Examine the operation of colonialism as a means of cultural exchange

Examine the operation of colonialism as a means of cultural exchange
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Colonialism across the globe has significant cultural implications on host countries’ cultural heritage. Colonialism leaves a legacy that is evident through tangible and intangible aspects such as colonial landscaping and languages respectively (Oostindie, 2008). Colonists deem their culture as superior to the hosts and strive to infiltrate them with their own cultures. In some instances, colonists endeavour to eradicate and replace the host culture with their own cultural aspects. Language is one of the strongest intangible cultural legacies that colonizers leave owing to the need to communicate with their conquests. Other forms of cultural exchanges have been observed such as in clothing, religion, community set ups, and food. They are evident years after the colonies achieve their independence and often influence their community structures. European colonies entrenched these cultural aspects on their conquests. The hosts also influenced European colonists albeit to a smaller degree owing to power differences. This paper outlines the legacy of American colonization of the Philippines and Hawaii and the different types of cultural exchanges that occurred in the America as a result of European colonization.
It is common knowledge that colonization inscribes the colonizers’ language as the most dominant and prestigious in all colonies. The colonizers’ language is elevated as a necessity for all the people that hoped to advance in the public social sphere in the colony. Historically, many people eschewed local languages in favour of the colonial language. In the attempts to adopt new languages, new languages emerged from the contact with colonizers. For example, Creole emerged from contact between European and non-European languages and Europeans referred to it as a broken language. Europeans considered such languages as irrational and as a form of resistance to civilization (Migge & Leglise, 2007).
Many European colonizers held learning the colonizer’s language in high esteem and it was portrayed as an asset. In some instances, they learned that learning the colonizers’ language would result in the total eradication of indigenous language. For instance, Europeans replaced Aboriginal languages of Australia, many Native American languages and Hawaiian with English. Under the United States Hawaiian began to lose its predominance due to strong influences from American culture and European language in the 1800s. Hawaii had in the previous years experienced massive influx of Europeans, people from Portugal China and Japan that immigrated to North America to work in plantations. In the 1900s, the Hawaiian government was overthrown and the United States relegated Hawaiian and Hawaiian English Creole as inferior languages. This accelerated English as prestigious and diminished Hawaiian (Migge & Leglise, 2007).
By 1776, when the 13 American colonies declared independence from the British, English had assumed dominance over French and Spanish language America. It had entrenched other cultural values such as a patriarchal culture that was rooted in English law. It required that upon marriage, a bride’s property be transferred to her husband and in the event that her husband died, the wealth would be transferred to her children. It also required that fathers retain custody over children upon divorce (Campbell, 1959). After the British lost its conquests in North America when the 13 colonies gained their independence, it proceeded to colonize Jamaica, Bahamas and Barbados in South America. The British introduced English as a language in education and administration in the territories that were previously occupied by the Spanish. English is still the dominant language in North America.
After America gained independence, it also gained a colony in Philippines and entrenched American cultural values upon Filipinos. American colonization of the Philippines between 1899 and 1946 resulted in significant cultural changes on the country’s citizens. Many Philippines migrated to the US and mostly resided in Hawaii, California, Oregon, Washington and Alaska. American teachers also travelled to the Philippines to inculcate citizens with American worldviews. English emerged as the predominant language of instruction. It was viewed as better than indigenous Filipino languages and as the language of the educated. American colonization entrenched Christianity, westernization and English Proficiency as important cultural values that are still pervasive in contemporary Philippines (David & Nadal, 2013).
In the early 1500s European explorers, missionaries, settlers, and traders began trickling into North America. They were composed of Spanish, English, and French and propagated diverse cultural influences over their 350 years colonial era in North America. North America was originally home to Indian Americans consisting of culturally diverse groups with different languages, religion, customs and social structures. At the beginning, the Europeans had diverse motives such as trade with the Native people and pursuit of agricultural endeavours. Over time, they recognized that their pursuits required additional labour. They began to export labour from Africa through enslaved Africans. The export of labour added to the mix of cultures in North America because Africans had their unique cultural practices such as religion and dances (Deagan, 2012).
At the onset of European colonization, the Spanish controlled the largest part of the European colonies in North America. It formed multiracial communities consisting of local Indians and runaway slaves. The Spanish had a strong backing from the Catholic Church, which played a dominant role in the newly established communities. The British also had a share of the colonies and it encouraged immigration of non-English people from Germany, Scotland and Ireland that were Protestants. British colonies in North America were open to religious differenced contrary to their strictly Catholic French and Spanish counterparts (Joyner, 2009). This created a cultural blend of Catholicism and Protestantism that is evident throughout the nation to date.
There are other cultural implications that are in play in the contemporary America. For instance, salsa is one of US’ favourite condiments surprising Ketchup. Salsa music, cha-cha-cha, and samba, which have origins from the Spanish, are also quite popular across the US (Joyner, 2009). Spanish language is still prevalent across Latin America and some Spanish words such as chocolate and tomato were adopted into English. French culture is still predominant in Canada and some French words such as Detroit, New Orleans, and cent were incorporated into English. The French also influenced certain foods such as pastries and foods that had rich sauces, Cajun spicy food in the south and maple syrup in the north. The French also influenced architectural designs particularly in New Orleans such as outdoor cafes.
Some of the first places to be colonized in America were Florida and the Spanish Caribbean. The colonial period had implications of cultural exchange among the elite and non-elite people in the society. The consequences are evident through observing the blend of Native American, African and European cultural elements. One is able to establish the cultural mix in Latin America through their cuisine, architecture, clothing, language, craft, and traditional stories (Deagan, 2012). The Spanish established a colonial empire in the western hemisphere in the sixteenth century and spread the Spanish la...