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Fanaticism (from the Latin adverb fānāticē [fren- fānāticus ; enthusiastic, ecstatic; raging, fanatical, furious]) is a belief or behavior involving uncritical zeal or an obsessive enthusiasm .

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82-407: Philosopher George Santayana defines fanaticism as "redoubling your effort when you have forgotten your aim". The fanatic displays very strict standards and little tolerance for contrary ideas or opinions. Tõnu Lehtsaar has defined the term fanaticism as the pursuit or defence of something in an extreme and passionate way that goes beyond normality. Religious fanaticism is defined by blind faith,

164-468: A civilizing mission to cultivate land and life, based on beliefs of entitlement and superiority, historically often rooted in the belief of a Christian mission . Because of this broad impact different instances of colonialism have been identified from around the world and in history, starting with when colonization was developed by developing colonies and metropoles , the base colonial separation and characteristic. Decolonization , which started in

246-408: A crank , in that a crank is defined as a person who holds a position or opinion which is so far from the norm as to appear ludicrous and/or probably wrong, such as a belief in a Flat Earth . In contrast, the subject of the fanatic's obsession may be "normal", such as an interest in religion or politics, except that the scale of the person's involvement, devotion, or obsession with the activity or cause

328-502: A fairly benign view of religion and described himself as an "aesthetic Catholic". Santayana's views on religion are outlined in his books Reason in Religion , The Idea of Christ in the Gospels , and Interpretations of Poetry and Religion . He held racial superiority and eugenic views. He believed superior races should be discouraged from "intermarriage with inferior stock". Santayana

410-471: A few plays, and left ample correspondence, much of it published only since 2000. Like Alexis de Tocqueville , Santayana observed American culture and character from a foreigner's point of view. Like William James , his friend and mentor, he wrote philosophy in a literary way. Ezra Pound includes Santayana among his many cultural references in The Cantos , notably in " Canto LXXXI" and "Canto XCV". Santayana

492-446: A foreign ruling state... The ruling state monopolizes political power and keeps the subordinated society and its people in a legally inferior position." He also writes, "colonialism depends first and foremost upon the declaration of sovereignty and/or territorial seizure by a core state over another territory and its inhabitants who are classified as inferior subjects rather than equal citizens." According to David Strang, decolonization

574-810: A hospital and convent run by the Little Company of Mary (also known as the Blue Nuns ) on the Celian Hill at 6 Via Santo Stefano Rotondo in Roma, where he was cared for by the sisters until his death in September 1952. Upon his death, he did not want to be buried in consecrated land, which made his burial problematic in Italy. Finally, the Spanish consulate in Rome agreed that he be buried in

656-563: A lot in military costs while private investors pocketed the benefits. In other cases the colonial powers managed to move the burden of administrative costs to the colonies themselves by imposing taxes. After World War I (1914–1918), the victorious Allies divided up the German colonial empire and much of the Ottoman Empire between themselves as League of Nations mandates , grouping these territories into three classes according to how quickly it

738-403: A nation seeking to extend or retain its authority over other people or territories". The Merriam-Webster Dictionary offers four definitions, including "something characteristic of a colony" and "control by one power over a dependent area or people". The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy uses the term "to describe the process of European settlement and political control over the rest of

820-453: A system of indentured servitude. Indentured servants consented to a contract with the European colonisers. Under their contract, the servant would work for an employer for a term of at least a year, while the employer agreed to pay for the servant's voyage to the colony, possibly pay for the return to the country of origin, and pay the employee a wage as well. The employees became "indentured" to

902-435: Is abnormal or disproportionate to the average. George Santayana Defunct Newspapers Journals TV channels Websites Other Economics Gun rights Identity politics Nativist Religion Watchdog groups Youth/student groups Miscellaneous Other Defunct George Santayana (b. Jorge Agustín Nicolás Ruiz de Santayana y Borrás , December 16, 1863 – September 26, 1952)

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984-875: Is achieved through the attainment of sovereign statehood with de jure recognition by the international community or through full incorporation into an existing sovereign state. The Times once quipped that there were three types of colonial empire: "The English, which consists in making colonies with colonists; the German, which collects colonists without colonies; the French, which sets up colonies without colonists." Modern studies of colonialism have often distinguished between various overlapping categories of colonialism, broadly classified into four types: settler colonialism , exploitation colonialism , surrogate colonialism , and internal colonialism . Some historians have identified other forms of colonialism, including national and trade forms. When colonists settled in pre-populated areas,

