Colonialism Background

A historical background of Colonialism: Colonialism is a political system that has been dealt with by many scholars and historians. There many definitions of colonialism and its outset in history. The policy or practice of acquiring full or partial political control over another country, occupying it with settlers, and exploiting it economically: the state apparatus that was dominant under colonialism (Oxford dictionnary). The word colony was first used in the fourteenth century ( Encarta « colony ».

The word colony comes from the Latin colōnia which is derived from colōnus,this word means colonist but it is also used to imply a farmer. Cologne is an illustration of a settlement to maintain this etymology. Some settlements that

Another motive for colonialism is purely sociological ; when the European settle in new colonies, they become the upper class of the newly colonized

Trinidad the British colony did not have the same political history as did Barbados and Jamaica (Older British colonies). In order to preserve the British political order, and its control over the island, in 1832, Trinidad was governed by what is now called: ‘’Crown Colony Government’’. However, due to many movements (Labor riots, trade union movement, the people’s national movement), the decolonization began which led to national independence in 1962.

The British planters continued what the French ones started, leading to the expansion of the sugar industry with the aid of a significant number of slaves which increased by the early 1800s. By the year 1815, African slaves formed 67% of the island’s population. After the British abolishment of slavery (between 1834 and 1838), some of the freed slaves lived in new villages to work whenever is possible seeking independence and reliance on themselves, while others worked as artisans and farmers. Some women on the other hand worked in the properties of the white people. After the World War II, the colony’s economy was dominated by oil, and not by sugar nor by