Recolonization Case

1492 marks the beginning of imperialism. When Christopher Columbus landed on what today is the United States, a door to a whole new world was opened. This new world brought new wars, oppression, racism, and hatred between different nations. The nations that were hurt by imperialism needed to close that door horrid door and make themselves their own people.

People all over the world were degraded when their land was taken away from them and ruled by strangers. Nations that were occupying areas that were not theirs made self determination difficult. In India, for example, the East India Company was what started out to be a trading company, but it turned into so much more. It eventually became India's unofficial government. They made Indians become soldiers called sepoys and they disrespected their religion by forcing the soldiers to rip the gun powder cartridges filled with pig and cow fat grease. Being disrespected was not uncommon as an inferior in colonization. In South Africa, those who were not white, were treated just like the African Americans were treated here for decades. Non-whites had to sit in separate areas of trains, they had different jobs, were servants, had different or no schools, etc. All this bullying and strain to change their ways pushed many nations and people over the edge into their fight for independence.

All people have the right to self-determination. Everyone has the right to determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social, and cultural development (Doc 1). While some people took the violent road, or in my beginning analogy's case, hallway, to independence, Mohandas Gandhi took the passive hallway (Doc 3). Instead of shooting and killing, Gandhi chose words and non violent actions as his weapon. "A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history." With Gandhi's sensible methods, India shook the British rule out of their hair. They formed the Indian National Congress Party whose whole goal was to gain complete Indian Independence, and by 1947 India got just what it wanted.

Many nations were more than willing to fight and lose their lives for the independence of their nations. The French ruled different parts of Vietnam for years. The Vietnamese people's cultures were being changed and taken away from them, so they needed to do something about it. Multiple rebellions were held against the French. They were willing to go to any bitter extent in order to reconquer the country that was rightfully theirs (Doc 2). The Vietnamese were not the only people ready to die for what they wanted. In South Africa, the British were oppressing the blacks to savage extents. They enslaved them, and treated them like dirt. If dying was the last resort to gaining the independence necessary for the people to achieve a free society where everyone lives equally, then people were going to do so

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