Negative Effects Of European Imperialism

European imperialism had, at one time, been on every all but one continent, at its peak in the 20th century, 40% of people lived under colonial rule (Roser, no date). The impact of this can still be seen around the world, but the fact of the matter is that this impact is not always a positive impact, particularly in Africa. The negative impact began as early as the slave trade, when the Portuguese began taking African slaves to the Caribbean and America (Fenske et al, 2017). Other negatives include the destruction of African culture and religion, as well as the countless deaths caused by European imperialists (History and Theory of Genocide, 2011). The effects in Africa were not all bad, Europeans brought new technology to Africa, allowing

European imperialism not only involved Africa, imperialism stretched from North America to Asia and Australia. Western Europe and the empires that existed within it, were the most advanced during the time of imperialism and colonisation and the reach of these empires was worldwide and their impacts are still seen today. Due to the comparatively late decolonisation in Africa, the effects are more prominent there than anywhere else today. This does not deduct from the fact that the effects of European imperialism cannot be seen elsewhere. Similar to Africa, colonisation allowed for infrastructure to be vastly improved and modern technology improved their lives. Again, like Africa, the negatives heavily outweigh the positives, including famine, genocide and racism (Mueller, 2017). Despite this, both the positives and negatives can be seen today, and the size of the European empires and the length of time they reigned makes it clear that they shaped the

In America, Spain, France, Britain and Russia (In parts of Alaska) had colonised the vast majority of the country. On the east, Britain and France had colonised almost all modern-day states, Spain’s authority was primarily in Central and South America and the southern states in America. The long-lasting impact of European colonialism in America was defined by the American Revolution, which not only ended with a collapse in the British colony, but the Treaty of Paris was signed, granting recognition of the colonies independence (Calloway, 2006). This was the beginning of modern America, and this was clearly impacted, if not completely due to European imperialism. The British Empire notably colonised Australia and sent upwards of 150,000 criminals to prisons on the country (Shaw, 1966). The impact of this is seen in the Australian flag, which still contains the Union Flag, more than 80% of the Australian population have origins in Europea and English is by far the most spoken language (Brewer et al, 2013). South East Asia had been colonised by five European Empires; France, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Britain (Wilson, no date). The colonisation was primarily for trading posts, however, the colonies provided labour and land for the colonists. A long lasting impact of the colonists was Christianity, which had been introduced to all the colonies in South East Asia, and remains a prominent minority religion today (Goh, 2005). The