The Negative Effects Of Colonialism On The Rise Of Imperial States

“Possession of the right kind of colonies would do more than allow an uninterrupted flow of these valuable commodities to the mother country for domestic consumption and for re-export. The supplying of the colonies with provisions and manufactures would stimulate the home industry.” (Williams, 30.) Colonies were not simply political or expansionary ventures, but entire economies monopolized for the benefit of the home state, helping to satisfy the massive demands created by the same system. Domestic society was clearly transformed by colonialism, but it was much more than that. The domestic economies of European nations were tied to the political power thereof, and in the same way in competition with other nations. The economy became something …show more content…
The globally interactive economy that exploded with colonialism also ushered in the demise of the formal feudal systems and the swift and transformative introduction of capitalist, mercantilist economies and policies in imperial states on the rise. What are the negative results of capitalism to Marx, are undeniably also the result of colonialism to the historical, anthropological and geographical academic. Colonialism transformed the national and global power relations of nations as well. “Mercantile ethnicizations pioneered the imagination of European self and nation-state. Here, too, merchants prefigured modern governmentally by creating the first images of national community (Helgerson 1992).” (Pels, 174) Colonies continued to be the primary means of national expansion, providing a new, efficient way of population and territory growth previously limited by natural and political barriers in Europe. “By the occupation of a colonial area, new political connections [were] created between the colony and the mother country, between the new colony and its neighbours, and in its internal territorial organization.” (107, Church.) It is clear that “colonies were superior as aids to solid national growth” (Church, 21), creating for the first time global empires. While global expansion and trade had previously arose, the history of colonialism shifted …show more content…
It was not merely an economic or political or policy phenomenon, but a force that altered the structural framework by which culture, trade, politics, and nationalism were constructed, and accelerated their evolution at an incredible and widespread scale. The transformational impact on power relations was mainly due to the revolutionary nature of the implications and changes made to every level of the economy. Foreign colonies rich in resource and potential provided monopolized economies for home nations to reap the benefits of. As the products came in, wealth grew and so did domestic markets. This led to more power, more expansion, even more wealth, even more manpower, and larger and further political expansion across the globe. By the 18th century, colonialism had transformed Great Britain into a global empire, and the rest of Europe into competitive but also globally relevant superpowers. Colonialism allowed, for the first time in history, that term to be used. While the colonial transformations were good for some, they were also destructive to others. Colonialism expanded and accelerated the destruction and robbing of entire cultures that began in the Age of Discovery, while also administering and forcefully instilling European culture and worldview into every geographical community it touched. This was the colonial chain-reaction. Natural economic forces