By asserting themselves through trade and imperialism, Western cultures have damaged the world, devastating dozens of cultures by imposing their own identity on them. Although the colonizers had forms of assistance to offer, such as advanced technology, modern medicine, and education, colonialism did indeed enslave and wipe out many people, as evidenced by this list of historical sources and events . In fact, the long history of European imperialism dates back to the 12th and 13th centuries, when Christian Western Europe embarked on a series of religiously sanctioned military holy crusades to restore control of the Holy Land. Little by little, over several centuries, the West's enthusiasm for imperialism grew under the influence of the industrial revolution and fueled by the preconceived ideology of social Darwinism. In a few distinctive scenarios, trade and imperialism have helped improve the lives of the “uncivilized,” but in almost all cases, they instead bring death and destruction in the name of wealth and greed. The definition of "improving the world" includes providing technology, but does not involve wiping out entire groups of people through colonization. The West has many reasonable "improvements" to offer: modern medical care, technology, and education have many advantages. Europeans brought roads, railways, schools, hospitals, improved sanitation, and better agricultural methods to the territories they colonized, undoubtedly increasing the population and improving its lifespan. The Berlin Conference involved European leaders striving to draw arbitrary borders on the African continent, paying no attention to existing ones, claiming ownership of almost the entire middle of the paper......hnson and Northrup . The Earth and its peoples: a global history, volume II since 1500 (4th brief edition). Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2008. Print. Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness and The Secret Sharer. New York: Signet Classics, 1997. Print. Hawkins, Hunt. “Heart of darkness and racism. » Conradiana 14.3 (1982): 163-71. Rep. in the Heart of Darkness. Ed. Paul B. Armstrong. 4th ed. New York: Norton Critical Editions, 2006. 365-375. Hochschild, Adam. The ghost of King Leopold. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1999. Kincaid, Jamaica. A small place. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2000. Ondaatje, Michael. “Buried 2 Part IV. » Handwriting: Poems. New York: Knopf, 2000. Orwell, George. “Shooting an Elephant” The Essay Connection. Ed. Lynn Bloom, 3rd edition. DC Heath and Company (Lexington), 1991: 305-312. Raffaele, Paul. “Out of time”. Smithsonian April. 2005: 62–70.