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The Age of Imperialism Essay

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Imperialism was a time period in which more developed nations colonized less developed nations. The developed nations took advantage of the less developed nations resources, people, lands, and much more. Many countries lost their freedom and independence due to imperialism, however, they also received new technologies and innovations. Since there were many nations involved, there were many attributes that led up to imperialism. Firstly, the Europeans wanted economic expansion. Since the industrial revolution had taken place, the Europeans were in need of more natural resources. They also wanted new markets for the sake of selling industrial products. To achieve this they had to look for more places outside of Europe and colonize it. At …show more content…

Social Darwinism was a social theory. The same theories that were from Charles Darwin had been applied to human society. The theories on natural selection and evolution. It known that those who were stronger and superior could enjoy a wealthy and lavish lifestyle. The fittest of survival. Europeans believed that non-Europeans were lower, physically and culturally. This was believed because the Europeans, at the time, were the only people to make scientific and technological breakthroughs. There were many nations involved in the European imperialism. Latin America and the seaports of Asia and Africa were the first to be colonized. England had been leading the colonial power amongst the Europeans. France had been second in command. Portugal, Spain and Holland received few colonies. Germany and Italy were last to join because they unified themselves in the 1860's. Africa had delayed its colonization because of its many diseases and geography. Africa became colonized in the 19th Century. Europeans were able to colonize Africa because of the many advantages they had over them. Firstly, the Maxim gun had been acquired. This was the first automatic machine gun to be produced. The Europeans were able to travel much more easily due to the steam engine. Since Africa had many diseases such as malaria, Europeans were able to create drugs to protect themselves from such diseases. Africa was vast, and there was an abundance of different languages and cultures. This made

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