Settler colonialism occupies an essential role in the history of the United States because this phenomenon explains the process of how the nation emerged and developed. This issue’s nature refers to the fact that foreigners, not Indigenous people, created the country. Settler colonialism consists of many components, including white supremacy, slavery of African people, genocide, and land theft, and these phenomena are interrelated. White people came to the modern US territory, fought the Indigenous people, stole their land, and used Africans as their labor force. It is worth mentioning that settler colonialism is not to accuse modern Americans but to demonstrate a historical reality.
Karl Marx’s quote is a bright description of how capitalist systems worked. His ideas are significant because they reveal that both the aboriginal population and Africans involuntarily played an essential role in the creation of the United States. Their hard labor allowed the capitalists to cope with complex tasks, achieve the desired goals, and accumulate resources. In addition to that, Marx directly addresses settler colonialism since his quote reflects how the colonialists approached other people. The philosopher’s quote describes the issue under consideration from the points of view of its driving force, including African slaves and the Indigenous population.
Multiple factors made Europeans promote settler colonialism ideas and participate in this practice. Firstly, numerous colonialists were representatives of rich cultures and developed social relations, which resulted in the image of their supremacy over other people. Secondly, the European practice of the Crusades to the Middle East and North Africa became a prerequisite of settler colonialism. Thirdly, Europeans had extended armies and technological innovations in a military sphere. Consequently, settler colonialism began with wealthy Europeans who felt their supremacy, which allowed them to utilize their military experience and resources to go overseas and conquer people of other lands and cultures.
The enclosure movement denotes the privatization of the commons that used to belong to peasants. This process happened in 16th-century England to transform the land into grazing territories for commercial sheep production. In that situation, the peasants had no choice but to work in new factories in terrible conditions. However, the rise of settler colonialism provided these individuals with an opportunity to obtain a piece of land in the North American British colonies after serving their terms of indenture. Thus, the enclosure movement made numerous British peasants want to participate in colonization to become independent farmers.
White supremacy is the ideology of some people being better and more rightful than others. It does not only rely on skin color but also focuses on the notions of culture, language, and religion. This phenomenon appeared during the Crusades when Europeans conquered Muslim-controlled territories. This ideology also included the concept of the cleanliness of blood, meaning that the Church had the right to decide that people of a particular origin were “not clean.” Thus, it is evident that white supremacy was an essential element of settler colonialism. It is so because this phenomenon allowed the colonialists to enslave Africans, kill the aboriginal population, and appropriate their land.
Settlers used various tactics and strategies to take Native lands. Firstly, Europeans tried to use a method of material greed to make the Indigenous people sell their lands. In some cases, this strategy resulted in fair and peaceful deals. Secondly, unrelenting wars were the main driving force of the colonialization. When the Native people did not agree to sell their land, the colonists used soldiers and weapons to appropriate it. This strategy resulted in the complete genocide of the Indigenous peoples. Even though historians argue this issue, it is possible to mention that bacteria brought by the Europeans also contributed to colonialization success.
Colonists were people of different origins and social statuses, but the Scots-Irish represented the core group. They were Scottish Protestants, and the British government recruited them as settlers of the province of Ulster in Northern Ireland. Thus, these people were experienced colonialists when the American colonialization began, which allowed them to play a significant role in the process. These individuals were cruel soldiers, and their excellent scalping skills prove this claim. Consequently, the Scots-Irish became the force that contributed to North America’s westward movement and the expansion of the US continental empire.
Settler colonialism was associated with a unique way of warfare that had not been used by Europeans before. It refers to attacking civilians and their support systems to destroy the will and capacity of enemies to resist. This strategy can be explained by the idiom stating that the end justifies the means. Thus, colonial warfare relied on destroying villages and fields, slaughtering civilians, and others to get an advantage over the Indigenous population. These were effective measures to defeat the Native peoples when there was a balance of power between the enemies.
The Doctrine of Discovery is a Church document that stipulated that every nation should have been ruled by Christian leaders. If people did not have such a leader and were not familiar with Christianity, they did not have any rights and freedoms. Consequently, the Doctrine of Discovery, written in 1452, justified racism, slavery, and genocide of particular peoples. Furthermore, this document is important because it resulted in the European colonialization of Africa, America, India, the Middle East, and others.