The Economic Exploitation of Colonialism The Great Empires Throughout history there have been several great empires in the world. However, perhaps the one that reached the greatest dimension has been the British empire. Exploitation Colonialism The national economic policy of conquering a country to exploit its natural resources and its native population. These empires would invade and colonize a country or region in order to: – Acquire land – Exploit minerals – Cheap labor- slavery – Acquire products that were native to the colonized country but not to the conquering country. No progress Economic exploitation was not enough. The colonizing empires would avoid any industrial, economic, or social progress. Ideological Factors The colonizing empires had extremely racist and prejudiced ideologies: • They believed that the white race was superior. • It was their duty to “civilize” the rest of the world. • They had to “introduce” Christianity. • Finders –keepers mentality South Africa Britain colonized South African in 1652. • During the colonization they discovered gold and diamonds. – Exploited the mines – Nearly half the gold ever mined has come from South Africa. South Africa • Britain established discrimination patterns: – Generally, the Caucasian workers received education while African workers did not. – Caucasian workers would earn up to 9 times more than African workers. – Slaves also forced to perform other jobs. South Africa Nowadays • Almost 400 years later, though there is improvement in education, comparing to the white population, the black population still lacks education. – Africa is the poorest and most underdeveloped continent in the world. – Unemployment is as high as 75%. – 41% of children are involved in child labor. – In average, people have to walk 6 kilometers to have access to potable water. Is there a pattern? .