During new imperialism, the number of settlers______ compared to old imperialism.
a) increased a little.
b) decreased greatly.
c) increased greatly.
d) remained the same.
Answer: c) increased greatly.
In the New Imperialism that may roughly be said to have been between the mid-1870s and the First World War in 1914, there was a qualitative and quantitative change in the number of settlers, from the imperial powers, in the colonies than in the Old Imperialism. Such a boost in the numbers of settlers was a distinctive feature of New Imperialism and it unfolded significant changes in the colonizing states as well as in the colonies.
Several factors led to this rise, including; The Industrial Revolution especially the developments in transport and communication technologies thus allowing and encouraging Europeans to move to the far-off colonies. Steamships and railways for the transportation of people and goods at a faster rate and the telegraph helped settlers to stay connected with their home countries. Also, most European nations played the role of promoting population in colonies to make sure that they gained full control of their colonies and by extension increased exploitation.
These increased settlements can be illustrated by various parts of the globe as follows: In Africa, the European settlers in territories such as Algeria, South Africa, Kenya, and other colonies increased in size significantly. For example, while the Europeans in Algeria totalled 300,000 in 1870, it rose to 1,000,000 in 1914, though the latter figures include assimilated indigenes. White people, non-Aboriginal Australians population tripled from 400,000 in 1850 to over 4 million in 1900’s. In the same respect, there was a boost in the colonization process of New Zealand by Europeans. These settler immigrations significantly impacted the populations, societies, and government systems of these areas in several positive and negative ways, now creating many intricate and subsequent issues that persist in these parts.
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