How did imperialism develop in western hemisphere?

Answer 1

After 1500, empires became one of the most common forms of economic and political organization around the world. But the period between 1815 and 1914 stands out as the "Imperial Century," because during this time nearly three-quarters of the earth came to be dominated by a handful of empires.

This unit explores the complexities of imperial history as seen from a world historical perspective. Viewed from such a perspective, imperial history is the story of the introduction-usually by force-of new peoples, technologies, products, languages, plants, animals, values, and religions to many parts of the world.

Imperialism depended on the physical occupation and administration of overseas dominions to utilize and exploit labor, resources, and raw materials for the benefit of the nation state. By the nineteenth century, imperialism was more aggressive than in any previous era.

Nineteenth-century imperialism was largely a European phenomenon, although the United States and Japan participated as well. As colonizers gained control of diverse territories, they tended to justify their actions in terms of "civilizing missions" to the "backward" peoples of the world. In addition, colonizers came to share common beliefs about the racial inferiority of the peoples they colonized.

The meaning and experience of imperialism varied widely from place to place. In some places, it meant little more than staking a claim to territory on a map. In others, it meant forced labor or genocide. In still others, it meant the restructuring of social classes, gender relations, and political realities.

Wherever imperialism occurred, however, it was usually accomplished by violence and oppression. Moreover, the unequal relationships caused by imperialism sparked resistance all over the world; the movements such resistance inspired led to nationalist movements that eventually destroyed all of the once-great empires.

The legacies of imperialism have affected the world in profound ways. In most parts of the world, imperialism organized economic life to feed into the international economy of exchange-usually by the production of raw materials or resources for the global market. These changes significantly altered human relationships to natural resources, and usually resulted in damage to local environments.

Political life was altered as well, as new elites were created and old loyalties were disrupted. It is safe to say that nineteenth-century imperialism permanently changed economic, social, and political traditions around the world, and created the context for all subsequent global development.