Negative Effects Of Colonialism In Latin America

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Every situation, every decision, every could-have-been or will-be, possess positives and negative. The coin of life has two sides. As with everything else in existence, colonialism in Latin America also has a shining head and a vile tail. Perched on the tail like a goading vulture sits oppression, slavery, and disease. However, the positive contributions of colonialism, the introduction of modern technology, democracy, and Christianity, greatly outweigh its cons. Before the arrival of Spanish and Portuguese explores in Latin America in the late 1400’s, the New World was already a dangerous place. In Mexico, the Aztecs practiced human sacrifices. Amazonian tribes bitterly battled for land and resources. People died from easily curable diseases. It is a mistake to assume that the natives of the Americas lived as the famed “noble savages” of Rousseau—there stood empires and armies just as willing as the gold-thirsty Spanish to squash their enemies and take captives and take advantage of the poor and the outcasts. Yes, European colonialist did enslave and mistreat the indigenous population, did spread new diseases, did enforce a strict social caste; but colonialism by no means introduced violence and suffering to the Americas—it was simply a continuation of the pattern of fallen humans. Along with the continuation of the human habit of exploration, exploitation, and greed, European colonialism also brought new technologies. Never before had natives seen a wheel until

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