7/29/2019 Colonization debate

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Amelia Tan, Marcelo Mendes, Friday 11-12, 26/03/2011

Was all colonisation bad? Or were there some benefits to the natives of the colonised lands?

Generically speaking, there are always pros and cons to every situation. For example, take a look at

the English when they colonized Australia. Their treatment of the aboriginals was deplorable, and

despite laws currently in place to help the natives improve their situation, the future does not look

too bright. On the other hand, I would say that New Zealand hasnt done too badly for itself. The

Maoris are doing well for themselves and are in a much better place than the aboriginals, in respect

to education, healthcare etcetera. Thus, these two examples do show the possible consequences of

colonization. At the beginning of colonization, the scenes would not have been pretty.

Colonization, in the earliest stages, would have been brutal. The reason? if you invade a population

for its natural resources, you risk wiping them out.(Trailer for Battle L.A) But of course, Battle: L.A

was talking about aliens invading Earth, not the colonization of lands on Earth. Nonetheless, this

statement still holds a certain truth. Because, following the rationale that humans colonize for

resources, what would happen if they find that the resources are already in use by the natives? They

fight for it, or try to coerce the natives into giving up their rights to the resources.

Two other downsides to colonization as stated in the textbooks is firstly, the Europeans exposed

the native Americans to the various diseases that they carried. It resulted in a large population of

deaths. And secondly, colonization results in the extinction of certain languages and culture. This is

due to the colonizers wish to implement their religion, political system and into the land that they

just found. Although this may seem a little gloomy, there are good effects to colonization.

From a personal point of view, I would think that I wouldnt have had the upbringing I have should

the British did not colonize Singapore. The colonization of Singapore has helped the country, in

bringing its economic levels up, healthcare, rapid industrialization. The Four Asian Tigers, for

example, are the four most developed countries in Asia, and it includes Singapore, South Korea,

Taiwan and Hong Kong. And two of those countries (Singapore and Hong Kong) have ties to British

colonialism. In view of this fact, I would say that being colonized was not too bad, because if we

were, in the unlikely chance, colonized by the Chinese, my life would have been very different.