Milestones of Colonization - Essay Example

COLONIZATION I. Definition of Colonization Colonization is a physical movement of peoples into areas wherein their race or nationality is sparse or non-existing at all. In these areas settlements, colonies, city-states, and regions are set up with an effort to reap financial gain from the settlements resources (i.e., such as a larger land area). Colonization is a term not to be confused with imperialism or colonialism. Colonization is a larger and more definitive category, encompassing small to large immigrations of an established population to a 'new' area, and an expansion of their cultures, customs, beliefs and religions into the new area. Though this process may or may not victimize indigenous populations, history often times demonstrates otherwise, as we shall see later in this essay. II. Classical Period of Colonization In ancient times, during the bonze age, maritime nations, such as the city-states of Greece, often established colonies. "Eventually Hellas spread over an enormous area, including the Black Sea littoral to the east, the coastal areas of Asia Minor, the Aegean Islands, Greece proper, southern Italy and most of Sicily, and continuing west on both shores of the Mediterranean to Cyrene in Libya and to Marseilles and a few Spanish coastal sites" (Finley 1963). These colonizations appear to have been an effort to acquire more living space emphasising the farming of uninhabited or sparsely habited land. Land suitable for farming during ancient and classical periods was often claimed by migratory barbarian tribes whose livlihood was met by hunting and gathering. "The Roman Empire was another great colonization of ancient times. The Roman Empire conquered a large part of Western Europe, North Afraica and West Asia. Though in North Africa and west Asia they were often conquering civilized peoples, as they moved north into Europe they often encountered little more than rural tribes with very little in the way of cities. In these areas, waves of Roman colonization often followed the conquest of the area. Roman Empire, political system established by Rome that lasted for nearly five centuries. Historians usually date the beginning of the Roman Empire from 27 BC when the Roman Senate gave Gaius Octavius the name Augustus and he became the undisputed emperor after years of bitter civil war. At it peak, the empire included lands throughout the Mediterranean world. Rome had first expanded into other parts of Italy and neighboring territories during the Roman Republic (509-27 BC), but made wider conquests and solidified political control of these lands during the empire. The empire lasted until Germanic invasions, economic decline, and internal unrest in the 4th and 5th centuries AD ended Rome's ability to dominate such a huge territory. The Romans and their empire gave cultural and political shape to the subsequent history of Europe from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance to the present day" (Encyclopedia Encarta). III. Dark and Middle Ages During the middle ages, current great cities of Europe in Spain, Germany, and France began as Roman colonies. Cities such as the German city of Cologne was one example and London was another which the Romans called Londinium. As the decline and collapse of the Roman Empire progressed, noting that it was not an overnight collapse, the movement of large-scale migration of people in Eastern Europe and Asia, often cealled barbarians, thrust their way into southern and western Europe causing the Roman Empire to slowly lose its entrenched holds of peoples in those areas. The Dark Ages also saw huge migrations of tribal peoples consolidating new colonies all over Western Europe, thus contributing to the development of many modern day nations of Europe. The Huns colonized Hungary, the Franks in France and Germany and the Anglo-Saxons in England. During this period, another great colonizing people were the Vikings of Scandinavia. The Vikings were fierce conquerors and set out to pillage and terriorize the coastlines of Northern Europe, especially the British Isles. As time went by, the Vikings established colonies that today are known as York, Novogrod and Dublin, in Ireland. Moreover, the Vikings also discovered Iceland and established colonies there before moving into Greenland. There is even some evidence that the Vikings may have discovered America, before Christopher Columbus, however, this premise has never been satisfactorily proven. During the Middle Ages we saw the discovery of America and the colonization of the Western Hemisphere shortly before the Colonial Era. IV. Colonial Era Initially, after the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus and other modern day Europeans, there was little colonization, but as time swept by colonization did begin to take root with a mixed bag of result with some results being dire. Indigenous peoples began to die out due to new diseases from Europe. During the 17th Century, the Netherlands, France and England began to colonize the Americas. One of the more evil aspects of colonization was the desire for cheap labor in the Americas by various Euorpean nations which led to the African slave trade and the colonization of Africans in the Caribbean and elsewhere in the Americas. Conversely, in some cases colonization contributed to facilitating the entry of indigenous