A fascinating legacy of colonialism in America, in terms of its political and sociological implications, is the endurance of the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution, which reads:

The right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

As previously mentioned, British rule consisted mainly of support by way of raw materials in order to sustain settlers in thee colonies. This essentially left Americans with the freedom to govern themselves, particularly regarding defense of the frontier from Native Americans. Settlers were left to defend "their" land against previous Native inhabitants, for the most part without the help of the British government.

Britain began establishing the American colonies successfully with Jamestown, Virginia in 1607; Canada, on the other hand, became part of the British Empire in 1763 with the Treaty of Paris. This 150-year difference meant a significant change in British governmental leadership and assistance between the United States and Canada—this comparison is particularly useful, as I will explain. Compared to settlement of the American colonies, the British provided more support to Canadian settlers, particularly in terms of defense of their lands from Native Americans. Many sociologists and historical political experts argue that this continues, to this day, to influence American gun laws; which, in comparison to those of Canada, allow a wider variety and number of guns per household.

How does this legacy affect the United States, particularly in comparison to its Canadian neighbor? Recall the devastating mass shooting that occurred in the United States in 2015, when 20 children were shot to death in their elementary school, after which little changed in terms of gun regulation. President Obama spoke of this mass murder shortly after it occurred:

We have a pattern, now, of mass shootings in this country that has no parallel anywhere else in the world.

According to a Global News article in 2015:

Much of the America’s pro-gun push is centered around protection and personal freedom. Gun sales tend to rise in the wake of shootings both because people want to keep themselves and their families safe, because they fear a government crackdown on gun ownership.

Evidently, the fact that Americans were given such free rein on gun use over three centuries ago, in which they had little support from the British government, continues to influence their perceptions on the Second Amendment today. I consider this of note because although gun laws do vary across different states, the rate of gun injuries and fatalities is still higher in comparison to those of other countries.

Further, this attitude of disdain toward Native Americans and disregard for their humanity has certainly carried into Native American stereotypes and treatment today, and being forcibly and violently removed from their lands has impacted generations of Native people ever since.

In nearly all cases, colonization was quite harmful to the people who already lived in the area. While most of the damage done to Native American tribes was done by the United States, the British did nothing to help the tribes toward governing the continent before American independence. In nearly all cases, colonization was done to enrich the mother country at the expense of the people who lived in the colony. Sub-saharan Africa is a prime example of this as Europeans extracted gold, diamonds, and even people to use as slaves. The governance of these colonies primarily benefited the colonizers which gave the people there little time or practice at local governance or developing infrastructure.

Often, the colonial period ended quite rapidly, such as what happened after WWII for Africa and Southeast Asia. Instead of developing stable governments which responded to the will of the people adequately, in many cases strongmen came to power and ruled through draconian measures and bribes. These poor governments combined with images of poverty broadcast to the rest of the world has done little to assist these countries' attempts at improving the lives of the people. Colonization has largely been a detriment to the people living in the developing world and decades after its end, its effects are still felt today.

The legacy of colonialism tends to continue to impact foreign colonies.  It makes it harder for them to develop economically, politically, and socially.  These problems tend to be closely intertwined with one another.

Economically speaking, colonizing powers tended to run colonies for their (the powers’) own good.  They set up colonial economies that were based solely on providing raw materials or low-value materials to the imperial power.  What this meant is that the economies never developed.  The colonies never evolved.  When they were granted independence, their economies were still primitive and not capable of competing on the global level.  Once they were that far behind, it would be hard to catch up.

Politically speaking, a similar thing occurred.  The colonial powers typically tried to keep as much power as possible for themselves.  They did not do much, if anything, to train the local people to govern themselves.  When the colonies were abruptly liberated, they did not have a large group of people ready to run the government and they did not have a history of democratic participation.

Socially, we can point to such things as a lack of education.  Colonial powers were typically not very worried about educating the natives.  This meant that the newly-independent nations were left with populations that were poorly educated and therefore not able to create prosperous businesses or run efficient governments.

In these ways, the legacy of colonialism harmed the colonies and has contributed to their continuing weakness.