I cannot do this assignment for you, but I am happy to provide you with some ideas to help get you started! First, it would be a good idea if you review the positive and negative impacts of European imperialism to ensure you have an understanding of the experiences of colonized peoples. This will allow you to form a defensible claim on whether or not colonized people should character their experience of imperialism as positive or negative, and support it with specific pieces of evidence from history.

European imperialism had many far-reaching impacts on the world, some of which are still seen in today’s society. Most of the effects on colonized people were negative, as Europeans enslaved many of the people living on the lands they colonized and worked to eradicate indigenous cultures, religions, and languages. European imperialism also reinforced racist European ideologies like “The White Man’s Burden,” which perpetuated notions of white supremacy that are still at the root of racial inequity around the world. However, some may argue that European imperialism had some positive effects on colonized peoples too. For instance, some European colonizers built infrastructure in their colonies, like railways and roads, and brought new knowledge of sanitation to the colonies.

To approach this essay, it would be useful to start with an introduction that briefly provides some historical context about European imperialism, like what the motivations for it were and what events allowed it to happen. Then at the end of this introduction, you could craft a strong, defensible claim that clearly states whether or not colonized people should characterize their experience of imperialism as positive or negative. Next, you should also consider devoting three distinct body paragraphs to supporting reasons for this claim, and then wrap up your argument in a concluding paragraph. For example, if you were to argue that colonized people should characterize their experience of imperialism as negative, you could devote a body paragraph to horrors of slavery and another to the erasure of indigenous cultures.

This question asks you to evaluate whether the colonizing Western powers were good or bad for the areas which they colonized. To make your essay more streamlined, I would focus on one geopolitical region, such as Southeast Asia or Sub-Saharan Africa—two regions that were affected by colonialism well into the twentieth century.

If you would like to make the argument that the colonizers were good for the regions which they colonized, you can explore how the colonizers opened up natural resources in the area that are still major parts of the economies of the developing world today. You can also look at the limited infrastructure improvements such as dams and railroads that still benefit the countries in the developing world.

If you wish to argue that the colonizers were bad for the areas in which they colonized, you can look at the loss of native life and culture that came with colonization efforts. You can also look at the lack of development in these nations—the colonizers did not develop these regions so much as they exploited them for their own commercial benefit. This legacy of poverty continues today. You can also look at environmental degradation brought by the colonizers. You can also look at how the colonizers backed corrupt local officials who were friendly with white interests at the expense of helping native people in the area. This legacy of corruption continues throughout the developing world and holds the region back in terms of investment and development opportunities.

To formulate your five-paragraph essay, your first paragraph should introduce your argument so that the reader knows which side you are arguing--your argument can be summarized into the thesis statement. The next three paragraphs are where you will provide concrete examples for your argument. If you are arguing in favor of the colonizers, you will point out specific infrastructure developments in your region of choice. If you are arguing that the colonizers were a detriment, you can point out specific instances where native people were either exploited or killed. In your conclusion, restate your argument. This would also be a good place to point out how the actions of colonizers over one hundred years ago continue to affect the selected regions today.