peoples trapped in unsustainable economies into more progressive forms of socio-economic livelihoods. Though this issue is an ongoing debate, it can be said that colonization at times was beneficial and at other times it was not, especially when colonized people were deprived of their languages, religions and cultures. Nonetheless, this was not always the case as can be seen in the Caribbean today. The Caribbean today is an area with a rich cultural heritage that goes back for hundreds of years. V. Modern Colonization/Post-Colonialism A new type of colonization, or post-colonialism, refers, in essence3, to modern immigration wherein immigrants seek to preserve and extend the habits of their civilizations and culture in their adopted country. The authors of each of the text books required for this essay, Sam Selvon, Jamaica Kincaid, and Tsitsi Dangarembga are all immigrants who left their native countries at some point to experience other cultures, either to study or live. As writers they were able to combine their respective backgrounds with life in a new country or culture and discuss, through their characters, the lonliness suffered, the triumphs, the disillusionments, and the awareness of their places in the world and how they adapted to a new set of rules - sometimes with humor, and sometimes with anger! VI. Nation-States "The term nation-state, while often used interchangeably with the terms unitary state and independent state, refers to the parallel occurrence of a state and a nation. This happens very unusually in reality, though many politicans and activists have attempted to claim that their state is a nation-state, in order to try and reduce tension between differing ethnic groups (Answers Corporation: Online Encyclopedia 1999-2006)." A nation-state is a specific form of state (a political entity), which exists to provide a sovereign territory for a particular nation (a cultural entity), and which derives its legitimacy from that function. The compact OED defines it as: "a sovereign state of which most of the citizens or subjects are united also by factors which define a nation, such as language or common descent" (Wikipedia 2006) Conversely, a classic non-national state was a multi-ethnic empire. These non-national states were ruled by a king or an emperor. The Ottoman Empire was ruled by a Sultan. In Europe and elsewhere, before 1850, the non-national states belonged to many ethnic groups and they spoke different languages! Moreover, nation-state implies a commingling of both state and nation. There are no ideal nation-states but some examples would be Japan and Iceland, which are considered a model to the understanding of the parameters of what a nation-state entails. Nation-state can also be said to promote a single national identity, generally beginning with a language that is universal within the nation-state (e.g., Italy, France, and Germany). In some instances, states were conqured or overthrown simply by nationalist uprisings ushering in the existence of a nation-state. Often times future nation-states became consolidated by trade and political assimilation along with habitation by one ethnic group. In many respects nation-states are similar to the classical city-states of antiquity. Germany, for example, was a lose confederation of city-states that did not see incorporation until Bismarck brought all of Germany into one fold through the Bismarckian wars. "From 1871 to 1914, Europe had fewer separate states, fewer land frontiers and a simpler political geography than at any other time in its history. Except for the voluntary the voluntary separation of Norway and Sweden there were no changes in this period outside the Balkans" (Palmer and Colton 1965). VII. Classical City State Origin In ancient Greece, the polis or city-state was in essence a self-governing state and because the polis was small in living area in addition to population, thus the term was coined city-state. Words such as political derived from the Greek word Polis means a self-governing state. "At first, the polis, or city-state, was only the elevated, fortified site -the acropolis - where the people could take refuge from attack or could worship in the local temple. With the growth of commerce and colonization during the seventh century B.C., another center developed below the polis, called the asty, where people lived and traded. In time, the two parts combined, and the territory surrounding the acropolis and the asty was brought under the jurisdiction of one unit - the polis." (Wallbank, Taylor, Bailkey 1961). This period of time was known as the Bronze Age and during this timeframe there were many small city-states that are listed in Homer's Iliad: Mycenae, Sparta, Pylos, Athens, Corinth, and Ithaca. VIII. Human Suffering from Colonization A. Spanish Colonization The colonizing of America was left to the Spanish during the sixteenth century as they extended their domination in the New World. After Christopher Columbus discovered America, colonization of the West Indies began immediately and within a few short years the four larger islands of the West Indies were complexly under Spanish control, and the native inhabitants were largely killed off while countless more were reduced to slavery. At this time, the coasts of both South and Central America came under Spanish rule and Cortez began his merciless expedition subjugating the Aztec