Reader Response 2

1

The word imperialism comes from the Latin word “imperium,” which is defined as absolute power. Imperialism simply means that a nation, country, or empire gains and maintains dominance over other nations by controlling their natural resources and exploiting them for raw materials to sell in its own factories and countries. The four main causes of imperialism are money, national pride, racism, and religion. The Europeans wanted colonies to provide raw materials for their factories so they could make more money in trade with the new colonies. This was also a way of showing off their imperialistic power by building up an empire that stretched around the world.

There is a close relationship between capitalism and imperialism according. According to the German philosopher Rosa Luxemburg, she wrote in her book The Accumulation of Capital, that capitalism cannot survive without imperialism. In the first chapter, we narrated the history of capitalism in India and the consequences; how the economy of India, the first major colony of Britain, was destroyed to bring about the capitalist development of Britain. There is a close relationship between imperialism and capitalism in the sense that imperialism expands the profit of the capitalists to help by capturing the market and natural resources.

The Europeans also wanted colonies to provide raw materials for their factories so they could make more money in trade with the new colonies. This was also a way of showing off their imperialistic power by building up an empire that stretched around the world. They had already been feeling superior because of how technologically advanced and culturally diverse Europe was compared to Asia, Africa, or Latin America when it came time to colonize these places too.