1066-476: Is allocated. To explain the different colonial cases, we thus need to look first into the political institutions that shaped the economic institutions. For example, one interesting observation is "the Reversal of Fortune" – the less developed civilisations in 1500, like North America, Australia, and New Zealand, are now much richer than those countries who used to be in the prosperous civilisations in 1500 before

1148-509: Is an autobiography . These works also contain many of his sharper opinions and bons mots . He wrote books and essays on a wide range of subjects, including philosophy of a less technical sort, literary criticism , the history of ideas , politics, human nature , morals, the influence of religion on culture and social psychology , all with considerable wit and humour. While his writings on technical philosophy can be difficult, his other writings are more accessible and pithy. He wrote poems and

1230-508: Is edited by the Santayana Edition and published by The MIT Press. Colonialism Colonialism is the exploitation of people and of resources by a foreign group. Colonizers monopolize political power and hold conquered societies and their people to be inferior to their conquerors in legal, administrative, social, cultural, or biological terms. While frequently advanced as an imperialist regime, colonialism can also take

1312-792: Is quoted by the Canadian-American sociologist Erving Goffman as a central influence in the thesis of his famous book The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life (1959). Religious historian Jerome A. Stone credits Santayana with contributing to the early thinking in the development of religious naturalism . English mathematician and philosopher Alfred North Whitehead quotes Santayana extensively in his magnum opus Process and Reality (1929). Chuck Jones used Santayana's description of fanaticism as "redoubling your effort after you've forgotten your aim" to describe his cartoons starring Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner . Santayana's passing

1394-666: Is referenced in the lyrics to singer-songwriter Billy Joel 's 1989 single " We Didn't Start the Fire ". The quote "Only the dead have seen the end of war" is frequently attributed or misattributed to Plato ; an early example of this misattribution (if it is indeed misattributed) is found in General Douglas MacArthur 's Farewell Speech given to the Corps of Cadets at West Point in 1962. Unmodernized, critical editions of George Santayana's published and unpublished writing. The Works

1476-564: Is remembered in large part for his aphorisms , many of which have been so frequently used as to have become clichéd . His philosophy has not fared quite as well. He is regarded by most as an excellent prose stylist, and John Lachs (who is sympathetic with much of Santayana's philosophy) writes, in On Santayana , that his eloquence may ironically be the very cause of this neglect. Santayana influenced those around him, including Bertrand Russell , whom Santayana single-handedly steered away from

1558-479: Is that they are self-confirming....(some beliefs are) fanatical not because they are 'false', but because they are expressed in such a way that they can never be shown to be false." The behavior of a fan with overwhelming enthusiasm for a given subject is differentiated from the behavior of a fanatic by the fanatic's violation of prevailing social norms . Though the fan's behavior may be judged as odd or eccentric , it does not violate such norms. A fanatic differs from

1640-454: Is the existence of colonies, which are by definition governed differently from other territories such as protectorates or informal spheres of influence." In the book, Osterhammel asks, "How can 'colonialism' be defined independently from 'colony? ' " He settles on a three-sentence definition: Colonialism is a relationship between an indigenous (or forcibly imported) majority and a minority of foreign invaders. The fundamental decisions affecting

1722-468: Is usually considered an American writer, although he declined to become an American citizen, resided in Fascist Italy for decades, and said that he was most comfortable, intellectually and aesthetically , at Oxford University . Although an atheist , Santayana considered himself an " aesthetic Catholic " and spent the last decade of his life in Rome under the care of Catholic nuns . In 1941, he entered

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1804-520: The Dutch East Indies (later Indonesia ) the vast majority of "Dutch" settlers were in fact Eurasians known as Indo-Europeans , formally belonging to the European legal class in the colony. Activity that could be called colonialism has a long history, starting at least as early as the ancient Egyptians . Phoenicians , Greeks , and Romans founded colonies in antiquity . Phoenicia had an enterprising maritime trading-culture that spread across

1886-940: The Scramble for Africa . The world's colonial population at the outbreak of the First World War (1914) – a high point for colonialism – totalled about 560 million people, of whom 70% lived in British possessions, 10% in French possessions, 9% in Dutch possessions, 4% in Japanese possessions, 2% in German possessions, 2% in American possessions, 3% in Portuguese possessions, 1% in Belgian possessions and 0.5% in Italian possessions. The domestic domains of