empire. In a comparatively short time the whole of western South America from the lower boundary of Chili to the Caribbean coast was Spanish territory. B. Indigenous Peoples of the Americas As European colonization of the Americas accelerated there were drastic changes to the lives, religions, and cultures of the indigenous inhabitants. Their populations were not only ravaged by the privations of displacement by European diseases and warfare that literally decimated their numbers and cast the rest into slavery. The Native Americans had no immunity to chicken pox and measles. In addition, a act of genocide was commited against these populations when blankets, infected with small pox, were given to the Native Americans to sleep on - contributing to huge epidemics that obleberated countless human lifes. Some historians estimate that up to 80% of some native populations may have died due to European diseases. The most controversial question relating to the population history of American indigenous peoples is whether or not the natives of the Americas were the victims of genocide. After the Nazi-perpetrated holocaust during World War II, genocide was defined (in part) as a crime, unique in its barbarity, and committed with express intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such. Without question, genocide was a degrading and shameful aspect of of colonization of indigenous peoples in the Americas. C. American Indians in the United States During the American Revolutionary war, the United States competed with the British for the allegiance of Native Americans east of the Mississippi and most of the Indians who joined the struggle sided with the British because they felt that the British would halt colonial expansion into American Indian land. After the conclusion of the Revolution war, many of the American Indians were stunned to learn that after the war the British had ceded vast amounts of territory to the United States without so much as informing them. After the war, the United States was eager to push forward, often times with force, and expand across the nation which incrementally compelled large numbers of American Indians to keep move west. In 1830, president Andrew Jackson conducted treaties to exchange Indian land east of the Mississippi River for lands west of the river. Ultimately, conflicts broke out. These conflicts were generally known as the Indian wars. Some well know conflicts broke out such as Wounded Knee in 1899 and the Native American Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876. The United States government, in 1876, ordered all American Indians to move into reservations. These reservations set about the decline of American Indian culture that had developed for thousand of years! Millions of people were living in the Americas when Christopher Columbus arrived in 1492. As the European colonization contuined to swell with millions of immigrants, some willing and some not, the populations of indigenous peoples began to decline. This decline has been a long standing esposide of controversy and debate. With merit, many people believe that Native Americans were the victims of genocide. Even though epidemic disease was by far the leading cause of death and population decline, war was also a pominant factor in this decline. The Europeans brought to the Americas arsenal of weapsons such as gunpowder and metal weapons which made the killing of indigenous peoples profound and deadly. Even though massive death from disease was prevalent, the Europeans approach to war to something unknown to these populations. D. Exploitation has also been cited as a cause of native American depopulation. The Spanish conquistadors, the first settlers in the New World, ruthlessly divided the conquered lands with millions of inhabitants among themselves and ruthlessly ruled as feudal lords thus treating their subjects as something between slaves and serfs. Nonetheless, some Spanairds objected to this exploitation. Bartoleme de las Casas, a Spanish colonist, a priest, founder of a Utopian community and first Bishop of Chiapas, was a scholar, historian and 16th century human rights advocate. Las Casas has been called the Father of anti-imperialism and anti-racism. Others take a more guarded or modest view of his achievements. What there is little or no dispute about is that Las Casas was an early and energetic advocate and activist for the rights of native peoples (Bartolome de las Casas)." Las Casas came to realize that the treatment by Spanish Conquistors was immoral and was partly responsible for the repeal of laws that amounted to the fact that the indigenous peoples were subjected to slave labor. Las Casas traveled back and forth from America to Spain and he was able to bring about discourse and debate of the unconscionable living conditions that were prevalent in the New World. "Las Casas is a shining example of resistance to the ill treatment of native peoples. His works were translated across Europe. He likely influenced the French essayist Montaigne's views about the new world (Bartolome de las Casas). THE LONELY LONDONERS BY SAM SELVON "Samuel Selvon (1923-1994) was a Trinidad-born writer of mixed Indo-Trinidadian and European descent. Selvon was educated at Naparima College, San Fernando before moving to London, England, in the 1950s, and later to British Columbia, Canada. He is known for novels such