Chpt. 18: Colonial Encounters, 1750-1914

     NB: The theme of this chapter is empire building and colonial exploitation, not much different that the theme of
Chapter 14 "Empires and Encounters", except that this was the "second wave of European conquests" and the victims
were Asia and Africa.
    The methods and attitudes of the West were pretty much the same, but this chapter also focuses on the pros and cons
of colonialism and imperialism, and on the issue of the Interventionist / Non-interventionist Debate. Can colonialism
ever be anything but exploitation and condescension? The following is a quote from the English writer Hilaire Belloc, 1870-1953.

         "Whatever happens we have got
                                                          The Maxim gun and they have not".
                                                                                   (Strayer 885)

A. Industrialization gave Europe (the West) the means (tools) by which to dominate the entire world.
          1. Military power through machine guns, navies, armies, wars (Gatling gun & breech loading rifles)
          2. Commercial power through trade agreements and concessions, banking and capitalization
          3. Cultural power through language (English, French, Spanish, Dutch, Russian), science, literature and
               European bureaucrats working in the colonies.
          4. Understandable Pride but foolhardy arrogance about Europe vis-a-vis the rest of the world.
5. Modernization was admired by other people in the world, but Europe/the West was only prepared to offer
               Westernization -- conversion to Western culture and Western control --i.e., white man's domination!
          6. Rudyard Kipling put it clearly but condescendingly in 1899 in his infamous poem:

                                            "The White Man's Burden,The United States and the Philippine Islands".

Take up the White Man’s burden—
Send forth the best ye breed—
Go send your sons to exile
To serve your captives' need

Link

To wait in heavy harness
On fluttered folk and wild—
Your new-caught, sullen peoples,
Half devil and half child. Link

Progressive Development of Man.--(2) Evolution. Illustration from With the World's People by John Clark Ridpath (Clark E Ridpath, 1912).

B. While Governor-General of the Philippines, later, President William Howard Taft, "assured
President McKinley that 'our little brown brothers' would need 'fifty or one hundred years' of close supervision
to develop anything resembling Anglo-Saxon political principles and skills.'"Link

C. In 1859 Charles Darwin (1809-1882) published a book called The Origin of Species, and the world has
never been the same since. Through his research and his writings he tried to explain the meaning of ancient fossils
as well as the diversity of species of life--plant and animal. He concluded that all species have evolved from
previous species by chance and by means of "natural selection" and "survival of the fittest"--those species best
suited to their environment for whatever reason--survive. Church leaders denounced him as an atheist, scientists
generally considered him brilliant, and politicians and journalists used the notions of natural selection and survival
of the fittest as an excuse for colonialism and exploitation. "Social Darwinism" used in that way was totally
abhorrent to Darwin. Link

D. So with guns, industry, ships, and the pseudo-science of Social Darwinism it is not surprising that European
countries set out on their "civilizing mission" to save the world--the heathen, the little brown brothers, the uneducated
masses--whoever they might be. Of course that noble cause just hid the real cause of imperialism as a means of
preventing revolt at home over poor living and working conditions.

E. According to Cecil Rhodes (1853-1902, imperialist par excellence,
         "In order to save the 40 million inhabitants of the United Kingdom from murderous civil war, the
         colonial politicians must open up new areas to absorb the excess population and create new markets
         for the products of the mines and factories.... The British Empire is a matter of bread and butter.
         If you wish to avoid civil war, then you must become an imperialist." Strayer 881.

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1. The words and concepts "colonization, colonizing, colony" come from the Latin colere = to cultivate.
Cultivate sounds good, sounds morally uplifting, but in 19th century practice it more often meant conquest and
exploitation--helping "our little brown brothers"(W.H.Taft). Were we really trying to help Asians and Africans
to live a life of freedom, equality, and happiness? What would have happen had we not intervened? The
colonial-interventionist debate is not just history; it is still an emotional, heart-rending issue in current foreign
affairs. Blame and guilt are not helpful in the discussion; impartiality, tolerance, understanding, and caution-- are.

