Imperialism Since the 1800s

Thesis: Global imperialism affected the colonies in ways such as political and cultural. Religions were changed, wars were started, governments were overthrown and all of this was the effect of imperialism. Body: There were many cultural impacts that imperialism had on the colonies. Imperialism was a cultural influence when in Africa; it was converting Africans to Christianity. European missionaries were sent from the “church” to impart their values upon the African people. They set up schools and clinics and churches to spread Christianity and the views of respected religious figures. They displayed for example the “virgin” Mary and baby Jesus as Europeans. Another cultural way imperialism affected the colonies was in warfare. In the late 19th Century there was a huge battle between the Europeans and Africans called the Battle of Omdurman. The Europeans were using their guns, which were called breech-loading rifles which shot much quicker than a standard rifle for the time. The Europeans were fighting against Africans who were charging at them on foot and on horseback with nothing even close to anything as sophisticated as the Europeans guns. This was a cultural change because the Europeans even though they killed many Africans they taught them what warfare was about for that time, it wasn’t just rushing with numbers, but skill and technology. This source may not be perfect. This sends a clear message of European dominance and goes along well with themes of imperialism. This may not be used for factual information but as propaganda to build up ideas of the British army. It is showing how dominant and superior they are to anyone else in the world and how well they can keep their colonies in check. A final cultural impact that imperialism had on colonies was in trade and transportation.

Once the Europeans occupied the Congo Basin, which was the main transportation area, the Congolese needed to find a new way to transport. They disassembled their ships and carried them to Stanley Pool to reassemble them. Imperialism forced the Congolese to completely change what they were doing in life and that was a big cultural impact cause by imperialism.

There were many political impacts as well because of imperialism. The map titled “Colonial Presence in Africa, 1878” shows all the territories accrued by Europeans in Africa. This shows that the political boundaries of Africa have been completely changed because of imperialism. The French occupy nearly all of northwest Africa, and the British occupy nearly the entire eastern half. This shows a huge political impact because the Europeans occupied and gained control of so much African land.

Another political impact from imperialism is in the last document. The white man is treating the black man poorly because the “white man” is representing the European imperialist and the black men are the people living in their colonies and are being forced to work. The European refers to him as just a piece of meat compared to him. He doesn’t care about him at all. This isn’t a one hundred percent reliable source. This is from an uneducated African from hundreds of years ago who didn’t know much or anything about the Europeans. They thought that they were just there to make their lives a living hell, but they weren’t there for those reasons alone. They were trying to make England a better country by expanding their colonies and getting the resources from them.

Missing Voice: In order to further better my answer to this essay question it would be ideal to have an account of someone that was directly affected by this. A regular citizen from an African colony that was taken over and colonized by the Europeans.

There could also be an account from someone who was an important political figure before the Europeans came in and took over. This would give a cultural example with the lifestyle change from the regular citizen. It would also give a political example
by the way the government changes once the Europeans are in power.