The Legacies of Colonialism and Imperialism Essay Example

new Colonial Bureaucracy.

This policy even prohibited Christian missionaries from proselytizing in Islamic regions. These policies would help limit resistance in certain areas but it would also increase the power and influence of certain ethnic groups in some and this would eventually lead to conflicts between ethnic groups that would last long after colonial rule had ended. The establishment of western style education system was mostly the work of missionaries and not Colonial governance missionaries thought that education was essential to their mission and their primary concern was conversion and not education.

The reality was that few children were able to attend primary schools and even fewer were able to finish secondary school. The establishment of western style educational policies and institutions created a new elite who were more westernized and although it would have been believed that these elite would help perpetuate Colonial control they would eventually become the foundation of resistance to colonialism as it occurred in Nigeria (Cases in Comparative Politics pg 475).

In spite of the lack of support for public education by the Colonial governments schooling by those that were fortunate enough to attend school had a dramatic impact. Most of the leaders of independence movements in Africa and the leaders of the post Colonial governments and economies were products of one of the few missionary schools or the even fewer colonial government schools. The physical borders of many countries were also the legacy of Colonial domination. Colonial authorities drew boundaries for their own satisfaction and ruling purposes. They did little to unify the peoples that fell within those boundaries into a national culture.

At times they

did exactly the opposite, the Colonial powers sought to maintain control by creating and encouraging competition between ethnic linguistic, religious and tribal groupings. They mixed enemy tribes and destroyed traditional territories; this usually added up to national confusion and fracturing that had lasting effects and carried long into independence. This policy may have contributed to unresolved tensions between peoples and regions and has led to the division of countries like the split between India and Pakistan and then Bangladesh being created out of Pakistan.

It has also led to religious and ethnic clashes in Nigeria. Even countries that were never under direct Colonial control such as Iran experienced the division and conflicts created by the imperial powers and attempts at carving new territories out of their provinces to accommodate British oil interests in the Persian Gulf. Many Colonial territories such as Nigeria and India were able to remain vast countries in both size and population. These two countries are also rich in natural resources; however this has not kept them from experiencing widespread poverty.

Nigeria in spite of earning billions of dollars in oil revenues has become one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world, one quarter of India’s population remains mired in poverty and one fourth of the world’s undernourished reside in India (Cases in Comparative Politics pgs 274,302,470).

If these vast countries rich in resources have experienced such development troubles after independence, it is no wonder then that one of the characteristics blamed for the slow economic growth of many countries in Africa is their Colonial heritage, the small countries in both size and population created by the

colonial powers make these countries’ economies radically smaller than countries in other regions and make it less competitive with large economies. One can argue that one of the most positive legacies of Colonialism is the introduction of new technologies and the development of roads, rails and other infrastructure. Communications technology such, as the telegraph and transportation methods, such as the railroads.

The British laid some 50,000 mile of track in India and introduced a modern postal service. European governments however had not invested in the Colonies with the goal of bringing them up to the level economically or socially of their own countries. Their primary reason for having established themselves in these foreign territories was economic gains for their own nations. There were no efforts take to stimulate the growth of institutions that could support pluralist societies once the Colonial powers were gone.

Some Colonial institutions and infrastructures that were left behind would aid in the development of some newly independent countries, however in others there were few trained or educated to carry on efficient governments in the post Colonial period. India was fortunate in the sense that it had been exposed to the liberal philosophy and although they had not been fully in control of their destiny under Colonial rule, they had an elite class that had been schooled in the British liberal tradition and many had served in the Colonial bureaucracy. (Cases in Comparative Politics pg 280-281).

Indians had the challenge to attempt to create democratic institutions without the attributes that had made these institutions possible in advance democracies; prosperity, literacy and liberal traditions. Besides the massive poverty and underdevelopment

common among former Colonies of the European powers many also share a tradition of undemocratic repressive and corrupt governments that may also have their roots in the Colonial models. Colonialism and colonial governments were undemocratic, after all the Colonial powers came in uninvited took control of a territory and the Colonized people had no say in how they were governed.

Colonialism did not allow popular participation and decisions and policies were made with little or no input from the Colonized people. Colonial rule was based on law and order and keeping peace through military force was a primary objective of Colonial governments disobedience or resistance to Colonial rule was usually met with force and repression, sometimes culminating in massacres such as the one which occurred in India in 1919 Where British troops opened fire on unarmed Indians, murdering hundreds and wounding over one thousand.

This policy of law and order led the Colonial governments to spend money on maintaining police and army forces that could have been spent on education or other basic needs of the Colonies. This was also the model for military repression and undemocratic regimes that would develop after independence. We cannot blame all the ills of the third world or underdeveloped countries on Colonialism, however it is difficult to ignore that countries that were once Colonized are among the world’s poorest.

Many of the factors that may have led to this were the draining of resources and the exploitations and pillage that these countries endured. It cannot be denied that Colonialism and imperialism had tremendous long term repercussions that have continued to haunt the countries it touched. We

can only hope that these countries can overcome these legacies and are able to transition from instability to democracy and from economic backwardness to economic progress.