gerald horne the apocalypse of settler colonialism

In this manner, Horne argues, race became a factor in dividing people against each other and presented the new colony as a paragon of republican and religious freedom while attracting European settlers in a context of displacement of indigenous nations' exploitation of African labor. The defeat of the Spanish Armada and the English alliance with Holland further weakened Spanish dominance and opened an opportunity for England to colonize eastern North America.ĭuring this time, ' whiteness' transformed into ' white supremacy,' allowing England to bring together various nationalities and religious minorities throughout Europe to oppose Indigenous nations and enslaved Africans. Indigenous peoples and Africans resisted violently and sometimes succeeded in the short term, especially when they could join or find allies among competing empires at the borders of one colony or another. Historian Gerald Horne argues that the creation myth of settler colonialism and the formation of the United States must be revised by taking into account the sixteenth century from 1492 until the arrival of settlers on the northeast coast in 1607 in other words, he refers to the historical context preceding initial European colonization of eastern North America.įurthermore, Horne says that enslaved Africans were brought to South Carolina by the Spanish in the 1520s, and their rebellion against their captors led to a significant but little-known moment in the history of colonialism.

Gerald horne the apocalypse of settler colonialism