Transportation and Access

One of of the most impactful technologies that enables European colonialism is the railroad. As Railroads allowed Europeans to establish settlements in areas further away from the coast, which helped them to expand and better control their territories (Adas 71). For example, as shown in the maps of India from the 1860s-1890s, the railroad enables the British to push deeper into India starting from important coastal cities such as Bombay and Calcutta. More importantly, Europeans saw the railroad as evidence of their moral and technological superiority over the peoples they colonized, as they were the only ones with such kind of technology and the resources to shape the land in such a way that the constuction of railroads were made possible. 

This picture shows a lamp post and a telegraph line in 1899 in Lagos, Nigeria, which was a colony under British rule. Adults are also pictured standing or sitting near the waterfront and pile of various objects. 

The steamboat "Stanley" during the departure of Commissioner-General Halfeyt in the Congo Free State in 1899. Congo Free State was originally personally owned by King Leopold II of Belgium.

In addition to railways, steamboats and telegraph lines also played important roles in enabling European colonialism in Africa and Asia. Steamboats, like railways, allowed Europeans to venture into the interior of the African contient more efficently, which opened the interior and the people living there to exploitation. Telegraphs were importat for communication, as instructions and information could be shared more efficiently between various colonial holdings.