Imperialism: Summary

This week's primary theme was imperialism, its causes, and the effects it had upon native populations. Imperialism was caused by many things, one of which was the European sense that they were superior to the rest of the world. However, I believe that the only reason it was Europe and not anywhere else that ended up becoming imperialistic was that Europe had the fastest technological advancement and sustained it the longest. They had ships that could cross oceans, so they crossed oceans and conquered. Frequently when discussing imperialism, the West is treated as some kind of "monstrosity", and that is really not the case. While imperialism was terrible, it was not a "monstrosity," it was just human nature - people tend to want to feel superior to other groups, and, when they do, they tend to conquer other groups around them. Imperialism may have been terrible, but it was a reflection of general human nature, not only of the evil of the west.