Colonialism and genocide

Colonialism's emphasis on imperialism, land dispossession, resource extraction, and cultural destruction frequently resulted in genocidal practices aimed at attacking Indigenous peoples and existing populations as a means to attain colonial goals.^{[1][need quotation to verify][2]} According to historian Patrick Wolfe, "[t]he question of genocide is never far from discussions of settler colonialism."^[3] Historians have commented that although colonialism does not necessarily directly involve genocide, research suggests that the two share a connection.^[4]

States have practised colonialism during various periods in history, even during progressive eras such as the Enlightenment. During the Enlightenment, a period in the history of 17th- and 18th-century Europe which was marked by some progressive reforms, natural social hierarchies were reinforced. Europeans who were educated, white, and native-born were considered high-class, whereas less-educated, non-European people were considered low-class. These "natural" hierarchies were reinforced by progressives such as the Marquis de Condorcet (1743-1794), a French mathematician, who believed that slaves were savages due to their lack of modern practices, despite the fact that he advocated the abolition of slavery.^[5] The colonization process usually starts by attacking the homes of its targets. Typically, the people who are subjected to colonizing practices are portrayed as lacking modernity, because they and the colonialists do not have the same level of education or technology.^{[5][need quotation to verify]}

Raphael Lemkin coined the term "genocide" in the 1940s by ^[6] in the light of the Armenian genocide of 1915-1917 and of Nazi killings in the 1940s, although genocides have been committed since ancient times. The United Nations adopted the term and declared genocide an internationally illegal practice as a part of Resolution 96 in 1946. Various definitions of genocide exist. The 1948 Convention of Genocide defined genocide as "acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group". All definitions of genocide involve ethnicity, race, or religion as a motivational factor.^[5] Genocide scholar Israel Charny has proposed a definition of genocide in the course of colonization.^[7]

The history of Tasmania provides an example where settlers originating from Europe wiped out Aboriginal Tasmanians, an event which is genocide by definition as well as an event which resulted from settler colonialism.^[8] Additionally, instances of colonialism and genocide in California and in Hispaniola are cited below. The instance of California references the colonization and genocide of indigenous tribes by European Americans (prospectors and settlers) during the gold-rush period of the 19th century.^[9] The example in Hispaniola discusses the island's colonization by Columbus and other Spanish conquistadors and the genocide inflicted on the native Taíno people.^[10]