African Imperialsm

Compare and Contrast the colonization of the Age of Exploration wit hthe imperialism of the 19th and 20th century ?

During the age of exploration the Europeans set out to find new trade routes to china. After the crusades the Muslims won the holy land. Now the ottomans controlled the trade routes through land which prevented the Europeans from going by land. When the Europeans set out to sea for new trade routes they discovered new land which is today known as North America. These lands were inhabited by people who were Indians. Christopher Columbus went back to Europe and told the Queen that this new land had natural resources such as gold which will benefit Europe. When Christopher Columbus got to America he just tool over the land instead of making a deal with the natives of the land. This can be compared to imperialism. Europeans knew that it will be easy to take over the land. They didn’t have weapons to defend themselves so they just took over the land. The difference is that it wasn’t the Europeans intention to imperialize. As you can see there initial plan was to find new trade route, but instead discovered new land and ended up imperializing it. In imperialism of the 19th century imperialism was planned from the beginning. It was initially the plan to go and imperialize Africa. What the Europeans did is still clearly an example of imperialism.



Is imperialism inevitable? Will/ should we ever strive for pure equality of power and wealth?

I think that imperialism can be inevitable. It all depends on the people being colonized and the colonizer. Geography plays a big part in imperialism. Most of the times the reason for imperialism is to obtain natural resources from other places. If a country has the goods and natural material that another country wants it will eventually lead to imperialism. It also depends if the country being imperialized has the power to fight back. This brings us to Jared diamonds theory of guns, germs, and steel. If the colonizers have better weapons and a stronger army, it will be easier to imperialize. If not, then imperialism can be inevitable.

Pure equality should never be strived for. Humans are born unequal and I think that we shouldn’t be completely equal. The entire world runs on diversity. If certain things weren’t different then the world wouldn’t function well. Imagine all humans were born smart with everything they need. Then there will be nothing to work hard for because we are already all equal. I do believe that even if we are born poor and with less opportunity than other we can still work hard. By working hard and never giving up anyone can reach all their goals and be the best they can possibly can. In the book “Anthem” by Ayn Rand demonstrates how equality in a community doesn’t work, and even if we try it will never be achieved. In the community of anthem everyone is equal. They don’t know who there parents are, the jobs are given to them as well as their names. Think how life will be if you never got meet your parents, and the job that you do for the rest of your life is given to you. This is not how humans are meant to live. We are meant to be different and all special in our own way. That’s why pure equality should never be strived for.