Comparative Colonization in Asia

Several different Western European powers established colonies in Asia during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Each of the imperial powers had its own style of administration, and colonial officers from the different nations also displayed various attitudes towards their imperial subjects. Great Britain The British Empire was the largest in the world prior to World War II and included a number of places in Asia. Those territories include what is now Oman, Yemen, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Iraq, Jordan, Palestine, Myanmar (Burma), Sri Lanka (Ceylon), the Maldives, Singapore, Malaysia (Malaya), Brunei, Sarawak and North Borneo (now part of Indonesia), Papua New Guinea, and Hong Kong. The crown jewel of all of Britains overseas possessions around the world, of course, was India. British colonial officers and British colonists, in general, saw themselves as exemplars of fair play, and in theory, at least, all of the crowns subjects were supposed to be equal before the law, regardless of their race, religion, or ethnicity. Nonetheless, British colonials held themselves apart from local people more than other Europeans did, hiring locals as domestic help, but rarely intermarrying with them. In part, this may have been due to a transfer of British ideas about the separation of classes to their overseas colonies. The British took a paternalistic view of their colonial subjects, feeling a duty — the white mans burden, as Rudyard Kipling put it — to Christianize and civilize the peoples of Asia, Africa, and the New World. In Asia, the story goes, Britain built roads, railways, and governments, and acquired a national obsession with tea. This veneer of gentility and humanitarianism quickly crumbled, however, if a subjugated people rose up. Britain ruthlessly put down the Indian Revolt of 1857 and brutally tortured accused participants in Kenyas Mau Mau Rebellion (1952 - 1960). When famine struck Bengal in 1943, Winston Churchills government not only did nothing to feed Bengalis, it actually turned down food aid from the US and Canada meant for India. France Although France sought an extensive colonial empire in Asia, its defeat in the Napoleonic Wars left it with just a handful of Asian territories. Those included the 20th-century mandates of Lebanon and Syria, and more especially the key colony of French Indochina — what is now Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. French attitudes about colonial subjects were, in some ways, quite different from those of their British rivals.  Some idealistic French sought not just to dominate their colonial holdings, but to create a Greater France in which all French subjects around the world truly would be equal. For example, the North African colony of Algeria became a department, or a province, of France, complete with parliamentary representation. This difference in attitude may be due to Frances embrace of Enlightenment thinking, and to the French Revolution, which had broken down some of the class barriers that still ordered society in Britain. Nonetheless, French colonizers also felt the white mans burden of bringing so-called civilization and Christianity to barbaric subject peoples. On a personal level, French colonials were more apt than the British to marry local women and create a cultural fusion in their colonial societies.  Some French racial theorists such as Gustave Le Bon and Arthur Gobineau, however, decried this tendency as a corruption of Frenchmens innate genetic superiority. As time went on, social pressure increased for French colonials to preserve the purity of the French race. In French Indochina, unlike Algeria, the colonial rulers did not establish large settlements. French Indochina was an economic colony, meant to produce a profit for the home country. Despite the lack of settlers to protect, however, France was quick to jump into a bloody war with the Vietnamese when they resisted a French return after World War II. Today, small Catholic communities, a fondness for baguettes and croissants, and some pretty colonial architecture are all that remains of visible French influence in Southeast Asia. The Netherlands The Dutch competed and fought for control of the Indian Ocean trade routes and spice production with the British, through their respective East India Companies. In the end, the Netherlands lost Sri Lanka to the British, and in 1662, lost Taiwan (Formosa) to the Chinese, but retained control over most of the rich spice islands that now make up Indonesia. For the Dutch, this colonial enterprise was all about money. There was a very little pretense of cultural improvement or Christianization of the heathens — the Dutch wanted profits, plain and simple.  As a result, they showed no qualms about ruthlessly capturing locals and using them as slave labor on the plantations, or even carrying out a massacre of all the inhabitants of the Banda Islands to protect their monopoly on the nutmeg and mace trade. Portugal After Vasco da Gama rounded the southern end of Africa in 1497, Portugal became the first European power to gain sea access to Asia. Although the Portuguese were quick to explore and lay claim to various coastal parts of India, Indonesia, Southeast Asia, and China, its power faded in the 17th and 18th centuries, and the British, Dutch, and French were able to push Portugal out of most of its Asian claims. By the 20th century, what remained was Goa, on the southwest coast of India; East Timor; and the southern Chinese port at Macau. Although Portugal was not the most intimidating European imperial power, it had the most staying power. Goa remained Portuguese until India annexed it by force in 1961; Macau was Portuguese until 1999 when the Europeans finally handed it back to China, and East Timor or Timor-Leste formally became independent only in 2002.   Portuguese rule in Asia was by turns ruthless (as when they began capturing Chinese children to sell into slavery in Portugal), lackadaisical, and underfunded. Like the French, Portuguese colonists were not opposed to mixing with local peoples and creating creole populations. Perhaps the most important characteristic of the Portuguese imperial attitude, however, was Portugals stubbornness and refusal to withdraw, even after the other imperial powers had closed up shop. Portuguese imperialism was driven by a sincere desire to spread Catholicism and make tons of money. It was also inspired by nationalism; originally, a desire to prove the countrys might as it came out from under Moorish rule, and in later centuries, the proud insistence on holding onto the colonies as an emblem of past imperial glory.

