Colonialism And Colonization

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I’ve always known about how countries with more military power come in and takeover another cultures land. I never knew the proper term for it until recently. While in this class several instances of both colonialism and colonization have been brought to my attention and I think it is sickening. During this class, I’ve seen different parts of Africa being colonized as far back as the 1800s and as resent as the 2000s. They seem to be a common target not only for Europeans but for many countries around the world. And Africa is not the only place that continuously deal with this problem Asia, Australia, and countless other places deal with it too. I’m a firm believer that to fix a problem you must first understand it. Which is what I plan to do …show more content…
It’s sad that these were the methods used to create so many societies including The United States. This countries original inhibitors, Native Americans, welcomed the foreigners and were eventually forced off their territory and given areas of land called Indian reservations. I don’t understand how they felt right gifting Native Americans with something that was originally theirs to begin with. Ethnocide often takes place when a foreign culture invades another land. The best example of this for me is found in the Ancient Khoisan Tribe documentary we watched. In the video a man described a time when a man twisting his ear when he was overheard speaking in his native tongue. He was a boy then and now that he is an old man he only remembers a few words of a language he spoke fluently. In fact, only one person in the village can speak their native language. The San tribe also faced ethnic expulsion when they were forced out of their original land into another area. In another documentary we learned about how the people of Zambia are extremely poor but a wealthy corporation is stationed there for the mining of copper but they see no real benefits. In fact, some of the people of Zambia are getting sick from the chemicals being released from the mining corporation and land is being damaged as well. the government of Zambia depends on the little money they do …show more content…
I first wanted to understand the difference between colonialism and colonization because it seemed to the same to me. I now understand that colonialism is the thought of conquering foreign territory while colonization is the action of taking foreign territory. I also looked at what happens to a culture when foreign people take over and some instances where this has happened. The natives always seem to suffer while the intruders flourish. Another thing wanted to discuss was why this happens but all I could come up with is what a person must be like to commit such a selfish act. Unfortunately, there is no valid reason in my eyes for anyone to seize land and property form a people you they consider less than. So, my plan to make sense of colonization and colonialism didn’t quite work out. I wanted to see if there may have been a good reason for foreign incursion but there is never a good reason for harming another culture for your gain. To take over someone else’s land, get rich off them and not at least give them back an equal share is wrong. I can only hope that someday the cultures effected can make a full recovery and the intruders can no longer make money off natural resources in a country that isn’t

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