Christopher Columbus set sail from Spain in 1492 on three small ships: the Santa María, the Pinta, and the Niña. The fleet landed in the Bahamas and claimed it for Spain, as depicted in this painting.
Christopher Columbus set sail from Spain in 1492 on three small ships: the Santa María, the Pinta, and the Niña. The fleet landed in the Bahamas and claimed it for Spain, as depicted in this painting.
Photograph of Library of Congress, Corbis/VCG via Getty
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The history of colonialism is one of brutal subjugation of indigenous peoples.
Colonialism is defined as “control by one power over a dependent area or people.” It occurs when one nation subjugates another, conquering its population and exploiting it, often while forcing its own language and cultural values upon its people. By 1914, a large majority of the world's nations had been colonized by Europeans at some point.
The concept of colonialism is closely linked to that of imperialism, which is the policy or ethos of using power and influence to control another nation or people that underlies colonialism.
History of colonialism
In antiquity, colonialism was practiced by empires such as Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Ancient Egypt, and Phoenicia. These civilizations all extended their borders into surrounding and non-contiguous areas from about 1550 B.C. onward, and established colonies that drew on the physical and population resources of the people they conquered in order to increase their own power.
Modern colonialism began during what’s also known as the Age of Discovery. Beginning in the 15th century, Portugal began looking for new trade routes and searching for civilizations outside of Europe. In 1415, Portuguese explorers conquered Ceuta, a coastal town in North Africa, kicking off an empire that would last until 1999.
Soon the Portuguese had conquered and populated islands like Madeira and Cape Verde, and their rival nation, Spain, decided to try exploration, too. In 1492, Christopher Columbus began looking for a western route to India and China. Instead, he landed in the Bahamas, kicking off the Spanish Empire. Spain and Portugal became locked in competition for new territories and took over indigenous lands in the Americas, India, Africa, and Asia.
England, the Netherlands, France, and Germany quickly began their own empire building overseas, fighting Spain and Portugal for the right to lands they had already conquered. Despite the growth of European colonies in the New World, most countries managed to gain independence during the 18th and 19th century, beginning with the American Revolution in 1776 and the Haitian Revolution in 1781. However, the Eastern Hemisphere continued to tempt European colonial powers.
Starting in the 1880s, European nations focused on taking over African lands, racing one another to coveted natural resources and establishing colonies they would hold until an international period of decolonization began around 1914, challenging European colonial empires up to 1975.
Colonial rationale and resistance
Colonial powers justified their conquests by asserting that they had a legal and religious obligation to take over the land and culture of indigenous peoples. Conquering nations cast their role as civilizing “barbaric” or “savage” nations, and argued that they were acting in the best interests of those whose lands and peoples they exploited.
Despite the power of colonizers who claimed lands that were already owned and populated by indigenous peoples, resistance is an integral part of the story of colonialism. Even before decolonization, indigenous people on all continents staged violent and nonviolent resistance to their conquerors.
Benefits and harm
Colonial governments invested in infrastructure and trade and disseminated medical and technological knowledge. In some cases, they encouraged literacy, the adoption of Western human rights standards, and sowed the seeds for democratic institutions and systems of government. Some former colonies, like Ghana, experienced a rise in nutrition and health with colonial rule, and colonial European settlement has been linked to some development gains.
However, coercion and forced assimilation often accompanied those gains, and scholars still debate colonialism’s many legacies. Colonialism’s impacts include environmental degradation, the spread of disease, economic instability, ethnic rivalries, and human rights violations—issues that can long outlast one group’s colonial rule.