cloning argument Essay example - 1393 Words

Cloning: Choice is Ethical Thousands of people a year are placed on the organ donors list. Thousands of people a year are diagnosed with diseases that are dubbed fatal unless a transplant or transfusion is given. This has created a large demand for some alternative method to the present donor practice. Research in the quot;tabooquot; science of cloning seems to provide a viable method in which to aid the problem aforementioned and many others as well. But is it ethical? Cloning technology is expected to aid the result in several medical breakthroughs. It is thought that there may one day be a cure for cancer. This is because the cloning process helps us understand the process of cell differentiation. Theories exist that if a cure for†¦show more content†¦It would still take about two decades to come up with the first batch of useful soldiers or slaves. Even then, getting the clones to all believe the same thing would be impossible. Neither knowledge nor experience can be cloned, and knowledge and experience heavily influences what type of person we become. To hear some people speak, one would think that Hitlers clones would all grow up speaking German regardless of the language spoken by those around them. Just as the clone may learn a different language, he is certainly going to have different experiences, and is likely to draw different lessons from those experiences (Hume). But if this remains a worry to some it can be simply taken care of with the passing of strict legislation, guidelines to what extents and directions that the science may go and not go. One major supporter of cloning, the Roslin Institute, is sponsored by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), and obtains funding from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF), European Union, Meat and Livestock Commission (MLC), Milk Development Council (MDC), and other public and private organizations. They believe that cloning to produce the ultimate product, is essential in our world’s development. By producing quality products (meat, milk, etc.) we are eliminating the use of artificial items (flavoring, coloring, pesticides) in our food. This alsoShow MoreRelatedEssay on An Argument Against Cloning1198 Words   |  5 PagesAn Argument Against Cloning Increase in genetic knowledge has created challenges in our society. Daniel Callahan focuses on these challenges and expresses his worry about the society (soil) on which this genetic knowledge is growing. 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What Were Several Staple Crops in the Carolinas Free Essays

What were several staple crops in the Carolinas, grown by the slaves? How did this crop affect their cuisine? When the slaves were being transported to the new world they brought with them native African foods to eat along the journey. They also brought with them many customs and cooking techniques that were not yet used in the Americas. The introduction of these crops proved to be a major influence in what we now called Southern cuisine or soul food. We will write a custom essay sample on What Were Several Staple Crops in the Carolinas or any similar topic only for you Order Now Rice is the major staple of slave cuisine. It is said that the rice originally came from seeds directly imported from Madagascar in 1685. Africans were familiar with the growing and cultivating of rice and taught their â€Å"owners† how to grow it as well. The rice fields were cultivated on tidal swamp lands along coastal rivers. Slaves cleared these low-lying land and build canals, dikes and small floodgates that allowed the flooding and drainage of the fields. Peanuts were originally from South America, but made their way to Africa via trade then eventually made their way to America on the slave ships. Slaves used peanuts in several different ways including making peanut pie and peanut soup. They also used to boil the peanuts in salt and spices and eaten soggy, this was a great source of nutrition. This dish is still widely consumed today. The use of the peanut was not limited to just the slaves; in fact George Washington Carver researched this product in depth. He discovered over 300 possible uses for the peanut including Jersey Milk, instant coffee, flour, synthetic rubber and linoleum. It was also discovered that rubbing peanut oil on aching muscles will help them rejuvenate more quickly. Okra was another staple crop grown and consumed mostly by slaves at first but then made it’s way, as many other foods, into the white man’s diet. Okra or gumbo as it’s called in Africa made its way to America via the transatlantic slave trade in the 1600s. The most popular dish that is made from Okra is Gumbo, a stew in which okra is the main ingredient and is thickened with powder from sassafras leaves. The seeds were also used to make a coffee substitute and for some medicinal purposes including softening ointments. African food traditions contributed greatly to the culinary cuisine of America. Southern cooking and soul food became a cultural and culinary experience in which both black and white Americans contributed to. Works Cited Opala, Joseph. â€Å"South Carolina Rice Plantations. † South Carolina Rice Plantations. N. p. , n. d. Web. 26 Oct. 2012. lt;http://www. yale. edu/glc/gullah/02. htmgt;. â€Å"- SlaveRebellion. org. † – SlaveRebellion. org. N. p. , n. d. Web. 27 Oct. 2012. lt;http://slaverebellion. org/index. php? page=african-contribution-to-american-culturegt;. How to cite What Were Several Staple Crops in the Carolinas, Papers