as "The Lonely Londoners" and "Moses Ascending" (Wikipedia 2005). Born in South Trinidad May 20, 1923, Selvon was the son of an Indian father and half-Indian, half-Scottish mother. Though he grew up in a Trinidad multi-racial society, he always felt as if he were an outsider. In his book The Lonely Londoners, Selvon describes a group of Caribbean immigrants and the experiences they had in London in the 1960. With detail he is able to portray the effects of immigration and the loneliness that often times effects immigrants. It is not only the loneliness that Selvon describes in his book, but it is also the racism and how individuals are able to overcome this drawback and find a type of truth and even mirth in the difficult aspect of learning how to live in a different culture, and not only just live in a different country or culture but the necessity of keeping one's own background and culture alive! LUCY BY JAMAICA KINCAID Jamaica Kincaid was born in 1949, on the island of Antigua. She lived with her stepfather, a carpenter, and her mother until 1965. At that time she was sent to Westchester, New York to work as an au pair. Her experiences in New York as an au pair prepared the groundwork for her novel Lucy. Though many critics considered Kincaid's "Lucy" to be an angry book about feelings of despair in a new country, other have seen the book as a brilliant expose into a world of a young girl and how she copes successfully with the disappointments, frustrations and triumphs of finding her own way in a world much different that the one she was born and reared. Kincaid is able to demonstrate through Lucy the kind of tenacity that it takes to become successful in a world riveted with racism and prejudices. TSITSI DANGAREMBGA In 1959, Tsitsi Dangarembga was born in African (formerly referred to as Rhodesia) and now called Zimbabwe, in the town of Mutoko. Dangarembta spent her childhood in Britain. She began her education in a British school after returning to Rhodesia with her family. She finished her secondary schooling in a missionary school in the City of Mutare. She later went back to England to attend Cambridge University to study medicine, however, Dangarembga was not destined to stay in Britain, became homesick and alienated, and returned to her African homeland. These feelings of alienation were the groundwork for her novel "Nervous Conditions" which is a partially autobiography of a story about a young girl whose quest for knowledge and education is the motivating factor in her life. We see through Nervous Conditions the effects of education and exposure to other human vistas. CONCLUSION As we have seen, colonization is a kaleidoscope of dimensions that has affected the lives of millions of people from the beginning of time. As we have seen in this essay, the effects of home and hearth are issues that are incalculable to measure, both good and bad. Colonialism in many instances was successful in bringing socio-economic prosperity and parity to indigenous people around the globe. We have seen through the reading texts that immigration was a venue wherein three individuals were able to rise from their respective homelands and experience new vistas and learn about other cultures while maintaining their own senses of themselves and their ancestral backgrounds and heritages. Sam Selvon had mentioned that he always felt alienated and made to feel apart from and these feelings are manifested brilliantly in his book "The Lonely Londoners." On the other hand, Jamaica Kincaid, learned to deal with the differences between her West Indies upbringing to embrace the life she lived in New York City and her efforts to become a notable author and writer. Though Tsitsi Dangarembga was born in Africa and educated in England, she chose, because of homesickness, to return to Africa. Her book "Nervous Conditions" details explicitly the frustrations of an education elsewhere and how it affected her relationships with Africans on her return. We have seen the calamitous downside of colonization of Native Americans and how such colonization massacred the lives of millions of people for no other reason that greed and profit! Throughout the annuals of human history we have seen the migratory adventures of peoples leaving one place to inhabit another in the hopes of building a better existence for all. The quest to push forward and discover new vistas and homelands may be inherent within humanity's makeup. It would be interesting to see forward in the millennia to come how the human race explores outer space and what benefits that exploration will reap. BIBLIOGRAPHY Answers Corporation: Online Encyclopedia, Thesaurus, Dictionary Definitions and more. Copyright 1999-2006. www.answers.com/topic/nation-state Bartolome de las Casas. www.oregonstate.edu/insturct/phl302/philosophers/las_casas.html Finley, M.I. The Ancient Greeks. New York: Penguin Books, 1963. p.17. Palmer, R.R., et al. A History of the Modern World. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1965, p. 527 Roman Empire. Encyclopedia Encarta. www.crystalinks.com/romanempire.html Wallbank, Walter T., et al. Civilization Past and Present. Chicago: Scott, Foresman and Company, 1962, p. 41 Wikipedia. Nation State. (2 January 2006). www.wikiipedia.org/wiki/Nation-State Wikipedia. Sam Selvon. (20 September 2005). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Selvon Read More