1968-453: The ethics of G. E. Moore . He also influenced many prominent people such as Harvard students T. S. Eliot , Robert Frost , Gertrude Stein , Horace Kallen , Walter Lippmann , W. E. B. Du Bois , Conrad Aiken , Van Wyck Brooks , Felix Frankfurter , Max Eastman , and Wallace Stevens . Stevens was especially influenced by Santayana's aesthetics and became a friend even though Stevens did not take courses taught by Santayana. Santayana

2050-691: The mestizos of the Americas, as well as racially divided populations such as those found in French Algeria or in Southern Rhodesia . In fact, everywhere where colonial powers established a consistent and continued presence, hybrid communities existed. Notable examples in Asia include the Anglo-Burmese , Anglo-Indian , Burgher , Eurasian Singaporean , Filipino mestizo , Kristang , and Macanese peoples . In

2132-514: The 16th century. The British, French and Dutch joined in the slave trade in subsequent centuries. The European colonial system took approximately 11 million Africans to the Caribbean and to North and South America as slaves. Abolitionists in Europe and Americas protested the inhumane treatment of African slaves, which led to the elimination of the slave trade (and later, of most forms of slavery) by

2214-453: The 18th century, gradually led to the independence of colonies in waves, with a particular large wave of decolonizations happening in the aftermath of World War II between 1945 and 1975. Colonialism has a persistent impact on a wide range of modern outcomes, as scholars have shown that variations in colonial institutions can account for variations in economic development , regime types , and state capacity . Some academics have used

2296-641: The 9th century Vikings ( Norsemen ) such as Leif Erikson established colonies in Britain, Ireland, Iceland, Greenland, North America, present-day Russia and Ukraine, France (Normandy) and Sicily. In the 9th century a new wave of Mediterranean colonisation began, with competitors such as the Venetians , Genovese and Amalfians infiltrating the wealthy previously Byzantine or Eastern Roman islands and lands. European Crusaders set up colonial regimes in Outremer (in

2378-594: The Americas with the Spanish American wars of independence (1808–1833). Empire-builders established several new colonies after this time, including in the German colonial empire and Belgian colonial empire . Starting with the end of the French Revolution European authors such as Johann Gottfried Herder , August von Kotzebue , and Heinrich von Kleist prolifically published so as to conjure up sympathy for

2460-711: The Bering Strait. From the 1860s onwards the Empire of Japan modelled itself on European colonial empires and expanded its territories in the Pacific and on the Asian mainland. The Empire of Brazil fought for hegemony in South America. The United States gained overseas territories after the 1898 Spanish–American War , hence, the coining of the term " American imperialism ". In the late 19th century, many European powers became involved in

2542-543: The Campo di Verano, Rome. As a philosopher, Santayana is known for aphorisms , such as "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it", and "Only the dead have seen the end of war", and his definition of beauty as " Pleasure objectified ". Although an atheist , Santayana valued the culture of the Spanish Catholic values, practices, and worldview, in which he was raised. As an intellectual , George Santayana

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2624-768: The Levant , 1097–1291) and in the Baltic littoral (12th century onwards). Venice began to dominate Dalmatia and reached its greatest nominal colonial extent at the conclusion of the Fourth Crusade in 1204, with the declaration of the acquisition of three octaves of the Byzantine Empire. The European early modern period began with the Turkish colonization of Anatolia . After the Ottoman Empire conquered Constantinople in 1453,

2706-558: The Manila firm Russell & Sturgis. She had five children with him; two of them died in infancy. She lived in Boston for a few years following her husband's death in 1857; in 1861, she moved with her three surviving children to Madrid. There she encountered Agustín Ruiz de Santayana, an old friend from her years in the Philippines. They married in 1862. A colonial civil servant , Ruiz de Santayana

2788-696: The Mediterranean from 1550 BC to 300 BC; later the Persian Empire and various Greek city-states continued on this line of setting up colonies. The Romans would soon follow, setting up coloniae throughout the Mediterranean, in North Africa, and in Western Asia. Beginning in the 7th century, Arabs colonized a substantial portion of the Middle East, North Africa, and parts of Asia and Europe. From

