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b'Modern humans first appeared on the planet around\\xa0200,000\\xa0years ago,\\xa0and just over\\xa010,000\\xa0years ago humanity began the\\xa05,000\\xa0year transition from being hunter-gatherers to being farmers.\\xa0From there,\\xa0it was another\\xa04,500\\xa0years before Europeans starting spreading outwards from Europe in large numbers.\\xa0So the history of the last\\xa0500\\xa0years is,\\xa0in terms of the life of humanity,\\xa0very recent.\\xa0If so,\\xa0it is not credible to believe that the expansion of Europe beyond its geographical boundaries does not continue to have ramifications for people around the world to the present day.\\xa0In this light,\\xa0this Episode surveys the history of colonialism from\\xa01500\\xa0to\\xa01950,\\xa0and explores how colonialism shaped and continues to shape contemporary poverty and inequality.

Part\\xa01\\xa0of this Episode explains why Europeans began their outward expansion,\\xa0and documents the genocide of Indigenous populations that took place as a result of the initial colonial expansion.'