Hello!
First time posting on this subreddit, mainly because I need some help with school. Just a quick disclaimer that I am not a historian by any means, just a high school student, so if I say something dumb, well, you'll know why.
Anyways, my history project is basically me mapping out the changing views of colonialism, and how certain events have changed people's perspectives. I am splitting the changing views into three sections, as recommended by my teacher:
I think finding views for the last two points will be easy, but I am struggling to find historical sources from the first point. My teacher recommended trying to find sources and accounts that sort of show how colonialism was beneficial to those who participated in it (British, Spanish, etc) from people during this time, and I have struggled to do so. I was thinking there may be some Christian missionary during that time that viewed colonialism (or whatever it is they called it during that time) as 'converting the savages to their noble religion' or something like that. Can anyone recommend me accounts from this time that speak of the benefits of colonialism? That would be a great help!
Also, it would be useful if you could also tell me how I can expand on the last two points and other things I might be able to talk about. Maybe some post-colonial sources and writers/historians? And where would post-Colonialism fall under, the second or third section?
Thanks a lot in advance!
Hey sounds like a cool project. Could you tell us a little more about what kind of project you have to create? Is it a paper with different paragraphs about how different time periods changed the discussion on the colonial project, or multimedia project, or a presentation? How long is it supposed to be? Are you looking for primary or secondary sources? Would books be helpful or would internet be sources be more useful for you?
For the early period, you might want to look up the intellectual debate at Valladolid between Bartholomé de las Casas and Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda. This was one of the earliest debates about the treatment of indigenous peoples of Spanish America. The other big one I was thinking would bridge the gap between the "Age of Discovery" and the late 19th century is the Haitian Revolution. How did the world react when African slaves rose up and overthrew their masters using the language of freedom and liberty? It was the most valuable sugar colony in the world at the time. The Africans knew what people were saying about freedom and the rights of human beings in places like the US and France, but many people in the Atlantic World (Europe, the US, and Latin America) saw them as racially inferior because they were of African descent. Wealthy white owners were not happy about losing so much money obviously. You will probably find sources condemning the African slaves for violence (which is a ironic to a modern audience given that they were trying to become free right?) and for destroying the profits of the colony. There are others from Latin America I could dig up if you want. Let me know.
One other thought: Because your project could get really really realllllly huge, you might just want to focus on a few examples for each section rather than try to get them all.
Edit: added a couple of sentences.
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