2870-684: The Pantheon of the Obra Pía Española, in the Campo Verano cemetery in Rome. Santayana's main philosophical work consists of The Sense of Beauty (1896), his first book-length monograph and perhaps the first major work on aesthetics written in the United States; The Life of Reason (5 vols., 1905–06), the high point of his Harvard career; Scepticism and Animal Faith (1923); and The Realms of Being (4 vols., 1927–1940). Although Santayana

2952-462: The United Kingdom, and the United States abstained). The word " neocolonialism " originated from Jean-Paul Sartre in 1956, to refer to a variety of contexts since the decolonisation that took place after World War II . Generally it does not refer to a type of direct colonisation – rather to colonialism or colonial-style exploitation by other means. Specifically, neocolonialism may refer to

3034-644: The armies of all three empires, Mocha coffee to Delhi and Belgrade , Persian silk to India and Istanbul . Aztec civilisation developed into an extensive empire that, much like the Roman Empire, had the goal of exacting tribute from the conquered colonial areas. For the Aztecs, a significant tribute was the acquisition of sacrificial victims for their religious rituals. On the other hand, European colonial empires sometimes attempted to channel, restrict and impede trade involving their colonies, funneling activity through

3116-426: The beginning of World War I . European colonialism employed mercantilism and chartered companies , and established coloniality , which keeps the colonized socio-economically othered and subaltern through modern biopolitics of sexuality , gender , race , disability and class , among others, resulting in intersectional violence and discrimination . Colonialism has been justified with beliefs of having

3198-715: The birth of the Dutch Empire and French colonial empire , as well as the English overseas possessions , which later became the British Empire . It also saw the establishment of Danish overseas colonies and Swedish overseas colonies . A first wave of separatism started with the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), initiating the Rise of the "Second" British Empire (1783–1815). The Spanish Empire largely collapsed in

3280-416: The colonial era. Indentured servants from India travelled to British colonies in Asia, Africa and the Caribbean, and also to French and Portuguese colonies, while Chinese servants travelled to British and Dutch colonies. Between 1830 and 1930, around 30 million indentured servants migrated from India, and 24 million returned to India. China sent more indentured servants to European colonies, and around

3362-522: The colonial powers had a total population of about 370 million people. Outside Europe, few areas had remained without coming under formal colonial tutorship – and even Siam , China , Japan , Nepal , Afghanistan , Persia , and Abyssinia had felt varying degrees of Western colonial-style influence – concessions , unequal treaties , extraterritoriality and the like. Asking whether colonies paid, economic historian Grover Clark (1891–1938) argues an emphatic "No!" He reports that in every case

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3444-447: The colonised peoples can also have a powerful influence on the imperial country. With respect to international borders, Britain and France traced close to 40% of the entire length of the world's international boundaries. Economic expansion, sometimes described as the colonial surplus , has accompanied imperial expansion since ancient times. Greek trade networks spread throughout the Mediterranean region while Roman trade expanded with

3526-585: The colonists came, like the Mughals in India and the Incas in the Americas. One explanation offered by the paper focuses on the political institutions of the various colonies: it was less likely for European colonists to introduce economic institutions where they could benefit quickly from the extraction of resources in the area. Therefore, given a more developed civilisation and denser population, European colonists would rather keep

3608-741: The conditions present in their environment. Their value may then be adjudged by the extent to which they facilitate human happiness. The alternate title to The Life of Reason , "the Phases of Human Progress", is indicative of this metaphysical stance. Santayana was an early adherent of epiphenomenalism , but also admired the classical materialism of Democritus and Lucretius . (Of the three authors on whom he wrote in Three Philosophical Poets , Santayana speaks most favorably of Lucretius). He held Spinoza 's writings in high regard, calling him his "master and model". Although an atheist , he held

3690-424: The difficulty of consistently distinguishing between the two terms, this entry will use colonialism broadly to refer to the project of European political domination from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries that ended with the national liberation movements of the 1960s". In his preface to Jürgen Osterhammel 's Colonialism: A Theoretical Overview , Roger Tignor says "For Osterhammel, the essence of colonialism

3772-711: The early 19th century played a part in ending slave-taking and slave-keeping among the indigenous Māori . On the other hand, British colonial administration in Southern Africa , when it officially abolished slavery in the 1830s, caused rifts in society which arguably perpetuated slavery in the Boer Republics and fed into the philosophy of apartheid . The labour shortages that resulted from abolition inspired European colonisers in Queensland, British Guaiana and Fiji (for example) to develop new sources of labour, re-adopting

