British colonialism began in the early fifteen hundreds and even continues today with the British rule of the British Virgin Islands. For centuries, literature has served as a type of historical documentation of colonization as many authors wrote about colonization from both a colonized and a colonizer’s point of view. During colonization, and post-colonization, the physical environment of each colony was changed. Using references to A Small Place, A Passage to India, and Robinson Crusoe, I will provide examples of the physical changes to the colonized societies made by England and discuss the reactions of the colonized people.
Jamaica Kincade is quoted as saying “The English loved England so much they built it everywhere they went.” Kincaid writes about the feelings of the colonized society in A Small Place. While she expresses the feeling of the colonized, contrarily, she explains the ideas of the English colonizer. In this excerpt, she is describing Antigua, the place she grew up, and how the British changed it. She begins by explaining the English love England so much, whenever they went they turned it into England. She supports this idea in several ways. First, she gives examples of the street names in Antigua. On a tropical island in the Caribbean Sea, the streets have names such as Rodney, Hood, Hawkins and Drake Street all names of “English maritime criminals”. Secondly, Kincaid continues with her description of High Street. This was the street where all of the colonial government buildings were located. The English had built an entire portion of the city that did not exist before their arrival. High Street consiste…
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…his journey. For as long as he has ink he will write and after that, he will be forced to leave off (Defoe 72). Defoe did not give Friday much of a voice. However, I can draw an inference that Friday must have liked Crusoe’s “English” house or he would not have stayed. We can make comparisons to Crusoe being the Colonizer and Friday was the colonized. Therefore, we can conclude, that the colonized people did like some aspects of the British colonization.
In conclusion, “The English loved England so much they built it everywhere.” As shown in A Small Place, A Passage to India, and Robinson Crusoe, the effects that the British had on each of their colonies will certainly last a long time. Colonies will embrace schools, libraries, Governmental buildings, banks, airports and even churches that will remain there for generations after the expiration of British rule.
Dr. Martin Luther King’s Dream in Progress
Dr. Martin Luther King’s speech, “I Have a Dream,” was given to a crowd of 200,000 at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. on August 28, 1963. This speech turned out to be one of the greatest speeches ever given, due to Dr. King’s background and beliefs that become evident through this speech. His background in the ministry is reflected in his great ability to speak to a public audience. Only someone with his talent in speaking could have put the words together so powerfully. His beliefs are personified in every line, which gives an in-depth look into the crisis of the time.
Dr. King starts his “I Have a Dream” speech giving reference to the time when the Emancipation Proclamation was signed. The purpose of this document was to free the slaves and make all men equal, which gave the black man the glimpse of sunlight he had been looking for. It gave him the hope of a brighter future, while leaving behind the chains of slavery.
Then King states the situation of the current time. The black man was free of slavery, but not of segregation and discrimination. Though the black man was freed from slavery, in essence he was tossed out of the frying pan into the fire. He was given his freedom, but oppression kept him from being a free man. King speaks of this as a bad check that America wrote to the black community, a check that when cashed should have resulted in life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all men. However, this did not come true. The check had not been cashed. It was returned marked “insufficient funds”. The bank of America had failed to come clean on its end of the deal, which resulted in the failure of the inalienable rights of all men to come true.
Next, King speaks of how the nation will be with…
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…ars ago the Emancipation Proclamation was to free the slave, yet still the black man had not become completely free. The acts of segregation and discrimination had suppressed the black community up until the day that Dr. King gave his speech, and continues to suppress them to this day. Things have not changed to the extent that they should have. People are still viewing other people of different races from themselves as lesser people. This is an action that has either been instilled in them from their ancestors, or they simply believe it out of their ignorance of the opposite races culture. Perhaps one day when people become educated of the differences in culture of the races, and accept people for whom they are instead of discriminating against them for their skin color, we may find a world of peace and tranquility that I feel Dr. Martin Luther King saw in his dream.