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Colonization Of The Americas, India, And Australia

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As European nations traversed the seas seeking riches, spices, and new beginnings, cultural anxieties began to surface that greatly shaped society in the colonies and on the home front. Mass colonization of the Americas, Africa, India, and Australia created a new world staunchly different from the normative and “proper” societal life that defined Britain during the nineteenth century. European colonizers found themselves amongst natives, people they not only misunderstood but sought to reform in order to fit the British hegemony during this period. However, colonizers did not only transform the way of life for those they colonized, but the native populations also had a firm influence on the cultural shifts that would shake and shape British empire. As Britain became the major formal empire of the world by the late nineteenth century, colonial life began to influence understandings of gender, sexuality, indigenous culture, and race. Power struggles rocked colonial establishments and the idea of freedom from the sexually composed values on the home front flourished, creating a sexually charged atmosphere that would trigger cultural anxieties throughout the colonies and in Britain. Maintenance of the masculine preserve that strengthened the framework of British rule was constantly questioned, fueling colonial anxieties and the continued construction of racial and gender hierarchies that would perpetuate well into the twentieth century. The popularity of rape scandals and

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