1. Colonialism
And Its Legacy

2. What is a colony?
a country or area that is ruled by
another country

3. What is colonialism?
a policy in which a country rules
other nations and develops trade for
its own benefit

4. Europe’s 3 G’s of Colonialism
 God: Missionaries established
colonies to promote Christianity
 Gold: Colonies provided resources
that helped the economy of European
states
 Glory: Colonies were a sign of power

5. Beginnings of Colonialism
1400’s: explorers sailed westward for
Asia and reached the Western
Hemisphere instead
 Started colonizing the territories
 1776: US declared independence
 1800-1824: Latin American states
declared independence

6. Europe Turns to Africa and Asia

7. Top Colonizers
 United Kingdom
 France
 Portugal
 Spain
 Germany
 Italy
 Denmark
 Netherlands

8. French Colonial Practices
Tried to assimilate into French
culture
 Educated an elite group to provide
administrative leadership

9. British Colonial Practices
 Created different government
structures and policies for various
territories
 This helped to protect diverse
cultures, local customs and
educational systems

10. End of Colonialism
 Most African and Asian colonies
became independent after WWII
 Boundaries of the new states
coincided with the former colonial
boundaries (but not always)

11. Few Remaining Colonies
 US: Puerto Rico, Guam, US Virgin
Islands
 France: French Polynesia, Mayotte
and New Caledonia
 Netherland: Netherland’s Antilles
 United Kingdom: Pitcairn Island

12. Political Legacy of Colonialism
Colonial political systems were un-
democratic—no mechanism for the
people to officially express their
opinions

13. Political Legacy of Colonialism
Law and order was a primary
objective of colonial governments—
more money spent on police force and
army then spent on education, housing
and healthcare combined.

14. Political Legacy of Colonialism
Colonial governments lacked the income
and revenue needed to develop a
government system able to go beyond
maintaining law and order—unable to
provide basic infrastructure
(roads/communication networks) or
social services (education, healthcare,
housing)

15. Economic Legacy of Colonialism
Emphasis on exploitation of raw
materials for export—profits from
export sent back to Europe and not
spent to promote social and economic
developments in the colonies.

16. Economic Legacy of Colonialism
High demand for labor—mass
migration of Africans to labor in poor
working conditions for long hours and
inadequate pay

17. Social Legacy of Colonialism
Movement of people—resulted in
dislocation of peoples that impacted
society and culture (beliefs and
practices were challenged in these
migrations)

18. Social Legacy of Colonialism
Dislocation of families—men
recruited to work in
mines/plantations, leaving women and
adolescents to take on new roles
Extended family structure changed
to nuclear families

19. Social Legacy of Colonialism
Urbanization—occurred rapidly and
resulted in changes to economic
activities and occupation, and the way
people lived

20. Social Legacy of Colonialism
Religious Changes—prior to colonialism
less than 5% were Christians, now almost
50% of Africans identify themselves as
Christians
French and British discouraged mission
work in Muslim areas—Islam able to
consolidate in certain African colonies

21. Social Legacy of Colonialism
Education—Koranic schools became
widespread and students learned
Arabic (to read the Koran) in Islamic
areas.
Christian missionaries taught Africans
to read the Bible in their own language
to help convert them.