Colonialism

Pre-European Colonialism

Although most world history texts cite the European Age of Exploration as the origins of colonialism, substantial evidence suggests that African and Asian colonial settlements predate European settlements by centuries. The Olmec heads found along the Mexican Gulf Coast provide the most striking evidence of African colonies in the Americas more than 3,000 years ago. North African rule over European territory is also well documented through the legacy of the Moorish societies in Spain and France and Hannibal's reign over Rome and Italy. Genghis Khan led the most notable Asian colonial establishment by conquering nations and installing the Mongol Empire across Asia, Western Europe, and North Africa. The Mongol Empire was the largest contiguous empire in world history.

The First Wave of European Colonization

European colonization, which has its roots in Portuguese and Spanish exploration of the 15th century, in many ways shaped present-day debates over colonialism. Portuguese explorers successfully established trading [Page 1062]posts on the Atlantic islands and along the West African coast and eventually rounded the Cape of Good Hope to reach India in 1498. In 1492, Spain financed Christopher Columbus's voyage to discover an alternate route to India by sailing west. Columbus reached the Bahamas Islands, thinking he was in Asia. He returned to Spain to obtain more resources to conquer the so-called New Land. On his second voyage, he reached Haiti, thinking he was in India, and led his army to exploit the native population. Columbus's exploits included mass murder, enslavement, torture, and rape. His human rights abuses led to some of the first debates on colonialism, which included mostly religious leaders who either condemned or justified Columbus-style atrocities against Neolithic populations.

After observing Portugal and Spain's economic boosts, Northern European nations, particularly the Netherlands, England, and France, began to stake claim to the Americas as well. Religion influenced all European colonial establishments. Spanish nations used colonialism to seek fabled Christian kingdoms, establish theocracies, and finance religious wars. Conversely, some of the largest colonial settlements from England spawn from people fleeing religious intolerance in their homeland. However, monetary gains were the cornerstone of most human rights violations. Colonizers found that harvesting crops on the hinterland reaped great profits, so they enslaved native populations and sub-Saharan Africans. Historians estimate that Western settlers enslaved more than 10 million Africans to provide the labor necessary to harvest the colonies.

...