What Is Colonial Legacy?

Colonial legacy is a term used to describe the

changes that affect nations and regions
governed by invasive colonial rulers. In many
areas of the world, colonialism brought a
change in many facets of society, including
government structure and organization,
political practices and even economics.
Colonialism refers to the act of taking control
over a country politically and exploiting in
economically. The ones who have power are
called colonists whereas the indigenous
people make up the colonies.
In the 16th century, the European states took
advantage of their technological
advancements and colonized the weaker parts
of the world. Areas like Asia, Africa, Australia,
and America were underdeveloped providing
the European states with cheap labor and raw
materials. It also provided the colonizers with
an opportunity to exercise their power and
open up new markets.
The two types of colonialism:
1. Settler colonialism- where there is large-
scale immigration of foreigners in the
colonies; and
2. Exploitation colonialism – where there are
fewer colonists in the colonies but huge
amounts of things are exported.
Positive Impacts of colonialism:
Education - The European countries benefited
a lot from colonialism, but that was intended.
However, the colonies also learned a lot from
the developed nations. For instance, education
saw a whole new light when the developed
countries took over the underdeveloped lands.
The system of 3Rs was introduced that
focused on reading, writing, and arithmetic.
Positive Impacts of colonialism:
Nationalism - Literacy levels saw a rise in the
colonies and a sense of nationalism and
intelligence was born. Also, with the spread of
education came a consciousness about their
land. The colonies learned what gems they
lived on. They also learned the art of defense.
The colonists helped the colonies to defend
themselves against other enemies.
Positive Impacts of colonialism:
Better Standard of Living - The infrastructure
of the colonies also underwent a drastic
change. In order to facilitate trade and
luxurious living of officers posted, the
colonists developed the colonies. This lead to
the betterment of living standards of the
colonies and also taught them ways of the
civilized people.
Positive Impacts of colonialism:
Medicines and Technology - With the invasion
of Western people, came the Western lifestyle
and health care. This improved life expectancy
of the indigenous people by leaps and bounds.
Sanitation improved and the infant mortality
rates went down. Along with medicines, the
Europeans also brought new technologies with
them that included weapons and tools.
Positive Impacts of colonialism:
Religion and World Recognition - Apart from all
this, Christianity rose. The colonists had a new
audience to push towards the religion of
Christianity. The colonization also highlighted
the colonies in front of the world. A sense of
forbiddance was abolished.
Negative effects of colonialism:
Slavery - One of the major negative impacts of
Colonialism was slavery. People were being
enslaved and taken to the mother country.
They were being forced to leave their families
and work without pay. All this deteriorated the
mental as well as physical freedom and
conditions of the colonized areas.
Negative effects of colonialism:
Became Slaves in their own countries - Apart
from being dragged to the European countries,
colonized people were being made to work on
their own land as slaves. The Europeans
acquired lands in the colonized areas and
forced the indigenous people to work on them
without pays.
Negative effects of colonialism:
Acculturation - The traditions and cultures of
the indigenous people were trampled and
berated. Even the clothing of the indigenous
people was belittled. They were forced to
follow Christianity and speak the language of
the mother country.
Negative effects of colonialism:
Diseases - Foreign invaders brought along
several new diseases with them. The
unprepared bodies of the natives couldn’t
bear some of them which resulted in untimely
deaths.
Negative effects of colonialism:
Political and Social Factionalism - The Europeans
used the divide and conquer policy. Due to this,
they made several new boundaries that divided the
natives. Families were uprooted, children and
women harassed. The colonists never gave
administrative posts to the indigenous people.
However, some lower posts were granted to a few
chosen ones. This made the chosen ones feel
superior and led to social conflicts and rifts.
Negative effects of colonialism:
Exploitation of the Resources - The colonies
were ripped off their natural beauty and gems
given to them by God. Diamonds, gold, ivory,
essential oils, rubber, spices, etc. were
stripped off the colonies and exported to the
mother country. The colonies had no means of
earnings and survival now. They were
rendered helpless and completely dependent
on the wretched colonizers.