Imperialism in India

Imperialism, as defined by the Dictionary of Human Geography, is “the creation and/or maintenance of an unequal economic, cultural, and territorial relationship, usually between states and often in the form of an empire, based on domination and subordination. ” Imperialism has positive and negative effects, especially with Great Britain’s imperialism with India. The positive effects are in Documents 1 and 4, stating that the manufacturing aided in the majority of India’s achievements. The negative effects stated in Documents 2 and 7 shows how bitter sweet the effect of imperialism truly is.

The positive effects of imperialism in India were quite plentiful. Grouping together Documents 1 and 4, one would like to state that they both encourage the beneficial view of manufacturing. In Document 1 it states that, “They [the English] develop the territory by building roads, canals, railways, and telegraphs. The progressive nations can establish schools and newspapers for the people of the colonies. ” Noticeably, the point of view of this Document happens to be an Englishman who saw only the benefits of imperialism and took no thought of the negative effects.

Using this document one can realize that the manufacturing of these certain matters can lead to the civilization of a country. Stated in Document 4 India gained a “higher standard of living” (Document 4) and because of this industrialization, has a “great number of bridges… 40,000 miles of railway, and 70,000 miles of paved roads” (Document 4). Even though the document states a bias view of the beneficial effects, there is a certain missing voice. Because the document is written by an Englishman who has the authority and power to write this, no native Indian could back them up as to why it is negatively effective until later years.

The negative effects of imperialism in India were thought of mainly by the Indians living in their home land. One would group together Documents 2 and 7 because of the point of view of the author. Both authors are Indian, giving us not an Englishman’s view on imperialism, but giving us an idea of how the native Indians felt about it. Dadabhai Naoroji, an Indian, states in Document 2, “Natives, no matter how fit, are deliberately kept out of the social institutions started by Europeans… All they [the Europeans] do is live off of India while they are here. When they go, they carry all they have gained. What Naoroji is trying to say is that Englishmen are only in India for their own beneficial purposes and when they have gained that beneficial purpose, they will leave, and no Indian will have the right to tell them not to. In Document 7, Gandhi offers a complaint about imperialism and how the British has “given us no responsibility for our own government. ” Because of the order of taking over India, the British have taken India and their government, leaving the natives almost helpless and useless. The missing voice of these documents is the Englishmen.

Certainly one can tell that if a British man was present, they would argue back, stating the positive views on imperialism, leaving them the missing voice. Britain imperialized India for the better and for the worse. Because of the reign of Britain in India, the native Indians almost seemed inferior to the British, leaving them with these negative and positive effects. Indeed, India began to industrialize thanks to Britain, but India also lost control of their own country, letting the British take over. In conclusion, the imperialism act against Britain and India caused many opinionated occurrences.