Blog #12: Imperialism

Write 300-500 words about IMPERIALISM. What has shocked, surprised, or distressed you? What was weird or strange? Reflect on anything about readings on IMPERIALISM (for Nov. 1 & 3), showing how your thoughts changed or expanded.


     In discussing imperialism, what automatically came to my mind was colonial times. In our previous readings from the beginning of the semester, we discussed Christopher Columbus and the idea of the Native Americans "needing help or aid". This need turned into other individuals coming in and changing what was already established or reinforcing that "the found this land first." So, when learning about imperialism in class, I immediately thought about what was said prior. The thought of imperialism has to do with the idea of influencing other countries to basically follow what we believe in. With that being said, what happened with the Native Americans and assimilation is exactly what is happening with this idea of imperialism in the late 1800s. 
     In analyzing the picture in class today, a lot of things came into mind. The photo that was in The Journal, Detroit shows a man (U.S. soldier) carrying what it looks like a native of a country up the hill to a school house. In analyzing this, it basically shows the U.S. forcing the people of whatever country to do what we basically want them to do. The pictures shows force, as the man is carrying him up, and also shows a ship in the background which shows that the U.S. in a way occupied the country which adds to the force. This picture really brought some interesting questions to the table, and really made me think back to our previous discussions. In thinking about this, someone brought up the point in class that this is still occurring now which i definitely agree with. In looking at current events especially in the middle east, one can really see this occurring. Though at times it could be the best for the country, other times it can be seen in a negative aspect. Just looking at the situation, it seems as if the U.S is going back to colonial times when the Europeans did the same. If you look at it, is this really the direction we should be going in? I found these readings very interesting and easy to relate to with current times.