened them on many things and the influence cannot be overlooked. The settlers left many countries better than they found them particularly in the economic sector.

Previous Document Analysis Assignment

My previous assignment was on the American Century which is a period that began in the middle of the twentieth century. During this period, the United States dominated economically, politically and in their culture. The American Century period was after the end of the Second World War. The dominance of the country made it rise in power because of its prosperity and the wealth it gained. The main things that made America become known worldwide were food, machines, movies, clothing and Science. It engaged in the trading of the mentioned goods among others.

The state of the world between 1950 and 1956 was that most countries were trying to settle from the effects of the Second World War. They were developing in many areas especially in trade which helped them to improve their economic status. America was a primary power and it exercised its influence over the other countries through diplomacy, financially and through offering aids to them (Cowans, 24). The country that tried to beat America to their powerful status was Russia. The country had a large number of people and had satellites. America confronted them so that they would not be overthrown as the super power.

Those states that were allies to the frontier between the years 1950 and 1956 stood to benefit from the American Century. They received defense and aid from the country. America got into treaties with countries like France, Netherlands and many others. Japan would not make any changes to its defense without consulting with America first. The primary power was willing to give a part of its territory to countries that proved to be aggressive. Many battles were fought to defend the American influence. It had many atomic weapons and means of delivering weapons that were effective.

Good things exported to countries by colonialists

Religion was introduced into most countries by colonial powers. Most people were used to traditional worship where they worshipped physical features, animals, images among others. When colonialists overpowered under-developed countries, their main aim was to civilize their citizens. They familiarized them with their modes of worship which were mainly Christianity and Islam religions. Christianity was made known to the people by foreign missionaries from the powerful countries. They even translated the Bible into languages that could be understood by locals so that they could be motivated to read it.

A possible reason for the translation was that most of the colonists were illiterate and used their local languages. It would be challenging for them to understand the Bible in the original languages which were Hebrew and Greek or in English which was the official language. There were also Islam missionaries who introduced the religion to colonists (Esposito, 7). The benefit of religion to the colonists’ countries was that it comprised of sets of ethics that the followers observed. This ensured that they were on their best behavior and with proper conduct.

The imposition of colonialism on under-developed countries had a positive impact on their economic status. This is because the settlers introduced trade especially between the different countries they overpowered. Most of the things that the local did not find valuable were put into use and traded with other countries. During the pre-colonial days, barter trade was the common form of exchange between traders. When colonialists overpowered a country, they introduced a cash exchange where people traded goods for money. The economy improved mainly because the colonialists could easily obtain a market for raw and finished products for them. The industries started by the colonialists created employment opportunities which gave the employees a source of income.

Colonization led to the introduction of education in the colonized countries. During the pre-colonial era, people from most countries were illiterate and acquired practical skills by observing what others were doing. With the coming of the colonial and post-colonial era, education was started in almost all the countries. Schools were built where children would be enrolled from an early age to be equipped with the knowledge that they would use later in their life (Page and Penny, 31). Education enabled people to be more creative and innovative and this contributed to advances in technology where people made inventions that made any type of work easier. It gave people a chance to choose the career direction they wanted and study to ensure that they qualified for it.

The colonial era saw the development of infrastructure in the colonized countries. The colonialists needed building structures to set up industries and for their accommodation and administrative purposes. This led to the need for construction of many buildings in the colonized countries. The settlers also required roads that were in good condition to access remote areas where they grabbed lands to manage them easily and also to transport raw materials to industry. This led to the construction of good roads which were beneficial to the inhabitants. Power supply was also introduced because it was required in the industries for the production of final goods.

Through colonization, developing countries adopted some of the aspects of the western culture. They embraced the mode of dressing particularly those countries that initially dressed in animal skins. The countries could now import clothes and wear them before they discovered how they could make their own clothes and use them for trade. Colonist countries adopted the lifestyle of the settlers, their foods, religions, practices and other cultural aspects that improved their way of living.

Conscious efforts made by developed nations to develop policies and strategies to deal with the “Third World Problem”

An initiative to reduce poverty which is mainly the problem with third world countries was started in the year 1999 by the IMF and the World Bank (Miller and Stefan, 18). It suggested that the strategies to poverty reduction would be country driven. In this approach, the problems of a single country are dealt with differently from those of another country. This is because various countries experience different hitches and using a similar strategy cannot be effective. Each country should be assisted in reducing poverty through a unique approach that matches their problem. In this way, the causes of poverty will be addressed at an individual level which is more effective.

Citizens from third world countries are educated on the need to use family planning to manage their population because overpopulation is the biggest challenge in the countries. People reproduce at a high rate and the resources that are available to them become scarce. Due to this scarcity, the citizens live in poor conditions and poverty. To counter the problem of overpopulation, citizens from these countries should be told about the need of having small and manageable families. They should also be discouraged against early marriages which cause them to have a lot of children that they are not able to raise because of low-income.

The World Health Organization which is a non-governmental organization makes effort to distribute healthcare services to developing countries. Third world countries are faced with the problem of living with diseases like malaria, cholera and yellow fever among others. The organization makes strategies to deliver vaccines, medicines for treatment and diagnostic agents to manage the spread of diseases in the countries. They make use of technology to enable them to find solutions to solving the health problem. The World Health Organization makes arrangements of sensitizing citizens from developing countries on preventive measures that can keep them safe from contracting dangerous diseases.

Since the early 1970s, the debt crisis of most countries keeps on growing particularly for the third world countries. The debt crisis refers to a situation where a country has external debts from both the public and the private sector. Harsh and poverty conditions in poorer countries cause them to take loans from other countries or the World Bank. The truth is that most of the countries will never be able to repay all their debts because the situation only gets worse and they end up taking more loans. Nations are trying to eradicate the problem of debt crisis by tapping income generating sources so that they can try to sustain themselves. They also try to get aids from able countries where it is applicable so that they cannot add to their huge debts. Because most of the third world countries get into debts to provide their citizens with basic needs like food, nations are making an attempt at handling problems like food shortage. They do this by offering agricultural inputs at subsidized prices to motivate people to engage in agriculture and set up irrigation schemes for them to get water sources.

Conclusion

In conclusion, colonialism did not bring just negative impacts with it. It served to alert the powerful countries about the existence of developing countries that needed civilization. The colonial governments introduced their culture in the countries they overpowered. They made improvements in every sector and found easier ways to do things for example the use of machines for farming. They established channels where the colonized countries would sell their products to earn income and improve their economic status. Colonization could have contributed to the identification of the “Third World Problem” so that relevant bodies could come up with the necessary strategies to solve it.

Works Cited

Cowans, Jon. Empire Films and the Crisis of Colonialism, 1946-1959. , 2015. Print.

Esposito, John L. The Oxford History of Islam. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. Print.

Miller, A I, and Stefan Berger. Nationalizing Empires. , 2014. Print.

Page, Melvin E, and Penny M. Sonnenburg. Colonialism: : an International Social, Cultural, and Political Encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, Calif. [u.a.: ABC-CLIO, 2003. Print.