Skip to main content

Imperialism and Settler Colonialism: Xenophobia and Racism in North America

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
  • 160 Accesses

Synonyms

Assimilation; Colonialism; Conquering; Cultural imperialism; Disease and cultural; Displacement; Invasion; Racism; Slavery; White supremacy

Definition

This essay examines the historical trajectory of the colonization of North America by imperial European forces spanning from the 15th to 18th centuries. The primary focus concentrates on the treatment and removal of indigenous peoples with particular attention paid to the development of settler colonialism by the English Crown and the xenophobic foundations of Americana.

The expansive ramblings of settler colonialism, particularly its goal of eliminating indigenous culture carried out primarily by strategies of disavowal, have been identified by Ostler (2015) as “a convergence between settler colonial ideology and the project of continental empire-building” (p. 42). Native American opposition to colonial empire (and the United States) has rarely been framed as anti-imperialism in historical context. Perhaps doing so would...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

References

  • Boudinot, E. (1826; 1996). An address to the whites. In T. Perdue (Ed.), Cherokee editor: The writings of Elias Boudinot. Athens: University of Georgia Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Canny, V. (2001). Making Ireland British: 1580–1650. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Ward.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Churchill, W. (1998). Fantasies of the master race: Literature, cinema, and the colonization of American Indians. San Francisco: City Lights Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deloria, V., Jr. (1975). God is red. New York: Delta Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deloria, V., Jr. (1988). Red earth, white lies: Native Americans and the myth of scientific fact. New York: Scribner.

    Google Scholar 

  • Denson, A. (2004). Demanding the Cherokee nation: Indian autonomy and American culture, 1830–1900 (Vol. 28, pp. 40–41). Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dowd, G. E. (1992). A spirited resistance: The North American struggle for unity, 1745–1815. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dunbar-Ortiz, R. (2014). An indigenous people’s history of the United States. Boston: Beacon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jennings, F. (1976). The invasion of America: Indians, colonialism and the cant of conquest. Chapel Hill: North Carolina University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Judd, R. W. (2014). Second nature: An environmental study of New England. Boston: University of Massachusetts Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Konkle, M. (2004). Writing Indian nations: Native intellectuals and the politics of historiography, 1827–1863. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Linebaugh, P. (2008). The Magna Carta manifesto: Liberties and commons for all. Berkeley: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ostler, J. (2015). Native Americans against empire and colonial rule. In I. Tyrrell & J. Sexton (Eds.), Empire’s twin: U.S. anti imperialism from the founding era to the age of terrorism. Ithaca/London: Cornell UP.

    Google Scholar 

  • Salisbury, N. (1984). Manitou and providence: Indians, Europeans, and the making of New England (pp. 1500–1643). New York/Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thornton, R. (1987). American Indian holocaust and survival: A population history since 1492. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tylor, E. B. (1871). Primitive culture: Researches into the development of mythology, philosophy, religion, art and custom. London: John Murray.

    Google Scholar 

  • Veracini, L. (2010). Settler colonialism: A theoretical overview. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, J. (1998). The earth shall weep: A history of native America. New York: Grove Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Woodward, W. (2008). Captain John smith and the campaign for New England: A study in early American identity and promotion. The New England Quarterly, 81(1), 91–125.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The author wishes to thank Dr. Zak Cope for his assistance and contributions in writing this essay.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Stacy Warner Maddern .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Maddern, S.W. (2019). Imperialism and Settler Colonialism: Xenophobia and Racism in North America. In: Ness, I., Cope, Z. (eds) The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Imperialism and Anti-Imperialism. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91206-6_117-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91206-6_117-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-91206-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-91206-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference HistoryReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Humanities

Publish with us

Policies and ethics