Introduction to Colony
Colony, a populated area held and governed by an outside country. A colony is a subject territory under the sovereignty (complete control) of the outside country, which may or may not allow some measure of local self-government. Colony also means a group of people who migrate from their homes to another land but remain under the rule of their native country. As individuals, these people are called colonists or colonials.
The rule of an area and its people by another country is called colonialism. The philosophy that underlies the acquisition of colonies is known as imperialism. Colonialism began in ancient times and reached its height in the 19th century. It virtually disappeared in the years following World War II, having been condemned as a moral evil, and only a few colonies—mostly small islands—remain. However, a situation akin to colonialism survives in neocolonialism, where a one-time colonial territory may be dependent on its former colonial ruler or another advanced industrial nation.
Colonies and Colonialism
Colonies were established for a variety of reasons: to relieve overpopulation and the resulting poverty; to create new markets; to establish military bases; to develop new sources of raw materials; to provide a haven for victims of religious and political persecution; or to furnish a place of exile, as, for example, a penal colony or a leper colony. Love of adventure and the desire to improve their lot induced many people to settle in colonies.
The main types of colonies were the settlement colony and the exploitation, or trading, colony. A settlement colony was an area in which large numbers of people came to live permanently. The land from which they came was called the mother country. Because the colonists sought to develop their territory, a settlement colony tended to become self-supporting. The British portions of North America were settlement colonies. An exploitation colony was established primarily to add to the wealth of the colonial power. Usually it had a semi-military government and few permanent settlers from the colonizing country. Most European colonies in Africa were of this type.
Colonization brought the original inhabitants of a colony the technological advances of a more developed society and, in some cases, a higher standard of living. New institutions—such as the Christian religion and Western legal systems—often were introduced. These changes, however, frequently proved detrimental to the indigenous culture. Sometimes, the original inhabitants were deprived of their land or their freedom. In some instances, highly developed civilizations (such as that of the Incas) were destroyed.
Colonization was the cause of many wars, waged for a variety of reasons. In some, settlers fought against the indigenous population; in others, colonial powers contended over territory. Ultimately, many colonies fought wars of independence.
Ancient Colonies
The ancient Greeks founded colonies in Asia Minor, the Crimea, North Africa, and over most of the lands of the Mediterranean area as far west as modern Spain. Greek colonies usually became independent politically, and many of them established colonies of their own.
The Phoenicians founded commercial colonies, which served as ports of repair and places of storage. Carthage, originally a Phoenician colony, became a colonizer in its own right and grew into an empire. The Romans established settlement colonies to provide farms for landless people, to hold conquered regions, and to defend their borders against enemies.
Portugal and Spain
During the 1400's, the Portuguese became great navigators. They discovered and colonized Madeira, the Azores, and the Cape Verde Islands. In 1498 the Portuguese rounded the Cape of Good Hope, at the southwestern tip of Africa, and reached India. They founded many trading colonies in the Far East and Africa. By 1500 they reached South America and founded a settlement colony in Brazil. Brazil became independent in 1822. Portugal's African holdings achieved independence in the 1970's. Administration of Portugal's last remaining colony, Macau (near Guangzhou, China), was transferred back to China in 1999.
Spain acquired a great colonial empire after Columbus reached America in 1492. The Spaniards occupied nearly all of South America except Brazil, conquered Mexico and Central America, took over most of the West Indies, and founded settlements from Florida to California. During the 19th century Spain lost nearly all its colonies. Only two small possessions remain—Ceuta and Melilla, both in northern Africa.
The Netherlands
Holland was a great maritime nation during the 1600's and the Dutch founded many trading colonies. They established a settlement at the Cape of Good Hope, and for a short time held what is now New York. The Netherlands lost some of its colonies to the British during the Napoleonic Wars after 1800. Indonesia became independent in 1949, Suriname in 1975. The Dutch still hold several islands in the Caribbean.
Great Britain
The English became great explorers under Elizabeth I in the late 1500's. Beginning in 1607, England established a line of colonies in North America. The United States became independent in 1776, but Great Britain retained Canada. During the 18th and 19th centuries the British took over India. Burma, Malaya, and other lands of Asia, some as colonies, some as protectorates. They founded settlement colonies in Australia and New Zealand, and won control of large areas in Africa from the Cape of Good Hope to Egypt. They also acquired many strategic islands and ports throughout the world.
Canada's colonial status ended in 1867, Australia's in 1900, New Zealand's in 1907, and South Africa's in 1910. After World War I, these self-governing dominions became independent members of the new Commonwealth of Nations. After World War II, almost all of the British colonies attained independence. Until granted independence in 1947, India and Pakistan together formed Britain's largest colony, the Empire of India (the British monarch being its emperor). Most of the former colonies became sovereign members of the Commonwealth.
France
During the 1600's the French occupied a vast territory in North America, but they lost it in 1763 after the French and Indian War. France regained Louisiana from Spain in 1800, only to sell it to the United States in 1803. During the 19th century the French conquered large territories in Africa and the Far East. After World War II, French Indochina and French Africa became independent. France still holds a number of islands scattered over the world.
Other Countries
Outlying holdings of the United States are officially called possessions rather than colonies, although historically the distinction is largely a technical one. Only a few such holdings were obtained, most of them in the 1890's and early 1900's. Largest was the Philippines, which was a United States possession from the Spanish-American War (1898) until 1946, when it was granted independence. Present-day possessions include the Virgin Islands of the United States, Guam, American Samoa, and other islands in the Pacific and Caribbean. Puerto Rico, obtained from Spain in the Spanish-American War, and the Northern Marianas, formerly part of a trust territory administered by the United States, have a special status, that of commonwealth.
Belgium's one major colony—Belgian Congo (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo)—became independent in 1960. Germany acquired colonies in Africa and in the Pacific shortly before 1900, but lost them as a result of World War I. Japan and Italy lost their colonial possessions in World War II.
Beginning in the late 1500's, Russian imperialism swept eastward across Siberia to the Pacific. The government settled large numbers of colonists in various places throughout this territory, but many areas are still inhabited only by non-Russians.