3854-447: The employer because they owed a debt back to the employer for their travel expense to the colony, which they were expected to pay through their wages. In practice, indentured servants were exploited through terrible working conditions and burdensome debts imposed by the employers, with whom the servants had no means of negotiating the debt once they arrived in the colony. India and China were the largest source of indentured servants during

3936-438: The existing economic systems than introduce an entirely new system; while in places with little to extract, European colonists would rather establish new economic institutions to protect their interests. Political institutions thus gave rise to different types of economic systems, which determined the colonial economic performance. European colonisation and development also changed gendered systems of power already in place around

4018-448: The form of settler colonialism , whereby colonial settlers invade and occupy territory to permanently replace an existing society with that of the colonizers, possibly towards a genocide of native populations . Colonialism developed as a concept describing European colonial empires of the modern era , which spread globally from the 15th century to the mid-20th century, spanning 35% of Earth 's land by 1800 and peaking at 84% by

4100-481: The huge discrepancies in previous European colonies, for example, between West African colonies like Sierra Leone and Hong Kong and Singapore . According to the paper, economic institutions are the determinant of the colonial success because they determine their financial performance and order for the distribution of resources. At the same time, these institutions are also consequences of political institutions – especially how de facto and de jure political power

4182-588: The landowner and trapped in servitude. The earliest uses of colonialism referred to plantations that men emigrated to and settled. The term expanded its meaning in the early 20th century to primarily refer to European imperial expansion and the imperial subjection of Asian and African peoples. Collins English Dictionary defines colonialism as "the practice by which a powerful country directly controls less powerful countries and uses their resources to increase its own power and wealth". Webster's Encyclopedic Dictionary defines colonialism as "the system or policy of

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4264-623: The late 19th century. One (disputed) school of thought points to the role of abolitionism in the American Revolution : while the British colonial metropole started to move towards outlawing slavery, slave-owning elites in the Thirteen Colonies saw this as one of the reasons to fight for their post-colonial independence and for the right to develop and continue a largely slave-based economy. British colonising activity in New Zealand from

4346-415: The lives of the colonised people are made and implemented by the colonial rulers in pursuit of interests that are often defined in a distant metropolis. Rejecting cultural compromises with the colonised population, the colonisers are convinced of their own superiority and their ordained mandate to rule. According to Julian Go, "Colonialism refers to the direct political control of a society and its people by

4428-402: The metropole and taxing accordingly. Despite the general trend of economic expansion, the economic performance of former European colonies varies significantly. In "Institutions as a Fundamental Cause of Long-run Growth", economists Daron Acemoglu , Simon Johnson and James A. Robinson compare the economic influences of the European colonists on different colonies and study what could explain

4510-455: The oppressed native peoples and the slaves of the new world, thereby starting the idealization of native humans. The Habsburg monarchy , the Russian Empire , and the Ottoman Empire existed at the same time but did not expand over oceans. Rather, these empires expanded through the conquest of neighbouring territories. There was, though, some Russian colonization of North America across

4592-427: The persecution of dissidents and the absence of reality. Fanaticism is a result from multiple cultures interacting with one another. Fanaticism occurs most frequently when a leader makes minor variations on already existing beliefs, which then drives the followers into a frenzy. In this case, fanaticism is used as an adjective describing the nature of certain behaviors that people recognize as cult-like. Mead referred to

4674-527: The post–World War II period. The term "neocolonialism" became popular in ex-colonies in the late 20th century. While colonies of contiguous empires have been historically excluded, they can be seen as colonies. Contemporary expansion of colonies is seen by some in case of Russian imperialism and Chinese imperialism . There is also ongoing debate in academia about Zionism as settler colonialism . The impacts of colonisation are immense and pervasive. Various effects, both immediate and protracted, include

4756-568: The primary goal of directing tribute from the colonised areas towards the Roman metropole. According to Strabo , by the time of emperor Augustus , up to 120 Roman ships would set sail every year from Myos Hormos in Roman Egypt to India. With the development of trade routes under the Ottoman Empire , Gujari Hindus, Syrian Muslims, Jews, Armenians, Christians from south and central Europe operated trading routes that supplied Persian and Arab horses to

