AAS Terms: Chapter 2

Colonialism

A policy or practice by which one country takes control of another and establishes enduring systems of exploitation and domination over that territories land, resources, and people.

Settler Colonialism

A type of colonialism that replaces Indigenous populations with an invasive settler society that, over time, develops a distinctive identity and sovereignty.

Racial Capitalism

A system of global capitalism maintained by racism, colonialism, patriarchy, and nationalism.

White Supremacy

An ideology holding that people racialized as White are superior to all other human groups.

Racial Slavery

A system in which individuals are enslaved based on their race or ethnicity, often justifying enslavement based on perceived racial inferiority. In this system, the enslaved group is considered property with no legal rights, while the enslavers benefit from their labor and exploit them socially, economically, and politically.

Slave Codes

A set of laws that regulated enslaved Black people and restricted their lives, in addition to denying them personhood and citizenship.

Manifest Destiny

The 19th century belief that it was God’s will that the U.S. expand across the North American continent. This idea was used to justify the westward expansion of settlers, often at the expense of Native American lands and Mexico. It promoted the notion that American culture and democracy were superior and that it was the nation’s duty to spread these values, leading to significant displacement and violence against Indigenous people’s and other non-white groups.

Immigration

The process of entering and establishing residence in a place other than one’s country of origin.

Eugenics

A set of theories and practices aimed at ensuring genetic purity through extreme measures such as forced sterilization of those considered racially inferior; Term coined by Francis Galton in the 19th century.

Multiracial Heritage

A heritage that includes 2 or more racial groups.