Settler Colonialism Summary

Samuel Elliot Morrison said “the New World gracefully yielded her virginity to the conquering Castilians” (Lecture 04/07/2015). This statement has more or less the truth to it; the New World’s untapped territories were essentially deemed the private property of European discovers the moment they stepped foot on the land according to Patrick Wolfe in his research paper entitle Settler colonialism and the elimination of the native (393). Settler colonialism was an uneven battle between the technologically advanced Europeans and the “uncivilized” natives that lived on land wealthy with resources— the natives never stood a chance at standing their ground. It is important to study the period of colonialism in order to understand modern forms of
Wolfe says that “in short, elimination refers to more than the summary liquidation of Indigenous people… In its positive aspect, the logic of elimination marks a return whereby the native repressed continues to structure settler-colonial society” (Wolfe 390). Just because foreign settlers have entered a new territory and “taken” over the lands, this does not mean that the natives are subjected to oblivion. More often than naught, hints of the native culture still break through. This brings about the question of whom is assimilating whom. The practice of elimination, according to Wolfe, is not a simple concept. Due to its complex social formation and duration through time, settler colonization can only be described as a structure rather than an event (Wolfe 390). Yes, there is a day, week, month, or year in point in which the settler colony colonizations a new territory, however, that is just the start of the relationship between the two groups. Wolfe describes this as a structure because the two groups, like the treaties between the Native Americans and the European colonizers, the “discoverer” must work with the “discoveree” (Wolfe 391). 
 Settler colonialism set the stage for contemporary forms of globalization. The global north operates not unlike the colonial powers of
The global north, as an advanced, “superior” power, is able to swoop into the territories of the global south and extract materials for its use. Due the matchup of power versus poverty, power always wins. Just as Harvey Rosenthal observed, “the American right to buy always superseded the Indian right not to sell” (Wolfe 391). The global north, like European powers, ignores native sovereignty because the they had “discovered” the new territory (Wolfe 391). “Consummated by possession” proclaimed the right to occupancy for European colonizers through the doctrine of discovery (Wolfe 393). The natives never had the rights to occupancy, so declaration of the European dominion automatically negated the native title to land (Wilfe 393). Native “free” land became European private property as an inherent right from discovery (Lecture 04/07/2015). 
 To produce raw materials that fed cosmopolitan desires there was a large demand for colonial land. The slaved African American of early America is not too different from the Asian sweatshop workers that produce many of today’s goods. The global north willingly takes advantage of the weaker global south because of the large pool of cheap labor source and