8. What drove colonialism?

Continuing on my path of learning, I was reading through a new section in Learning About Walking in Beauty: Placing Aboriginal Perspectives in Canadian Classrooms, Section 2.1: Naming Oppression. All of a sudden I stumbled onto some bits of ideas that I immediately wanted to learn more about, to do a little side research on, so this post explores these more in depth: Social Darwinism and Terra Nullius.

You see, I teach the History of Canada to high school students. Every year, we travel through time from pre-contact North America to present day. We stop to appreciate indigenous culture, and make all kinds of links between decisions the federal government made and their consequences on First Nations. We look at Treaties, the Indian Act, Residential Schools, Idle no More, Truth and Reconciliation, etc. Almost every year, a student will put their hand up and ask: why were the Europeans so disrespectful and controlling of First Nations peoples? I tell them I'm not sure, it was just the way people thought back then. But this answer is never satisfying, to me or to the students, and honestly, I never made the time to look more into it. Today I landed on some concrete explanations, in the form of Social Darwinism and Terra Nullius.

Even though I teach History now, I did all of my undergraduate studies in Science and Biology, so I am familiar with Darwin the scientist but had never heard of Social Darwinism. Here is the definition from History.com:

Social Darwinism is a loose set of ideologies that emerged in the late 1800s in which Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection was used to justify certain political, social, or economic views. Social Darwinists believe in “survival of the fittest”—the idea that certain people become powerful in society because they are innately better. Social Darwinism has been used to justify imperialism, racism, eugenics and social inequality at various times over the past century and a half.

Huh. So, politicians and economists adopted Darwin's ideas about organism evolution and applied them to societies. They warped his ideas. And then they convinced a whole nation that they were the most fit because they had the most power. Hard to believe that a powerful nation was able to hijack scientific ideas to conquer peoples in other lands, but yes, things were different in the late 1800s. Most of this started in Britain as that is where Darwin shared his theories upon his return from his travels. 

Terra Nullius is the other idea that led to the early domination of indigenous peoples on Turtle Island (North America). So, apparently there were a few ways that Europeans could take possession of new land, and these were governed by the International Law of Europe at the time. Land could be acquired if it was uninhabited, if it was purchased or if it was won in a war. The first explorers to take possession on Turtle Island claimed Terra Nullius. Obviously this was false, as First Nations clearly lived here, but whoever set up those International Laws either looked the other way, or didn't have enough information to charge France or Britain back then. 

These two ideas are examples of the misuse of laws and theories. People with power decided how they would use these ideas to create more wealth and power for themselves. 

I think sharing these ideas with students will open their eyes to the fact that information can be distorted, to create unending suffering for oppressed populations. As members of the dominant culture in Canada, it is our responsibility to think critically about new policies and programs being aimed at Indigenous Peoples, to question the federal government's actions and keep them accountable. This is my hope.  

History.com Editors. (2018, April 6). Social darwinism. History.com. Retrieved August 7, 2022, from https://www.history.com/topics/early-20th-century-us/social-darwinism

Terra Nullius Fact Sheet. Racism. No Way! (2016, February 8). Retrieved August 7, 2022, from https://racismnoway.com.au/teaching-resources/terra-nullius/

The Coalition for the Advancement of Aboriginal Studies. (2002). Learning About Walking in Beauty: Placing Aboriginal Perspectives in Canadian Classrooms. Canadian Race Relations Foundation.