History Matters by Canadian Institute for Historical Education Nigel Biggar on Colonialism: A Moral Reckoning
Dec 4, 2025
Renowned historian Nigel Biggar presents a nuanced view of colonialism, challenging oversimplified narratives of the British Empire. He discusses the empire's dual legacy, from abolition efforts to significant harms like slavery and racism. Biggar emphasizes the importance of context in historical debates and introduces a three-step method for moral assessment. Engaging with sensitive topics, including Canadian residential schools, he acknowledges cultural harms while questioning claims of widespread atrocities. The conversation delves into the complex interplay of benefits and evils in the colonial era.
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Empire As A Universal Political Form
- Empire was a universal political form for most of human history across all continents.
- Ancient and medieval writers critiqued bad rulers, not empire itself, making empire normal until the 20th century.
Phillip's Early Kindness In Sydney Cove
- Biggar recounts Admiral Arthur Phillip sharing food and offering medical help to Aboriginal people in 1788.
- He uses this episode to show early encounters could be benign before later violence and mistrust developed.
Debit and Credit Moral Ledger
- Biggar frames the empire with a debit and credit ledger of harms and benefits.
- He argues moral cost-benefit comparison fails because categories like genocide and infrastructure can't be weighed against each other.