4838-507: The rest of his life. Jorge did not see him again until he entered Harvard College and began to take his summer vacations in Spain. Sometime during this period, Jorge's first name was anglicized to its English equivalent: George. Santayana attended Boston Latin School and Harvard College , where he studied under the philosophers William James and Josiah Royce and was involved in eleven clubs. He

4920-411: The rise of European colonialism came a large push for development and industrialisation of most economic systems. When working to improve productivity, Europeans focused mostly on male workers. Foreign aid arrived in the form of loans, land, credit, and tools to speed up development, but were only allocated to men. In a more European fashion, women were expected to serve on a more domestic level. The result

5002-708: The sea routes discovered by Portuguese Prince Henry the Navigator (1394–1460) became central to trade , and helped fuel the Age of Discovery . The Crown of Castile encountered the Americas in 1492 through sea travel and built trading posts or conquered large extents of land. The Treaty of Tordesillas divided the areas of these "new" lands between the Spanish Empire and the Portuguese Empire in 1494. The 17th century saw

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5084-444: The societies and cultures of the people in those areas permanently changed. Colonial practices directly and indirectly forced the colonized peoples to abandon their traditional cultures. For example, European colonizers in the United States implemented the residential schools program to force native children to assimilate into the hegemonic culture. Cultural colonialism gave rise to culturally and ethnically mixed populations such as

5166-423: The spread of virulent diseases , unequal social relations , detribalization , exploitation , enslavement , medical advances , the creation of new institutions, abolitionism , improved infrastructure, and technological progress. Colonial practices also spur the spread of conquerors' languages, literature and cultural institutions, while endangering or obliterating those of Indigenous peoples. The cultures of

5248-607: The spring of his senior year. He received his A.B. summa cum laude in 1886 and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa . in 1886, Santayana studied for two years in Berlin . He then returned to Harvard to write his dissertation on Hermann Lotze (1889). He was a professor at Harvard from 1889 to 1912, becoming part of the Golden Age of The Harvard University Department of Philosophy . Some of his Harvard students became famous in their own right, including Conrad Aiken , W. E. B. Du Bois , T. S. Eliot , Robert Frost , Horace Kallen , Walter Lippmann and Gertrude Stein . Wallace Stevens

5330-453: The style of defense used when the followers are approached. The most consistent thing presented is the priming, or preexisting, conditions and mind state needed to induce fanatical behavior. Each behavior is obvious once it is pointed out; a closed mind, no interest in debating the subject of worship, and over reaction to people who do not believe. In his book Crazy Talk, Stupid Talk , Neil Postman states that "the key to all fanatical beliefs

5412-408: The support cost, especially the military system necessary to support and defend colonies, outran the total trade they produced. Apart from the British Empire, they did not provide favoured destinations for the immigration of surplus metropole populations. The question of whether colonies paid is a complicated one when recognizing the multiplicity of interests involved. In some cases colonial powers paid

5494-410: The term neocolonialism to describe the continuation or imposition of elements of colonial rule through indirect means in the contemporary period. Colonialism is etymologically rooted in the Latin word " Colonus ", which was used to describe tenant farmers in the Roman Empire . The coloni sharecroppers started as tenants of landlords, but as the system evolved they became permanently indebted to

5576-400: The theory that former or existing economic relationships, such as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and the Central American Free Trade Agreement , or the operations of companies (such as Royal Dutch Shell in Nigeria and Brunei ) fostered by former colonial powers were or are used to maintain control of former colonies and dependencies after the colonial independence movements of

5658-418: The war significantly weakened the major colonial powers, and they quickly lost control of colonies such as Singapore, India, and Libya. In addition, the United Nations shows support for decolonisation in its 1945 charter . In 1960, the UN issued the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples , which affirmed its stance (though notably, colonial empires such as France, Spain,

5740-438: The world, including the Americas, Australia, and parts of Africa and Asia". It discusses the distinction between colonialism, imperialism and conquest and states that "[t]he difficulty of defining colonialism stems from the fact that the term is often used as a synonym for imperialism. Both colonialism and imperialism were forms of conquest that were expected to benefit Europe economically and strategically," and continues "given

5822-509: The world. In many pre-colonialist areas, women maintained power, prestige, or authority through reproductive or agricultural control. For example, in certain parts of sub-Saharan Africa women maintained farmland in which they had usage rights. While men would make political and communal decisions for a community, the women would control the village's food supply or their individual family's land. This allowed women to achieve power and autonomy, even in patrilineal and patriarchal societies. Through

