The Role Of Imperialism In Things Fall Apart

During the late 19th and early 20th century the United States began to expand internationally, adopting a new imperialistic foreign policy. While the transition from westward expansion to imperialism was a change geographically, the new imperialistic direction the United States, was taking was a continuation of the old ideas of expanding west. Motives for expansionism remain the same the ideals of westward expansion continuing into a new era of American foreign policy. Much of America’s motive for an aggressive imperialist policy is the desire for land and wealth.

The social reaction to expansionism continued throughout both movements because the opposing sides of each argument disagreed on completely different topics. Many during the time of Imperialism believed America was destined to expand due to the believed superiority of the Anglo-Saxon race (Doc 1), and was justified in expanding due to the fact that America would spread democracy and that they were required to expand because it was the “White Man’s Burden” (Doc 1-POV). This is also true for Manifest Destiny, which was built on the idea that God ordained the western hemisphere for Americans.

Throughout the turn of the 19th Century a big question was raised among the American people and their leaders, was America going to become an Imperialist state or not? The question was not really raised previously during the 1800’s. The people of America were previously occupied colonizing its own land and settling towns throughout the area. However, once they reached the end of their exploration, which ended at the Pacific Ocean, where would they go? Should they start to colonize other islands around the world, or shall they be content in their own little world?

After the Civil War, the United States had begun to prosper because of this second industrial revolution. With this property, the people had begun to expand across the whole of the United States causing the frontier line within the US to disappear, which lead to the rise of the idea of imperialism and stronger foreign policy. Because of the rise of yellow journalism, the closing of the frontier line, the expansion of the United States Navy, and the rise of colonization of foreign European powers within Asia, debates and conflicting views had begun to arise on the idea of imperialism and whether or not it is a good idea to expand overseas and become a world power. Advocates for the expansion of the United States argued that it was the duty of

Throughout American History, imperialists and anti-imperialists ideals have opposed each other, but each for a valid reason. The imperialists were for expanding the United States and for spreading their ideas of government. The anti-imperialists wanted to play it safe and prevent any conflict that could have risen. It is also existent in today's world with modern day conflicts about the current imperialistic values. The views of American Imperialism were similar about the concerns for racism, but the views also differed because some believe the US was strong when others do not.

In the late nineteenth and century, many Americans agree with the view of imperialism, but in the early twentieth century America disagreed with the overseas expansion because they believed it went against the whole U.S. believe in freedom and self-rule. Many Americans believed it was the U.S. burden to teach undeveloped countries into civilization; therefore, the U.S. helped Cuba and the Philippines after the and during Spanish-American War. As Time progressed, Americans did not want to get involved in any other war. As a result, the U.S.passed the Espionage Act of 1917 to avoid entering future warfare.

The United States is an ever-evolving country that learns and benefits from not just its mistakes but right doings as well. Imperialism is the policy of extending the rule or authority of an empire or nation over foreign countries, or of acquiring and holding colonies. Many imperialists claimed moral responsibility as the reason to expand American land claims, the anti-imperialists decried it because of the negative effects on the colonized. In both camps, the issue of race relations was the source of most similarities and differences. The pro-imperialist group felt it was the duty of the American race to colonize others and subjugate those peoples without offering citizenship, while the anti-imperialists felt it was unfair to foreigners to

In the beginning of the 19th century, the United States had minimal interest in becoming an empire who controlled overseas countries. Instead, Americans decided to just use Manifest Destiny on their own continent as their form of expansion. In the late 1800s, the frontier was announced to be “closed”, so Americans were forced to look overseas in order to expand trade by looking for new markets. After America made the decision to support Cuba in its revolt against Spain during the Spanish-American war, the United States gained its own colonial empire when it defeated Spain in 1898. Once the war ended, Americans had to debate between becoming an imperialist empire or remaining in isolationism.

The early 20th century had a remarkable impact on human kind, creating ripples in the continuum of history that are still felt in modern times. The biggest and by far the most remarkable event was World War 1. It's main trigger being the assassination of Archduke Franz the war began tragic and tense. In an attempt to prevent Germany from becoming too powerful, other European joined powers for what was to be an exhausting and long battle of attrition. The war was essentially a huge chain of events, tracing back to the Franco-Prussian War and the actions of important people like Otto Von Bismarck.

The arrival of the Europeans with their customs and religion caused the natives to be wildly mystified and made them reconsider their own customs. Soon many native people began to convert to Christianity and this resulted in disunity among the people as they turned against each other. Chinua Achebe powerfully expressed this through his book Things Fall Apart: “Our own men and sons have joined the rank of a stranger. They have joined his religion and they help to uphold his government.” (Achebe, 155) Another way imperialism destroyed cultures began at the Berlin Conference where Europeans met up to divide Africa.

Many stereotypes of African culture have emerged due to western literature and media and first hand accounts of explorers. Things Fall Apart offers a view into the truth and reality of African cultures, which are often misconceptualized by these stereotypes. Acebe shows how African society functions well without assistance from foreign travelers. In Things Fall Apart, Achebe counters the imperialist stereotypes of Africa by keeping certain words in the Igbo language, as opposed to translating them into English, to fight back against the spreading western culture and to embrace their own way of life. He also counters the imperialist stereotypes of Africa by using Igbo proverbs to show how their culture values many of the same things that western

Imperialism, which is the policy of a strong country extending power and influence through diplomacy or military force to take control over a weaker country. In simpler words, imperialism is when a strong country takes control over a weaker country. Imperialism has been present throughout the world 's history and still has influence today. Some specific causes of imperialism are economics, ethnocentrism, exploration, politics, and religion. Two events that were caused by imperialism was World War One and the invasion of Africa.

The tripartite novel “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe, published in 1958 focuses on the changes taking place in Nigeria, as a result of colonization during the 20th century. Chinua Achebe’s pragmatics when writing the novel focused on changing the perspective of Western readers with regard to African society. He mainly wanted to falsify the assertions in books such as “Heart of Darkness” which he claimed gave people of African descent a dull personality. Social status is one of the novels’ main themes. Chinua Achebe successfully incorporates the importance of social status, giving readers the impression that for the Ibo society, social structure consists mainly of a hierarchy of both skill and strength.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the positive and negative impacts of colonialism. Key words: - Colonialism, Religion, Culture, Civilization, Conflict INTRODUCTION Things Fall Apart was published in 1958 just two years before Nigeria’s independence from the British’s rule in 1960. Achebe, who was born in 1930, had experienced colonialism in his country. The novel depicts the pre-colonial and early colonial Nigerian society.

The novel, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, defines an important literary example of the historical conflict of European colonialism in Nigeria during the