Imperialism was an idea and policy of creating and maintaining an imbalanced economic, territorial and cultural relationship between territories. This created dominion either through military use or colonization (Lecture Notes on Imperialism, slide 4). Imperialism was organized from an imperial center and had a periphery (Lecture notes on Imperialism, slide 7). Imperialism as an idea was based on capital expansion. The imperialist conquered other territories in order to obtain raw materials for their industries. This ultimately led to industrialization and dominion. Imperialists justified their actions by implying that they were improving the culture and economy of the conquered territories (Hobson, 2011) . Africa and India were sought by France and Britain because of the immense resource endowment. There were various minerals and other raw materials for their industries. These were cheap and easily available in both Africa and India. Further, both Africa and India also offered the imperialist a new labor force that was huge and readily available. The labor force was to be useful in their industries (Etherington, 2014) .
Imperialism was mainly anchored on dominion and exploitation of the conquered territories. However, there were numerous positive benefits to these territories as a result of imperialism. This is what was refers to by Lewis Samuel Feuer as progressive imperialism. (Lecture notes on Imperialism, slide 6). According to Lewis, progressive imperialism led to the spread of civilization in the conquered territories. This led to improved standards of living in otherwise backward cultures. Imperialism in Africa and India led to many positive outcomes. In its efforts to extend imperialism, France and Britain improved the education and sanitation of the local countries. This led to the improvement of literacy levels in these continents. Nowadays, some countries still use the education system set by the imperialists. Imperialism also improved the healthcare system of Africa and India. Hospitals were built during this period. There were massive vaccination programs. Tropical diseases were now easy to manage. As a result, the average life expectancy improved (Etherington, 2014).
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References
Etherington, N. (2014). Theories of Imperialism (Routledge Revivals): War, Conquest and Capital. New york: Routledge.
Hobson, J. A. (2011). Imperialism. Cambrdge: Cambridge University Press.
Lecture Notes on Imperialism