5904-520: Was a Spanish-American philosopher , essayist , poet , and novelist . Born in Spain , Santayana was raised and educated in the United States from the age of eight and identified as an American, yet always retained a valid Spanish passport . At the age of 48, he left his academic position at Harvard University and permanently returned to Europe; his last will was to be buried in the Spanish Pantheon in

5986-518: Was a broad-range cultural critic in several academic disciplines. George Santayana was born on December 16, 1863, in Calle de San Bernardo of Madrid and spent his early childhood in Ávila , Spain. His mother Josefina Borrás was the daughter of a Spanish official in the Philippines and he was the only child of her second marriage. Josefina Borrás' first husband was George Sturgis, a Boston merchant with

6068-610: Was a painter and minor intellectual . The family lived in Madrid and Ávila, and Jorge was born in Spain in 1863. In 1869, Josefina Borrás de Santayana returned to Boston with her three Sturgis children, because she had promised her first husband to raise the children in the US. She left the six-year-old Jorge with his father in Spain. Jorge and his father followed her to Boston in 1872. His father, finding neither Boston nor his wife's attitude to his liking, soon returned alone to Ávila, and remained there

6150-464: Was a technologic, economic, and class-based gender gap that widened over time. Within a colony, the presence of extractive colonial institutions in a given area has been found have effects on the modern day economic development, institutions and infrastructure of these areas. European nations entered their imperial projects with the goal of enriching the European metropoles. Exploitation of non-Europeans and of other Europeans to support imperial goals

6232-586: Was acceptable to the colonisers. Two outgrowths of this imperial agenda were the extension of slavery and indentured servitude. In the 17th century, nearly two-thirds of English settlers came to North America as indentured servants. European slave traders brought large numbers of African slaves to the Americas by sail. Spain and Portugal had brought African slaves to work in African colonies such as Cape Verde and São Tomé and Príncipe , and then in Latin America, by

6314-504: Was deemed that they could prepare for independence. The empires of Russia and Austria collapsed in 1917–1918, and the Soviet empire started. Nazi Germany set up short-lived colonial systems ( Reichskommissariate , Generalgouvernement ) in Eastern Europe in the early 1940s. In the aftermath of World War II (1939–1945), decolonisation progressed rapidly. The tumultuous upheaval of

6396-447: Was financially comfortable, in part because his 1935 novel, The Last Puritan , had become an unexpected best-seller. In turn, he financially assisted a number of writers, including Bertrand Russell , with whom he was in fundamental disagreement, philosophically and politically. Santayana's one novel, The Last Puritan , is a Bildungsroman , centering on the personal growth of its protagonist , Oliver Alden. His Persons and Places

6478-647: Was founder and president of the Philosophical Club, a member of the literary society known as the O.K., an editor and cartoonist for The Harvard Lampoon , he joined one of Harvard's "Final CLubs - the Delphic Club and co-founder of the literary journal The Harvard Monthly . In December, 1885, he played the role of Lady Elfrida in the Hasty Pudding theatrical Robin Hood , followed by the production Papillonetta in

6560-417: Was not a pragmatist in the mold of William James , Charles Sanders Peirce , Josiah Royce , or John Dewey , The Life of Reason arguably is the first extended treatment of pragmatism written. Like many of the classical pragmatists, Santayana was committed to metaphysical naturalism . He believed that human cognition , cultural practices, and social institutions have evolved so as to harmonize with

6642-419: Was not among his students but became a friend. From 1896 to 1897, Santayana studied at King's College, Cambridge . Santayana never married. His romantic life, if any, is not well understood. Some evidence, including a comment Santayana made late in life comparing himself to A. E. Housman , and his friendships with people who were openly homosexual and bisexual , has led scholars to speculate that Santayana

6724-730: Was perhaps homosexual or bisexual, but it remains unclear whether he had any actual heterosexual or homosexual relationships. In 1912, Santayana resigned his position at Harvard to spend the rest of his life in Europe. He had saved money and been aided by a legacy from his mother. After some years in Ávila , Paris and Oxford , after 1920, he began to winter in Rome , eventually living there year-round until his death. During his 40 years in Europe, he wrote 19 books and declined several prestigious academic positions. Many of his visitors and correspondents were Americans, including his assistant and eventual literary executor, Daniel Cory . In later life, Santayana

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