Native Americans were forced to pick up their homes and resettle in areas that were less than sufficient to meet their basic needs. If Native Americans were not compliant, Americans would murder them. Although Manifest Destiny was seen as an inevitable movement among Americans and resulted in the formation of the American West in the Nineteenth century, it was truthfully an act of invasion and subjugation against peoples who had settled the land for hundreds of years earlier. Manifest Destiny led to an obvious upsurge in racial
"They see no life when they look they see only objects. The world is a dead thing for them" (Silko 135). The American government from the beginning did not see the land the same way the natives did. Nevertheless, the American government had the power to use the land for their own means and as a result subjugated Natives into Indian reservations. This is an extremely relevant example of colonialism in the form of controlling a population geographically.
Parry states in his book The Spanish Seaborne Empire, “Columbus did not discover a new world; he established contact between two worlds, both already old.” The Colonial Period in American Literature had key components including puritans, rationalists, and Native Americans. During this period there were two major influences on people: rationalism and puritanism. People normally identified themselves as one of these two political/religious identities. Rationalism is a belief or theory that opinions and actions should be based on reason and knowledge rather than on religious belief or emotional response. Benjamin Franklin is a prime example of a rationalist during this period.
The British Empire profited from slavery in the eighteenth century, but fought to abolish slavery in the nineteenth century. For many people, the British Empire meant loss of lands, discrimination and prejudice. Such a big empire had lots of everlasting impacts; a lot of them positive. The British Empire took science and technology across many parts of the world. They built railways, bridges and canals that helped improve communications in other territories.
However, the new nation excluded one fifth of its population from its new ideals. This reality deeply diverged from the American Dream’s glittered ideals. Nevertheless, whites constructed from the Revolution a utopian historical myth central to the American Dream’s
Britain and America’s relationship changed as American colonists fought for independence. Before the Seven Years War (1756-1763), “America” comprised of 13 colonies under British control and the attitude towards British rule was complex. The aftermath of this War strengthened the position of these colonies as it removed European Rivals (France in Canada) and opened the Mississippi for expansion but in doing so, destabilised the borders. It did not provide much political change for American people as British control was still in clear effect in 1763 shown by the Royal Proclamation, which led to a temporary line limiting expansion but which no American could settle across. This angered the American colonists who wanted to keep their local government control and expand into new farmlands.
The colonial era of white Europeans colonizing new territory and new peoples has had a prolonged and detrimental effect throughout the world, which is known as postcolonialism. The Europeans developed a sense of superiority and felt that their religion and culture was dominant because of their more advanced technology. This provided continued motivation for their conquest and expansion because they felt they had a “white man’s burden”, meaning they have a responsibility to save or civilize a group of savage natives. West Africa was subjugated by European powers and in the process their society and culture was destroyed. Postcolonialism examines the aftermath of colonization and how the native people continue on with their lives and how they reconstruct their society with aspects of both the colonizing culture and their own.
There are many reasons why the Indian people were motivated to get rid of the British. The colonial rule of India, which began in the 1800’s, was a system of exploitation and cultural submission. In Hind Swaraj the character of the reader even recognizes the oppression of the British, stating “…They take away our money from year to year. The most important posts are reserved for themselves. We are kept in a state of slavery.
Any analysis regarding postcolonial literature first requires an understanding of the period of colonization and the subsequent decolonization of the established colonies. Essentially, colonization was the setting up of colonies by the Europeans among widespread nations, with the aim of spreading the three C’s- Commerce, Christianity and Civilization. The impact thus caused was evident not only in the form of nature’s exploitation but also in the minds of the colonized. Due to colorization, a lot of nations suffered a brutal history with racial undertones and excessive exploitation. This then not only affected their land, but also their minds; as they began to be governed and controlled by the European invaders.
During the nineteenth century, with a rising European emphasis on mercantilism and (therefore) colonialism, European explorers began to colonize contemporary Canada. (Lecture, Jan. 10). In the beginning, North-American indigenous people felt that they were living peacefully with the newfound settlers. This idea of settler colonialism though, would turn out to be detrimental for the political and cultural lives of indigenous North-Americans. Europe’s