What were the main consequences of colonialism for the colonies

What were the main consequences of colonialism for the colonies During the last half millennium, the major European powers decided that it would be beneficial to their interests if they obtained colonies overseas to help with their economic expansion, among other things. They also wanted to develop capitalism and create a world market with an international division of labour. There were two main phases of colonial expansion (Chandra, 1992). The first of these was from 1450-1800, and the colonies were seen as places to trade with, but they didn't produce raw materials and weren't seen as markets. Colonialism meant conquest, plunder and small amounts of settlement. The second phase occurred after the industrial revolution when there was a great need for raw materials to be used in domestic factories. This period was from 1800-1945, and it was a phase of exploitation rather than a phase of expansion. The colonial leaders also saw the colonies as markets for the products that they produced at home, and they were often used against the interests of other competing colonial powers. `The implications of colonial rule on the colonies are considerable, and there was a large impact on local economics, culture and political systems. The manner in which decolonization took place also led to problems. Many geographers see a colonial past as probably the most important initial condition

  • Word count: 1683
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Social studies
Access this essay

What conclusions for the role of population in economic development can we draw from the British industrialisation experience?

What conclusions for the role of population in economic development can we draw from the British industrialisation experience? Economic development is the process of improving the standard of living and well-being of the population of developing countries by raising per capita income. Population has a complex role in this process, influencing, inducing and determining the behaviour of the demand and supply sides of the economy, which, in turn, interact, but the geographical aspects also require consideration. By analysing the British experience of industrialisation over the early 18th to mid 19th century we will ascertain the nature of the roles played by population in economic development. Population has a major role in economic development: people are a factor of production and have varying types and sizes of influence on the production possibility frontier and national income, depending on their circumstances. Malthus, however, believed the growth in numbers would always limit the living standards of the population at subsistence level. His argument, as put forth in his "Essay on the Principles of Population" (1798), was that, while food production could increase in an arithmetic ratio, the exponential growth of population would create increasing food prices, declining real wages and inevitably reach a point where the carrying capacity of the land would be outstripped by

  • Word count: 1016
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Social studies
Access this essay

Why is there a need for World Development?

Why is there a need for World Development? In the world today, there are developed countries like Britain and Japan, developing countries like Brazil and Malaysia and less developed countries (LDC's) like Bangladesh and Mali where people regularly starve to death. If we are to have a fair world, then the LDC's will need greater help from the developed countries. It is also in the interests of developed countries to help the less developed because they need new markets for their goods and they need products like cotton, tea and coffee from the less developed countries. The world is now inter-dependent. Most LDC's are in areas where there are regular natural disasters like earthquakes and floods. For example nearly every year Bangladesh has had bad floods. Many LDC's suffer from wars sometimes caused by corruption, or by the way the country was split up when colonised by Europeans a hundred years ago. A neighbouring country can often move from developing to less developed when war refugees arrive needing shelter and food. All LDC's suffer from debt. They have to borrow money from developed country banks and pay large amounts of interest to the bank, which could have been spent on development. Many LDC's try to get money from abroad by growing and selling cash crops. The land used to grow these is often the best farmland, which could be used for people to grow their own food

  • Word count: 283
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Social studies
Access this essay