     2. The vocabulary and Narrative of Colonialism
            "nigger native" describing anyone of dark skin
            bwana (Swahili word for "master")
            boy" describing African men, also African-American men
            Homelands, apartheid, tribes-- code words for "other" or "primitive" as in Tribal Africa or Traditional India
            Leopold II of Belgium used African workers like slaves in the the Congo (Strayer, 894).
            cash crops--produced for export at the expense of domestic necessities, leading to environmental destruction and
                hostage to world market prices.
      Bantustans--were company camps for workers, led to over crowding, epidemics, and ecological disaster.
            Women lost status (misogyny), men went to cities for work which led to the breakup of the family unit in Africa;
               Vast global movement of labor (poorly paid workers) eventually led to cultural conflicts and racism amongst
           the colonies and future independent countries.

     3. The pros and cons of colonialism can--and are--debated, though Indian writer Arundhati Roy is in the majority
when she says that debating the pros and cons of imperialism and colonialism is like "debating the pros and cons of rape. What can we say? That we really miss it?" Link

       a. PROs: benign colonialism,(civilizing mission)--improved health (but not always for native diseases or infrastructures), political systems, trade and agricultural production. A new sociological and anthropological
approach to colonialism is the concept of the "Stranger King"--that "The colonists achieved authority not just on
the basis of military power, but also through political alliances, diplomatic collaboration and by providing a
relatively impartial mechanism for arbitration. Colonial courts, rather than solely being instruments of oppression,
also provided indigenous people with an access to a form of justice, less subject to local bribery and patronage."Link
So colonialism was more often based on negotiation and mutual advantage than force?

         b. CONs: genocide (Australian indigenous population is only 2.4% of the 2010 population and the Maori
                only 15% of New Zealand's population.

               1). In 1925 a British official said of Nigerians, "I shall of course go on walloping them until they surrender.
                       It's rather a piteous site watching a village being knocked to pieces and I wish there was some other way,
                       but unfortunately there isn't". Another British soldier in 1902 said, "Every soul was either shot or
                       bayoneted. ... We burned all the huts and razed the banana plantation to the ground". Strayer, 886.

               2). Traditionally emphasis has been placed on the negative (as does Strayer), but recent (2012) econometric
                        studies have shown that former European colonies have a higher rate of growth than countries without
                        European colonization. Link But most post-colonial writers counter that by calling attention to
                        non-economic elements of growth -- the social, cultural, and emotional impact of underdevelopment as
                        well as economic (Orientalisms and Post Colonial Literature.doc.) The following are some of the major
                        writers urging revolution, liberation, and reinterpretation.

                       Frantz Fanon. The Wretched of the Earth. 1961
                                   Edward W. Said. Orientalism. 1978
                                   Gayatri Spivak. "Can the Subaltern Speak", and article 1988.
                                  Arundhati Roy. The God of Small Things. 1997

Scramble for Africa

     4. The Opposition to colonialism came from European labor and socialist parties as well as colonist writers
          and activists:

          Ram Mohan Roy (1772-1833)
              Dadabhai Naoroji (1825-1917), founding member of the Indian National Congress Party
              Swami Vivekanada (1863-1902), opposed West's materialism with Indian/Hindi spirituality
          Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948)
              W.E.B.Du Bois (1868-1963). Born in Great Barrington, MA. First African-American to get a PhD.
                 Co-founded the NAACP in 1909.
              Sun Yat-Sen (1866-1925), led revolt against the Manchus, President of the Republic of China

                 WEB Du Bois                             Mahatma Gandhi                                     Sun Yat Sen

                                    Thailand (Siam) remained independent but faced French and British pressure
                                  The Philippines were controlled by Spain 1521-1898 and by the US 1898 - 1946

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                     Colonialism as part of Broadway's post-colonial dialogue!
                                            Condescension vs Empathy?

                                             "Getting to Know You", from the 1956 movie The King and I

Link

5. Conclusions

            a. The issue of whether colonial intervention or voluntary aid to countries and peoples is good, can be good, or
                    shouldn't even be tried, is an ongoing question. There may be no comprehensive answer, but we can use
                  the past experiences and results of Western imperialism as guidelines for future "do-gooder" interventions
                    anywhere in the world -- or outside of this world!

            b. In this context we should ask if Drone warfare isn't just a new form of colonialism? The US drone base at
                    Djibouti on the horn of Africa, one of the poorest countries in Africa with 60% unemployment, has a US
                    base (3,200 soldiers) which is our major drone base for Africa and the Middle east. The use of drones is
                  part of a policy of covert warfare which is high secret and not overseen by the US Congress. The following
                    article calls it "Contemporary Colonialism". Link