Development and sustainability in India free essay sample

Sustainable development is defined as the development which caters to the need of present without compromising the needs of future generation. It ensures continuing growth and progress for human kind while arresting and changing those processes which has irreversible damage to environment, biodiversity, flora and fauna etc. Overall it exposes a concern which basically focuses on human need rather than human want.The term sustainable development and sustainability came into picture in 1987 from the report named Our Common Future published under UN sponsored World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED). Drivers behind the concept of sustainable development are divided into three parts namely Pre Stockholm (covering the time span until the Stockholm Conference on Environment and Development i.e before 1972), Stockholm to WCED (1972-1987) and Post WCED (after 1987).Thomas Robert Mathews (1766-1834)proposed Theory of Limits foreseeing the limits to development due to scarcity of resources. Many disastrous effects of industrial revolution came up by 1798. We will write a custom essay sample on Development and sustainability in India or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Apart from from this poverty, diseases, increasing population and pollution were already existent problems that needed remedial solution. All these factors together contributed towards need of sustainable growth,Importance of managing environment and use of environment assessment as a management tool was recognized in UN Conference on Human Environment in 1972. This represents a remarkable stepping stone towards concept of sustainable development. In that duration, in Rome, a group of extinguished scientists and concerned citizens gathered to discuss and find solutions of the global environmental crisis which was expanding rapidly. This group came to be known as Club of Rome and it published a report on the State of Natural Environment. This report showed that industial growth was going to exceed the limits of ecological balance if it continued the kind of economic growth as witnessed in 1960 1970.Later in 1972, UN Conference on Human Environment terminology like Environment Devel opment, Development without Destruction and Environmentally Sound Development came into picture. Finally term Eco Development appeared in UN Environment Programme Review in 1978. By this time the need of Environment and Development ideas to go hand in hand was recognized internationally. International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) worked closely with World Wildlife Fund and launched the World Conservation Strategy themed Living Resource Conservation for Sustaianable Development in 1980. This was a major step to integrate the environment and development concept under the roof of Conservation.The theme was brought into light a few years later by WCED also known as Brundtland Comission. In 1984, UN setup an idependent group of 22 people from member states of developed and developing countries. And in 1987, WCED published their report entitled Our Common Future. Two key points of Brundtland Comission are:1. The concept of needs emphasizing essential needs of poors to which priority should be given.2. The limitations imposed on environment to meet present and future needs by technology and social organizations.By, this the commission underlines the strong link between improvement of environment, allevation of poverty and social eqitability through sustainable economic growth. Since the publication of this report, Sustainable development became the core element of environmental discussion and lead to worldwide acceptance and interpretations. By 1994, more than 80 varying definitions sharing the same concept of WCEDs definition were developedAfter WCED, UN Conference on Environment ; Development (UNCED)also called Rio Conference or Earth Summit played major role in widespread of sustainable development. UNCED led production of to major international document such as Rio declaration, Agenda 21 and Convention on desertification, climate change and biodiversity.In 1972, at UN Conference on Human Environment at Stockholm, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi emphasized that poverty eradication is an integral part to achieve the goal of environment sategy for the world. She insisted that concept of interrelatedness of a shared planet, of global citizenship and of spaceship earth cannot be restricted to environmental issues alone. They are equally applicable to inter connected responsibilities of environmental protection and human development.Environmentally sound and sustainable development has been the result of Earth Summit and has now become an inseparable part of socio economic fora. Problem of sustainable development roots to pattern of resource use, their distribution and ownership, thus an allround sustainable development policy should be framed considering politics as well as sta te regulations, There have been a number of important international conferences in which the steps towards sustainable development have been discussed at high regime of government. And now the policy of Sustainable development has been globally accepted and practiced.