In the 1730s, England founded the last of its colonies in North America. The project was the brain child of James Oglethorpe, a former army officer. After Oglethorpe left the army, he devoted himself to helping the poor and debt-ridden people of London, whom he suggested settling in America. His choice of Georgia, named for the new King, was also motivated by the idea of creating a defensive buffer for South Carolina, an increasingly important colony with many
potential enemies close by. These enemies included the Spanish in Florida, the French in Louisiana and along the Mississippi River, and these powers' Indian allies throughout the region. Twenty trustees received funding from Parliament and a charter from the King, issued in June 1732. The charter granted the trustees the powers of a corporation; they could elect their own governing body, make land grants, and enact their own laws and
taxes. Since the corporation was a charitable body, none of the trustees could receive any land from, or hold a paid position in, the corporation. Too, since the undertaking was designed to benefit the poor, the trustees placed a 500-acre limit on the size of individual land holdings. People who had received charity and who had not purchased their own land could not sell, or borrow money against, it. The trustees wanted to avoid the situation in South Carolina, which had very large plantations
and extreme gaps between the wealthy and the poor.
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The undertaking was paternalistic through and through. For example, the trustees did not trust the colonists to make their own laws. They therefore did not establish a representative assembly, although every other mainland colony had one. The trustees made all laws for the colony. Second, the settlements were laid out in compact, confined, and concentrated townships. In part, this arrangement was instituted to enhance the colony's defenses, but social control was another consideration. Third, the trustees prohibited the import and manufacture of rum, for rum would lead to idleness. Finally, the trustees prohibited Negro slavery, for they believed that this ban would encourage the settlement of "English and Christian" people.
Georgia's first year, 1733, went well enough, as settlers began to clear the land, build houses, and construct fortifications. Those who came in the first wave of settlement realized that after the first year they would be working for themselves. Meanwhile, Oglethorpe, who went to Georgia with the first settlers, began negotiating treaties with local Indian tribes, especially the Upper Creek tribe. Knowing that the Spanish, based in Florida, had great influence with many of the tribes in the region, Oglethorpe thought it necessary to reach an understanding with these native peoples if Georgia was to remain free from attack. In addition, the Indian trade became an important element of Georgia's economy.
It didn't take long, however, until the settlers began to grumble about all the restrictions imposed on them by the trustees. In part, this grumbling may have been due to the fact that most of those moving to Georgia after the first several years were from other colonies, especially South Carolina. These settlers viewed restrictions on the size of individual land holdings as a sure pathway to poverty. They also opposed restrictions on land sales and the prohibition against slavery for the same reason. They certainly did not like the fact that they were deprived of any self-government and their rights as Englishmen. By the early 1740s, the trustees slowly gave way on most of the colonists' grievances.
For additional documents related to these topics, search The Capital and the Bay collection using such key words as James Oglethorpe, Georgia [and individual towns such as Savannah and Ebenezer], South Carolina [and Charles Town], Negro, slavery, and such individual Indian tribes as Creek [both Upper and Lower], Choctaw, and Cherokee. Another way to find documents relating to the colonization of Georgia is to peruse the four volumes edited by Peter Force [in the 1830s] in the The Capital and the Bay.
Documents
- Sir Robert Montgomery Calls for a New Colony South of Carolina, 1717
- Rationale for Founding the Georgia Colony Under James Oglethorpe, 1733
- James Oglethorpe's Speech to the South Carolina Assembly, June 9, 1733
- The South Carolina Assembly's Representation on Indian Relations, 1734
- The South Carolina Assembly's Representation on Defense, 1734
- The Georgia Trustees: Rules for 1735
- The Deposition of Lieutenant George Dunbar, 1738-39
- Representation of Freeholders in Georgia to the Trustees, December 9, 1738
- The Georgia Trustees Respond to the Freeholders' Representation, June 20, 1739
- The Province of Georgia in 1740: Economic Progress and Indians
- The Province of Georgia in 1740: Settlers
- German Settlers in Georgia, 1741
- A True and Historical Narrative of the Colony of Georgia: A Dedication to His Excellency General Oglethorpe, 1741
- A True and Historical Narrative of the Colony of Georgia: Settlers' Grievances, 1741
- A True and Historical Narrative of the Colony of Georgia: Conclusion: 1741
- The Georgia Trustees Justify Their Policies, 1742
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