Blackwell Reference Online

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The adjective “settler” has been applied to a number of widely diverging societies, cultures, colonies, historical situations, narratives, and individuals. It has thus been associated with many different ideological positions, political motivations, and analytical methods. Attempts have been made in several disciplines – notably history, social geography, social theory, literary studies and, more latterly, cultural studies – to describe and characterize different kinds of colonies. It is clear that even within the overseas imperial expansion of a single European nation, many different arrangements were made for the management of colonial relations. The Oxford English Dictionary explains that the word colony is derived from the Latin “to cultivate”; colon-us is a farmer, cultivator, or settler. In Roman times, colonia was the official term for a settlement of Roman citizens in a newly subdued land. These colons retained their Roman citizenship and functioned as a garrison or bulwark that retained the land under Roman occupation. Normally, the colonists were granted land, and many were former soldiers. At the very broadest level, historians of colonization generally distinguish two kinds of European colonies. These are most commonly called “colonies of occupation” and “colonies of settlement.” Others include plantation colonies, occupation colonies, and mixed colonies. Of ... log in or subscribe to read full text