system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5 the difference between colonialism and imperialism

 And why is colonialism painted as much darker? Isn't imperialism just colonialism within the same continent?
gpt
**Imperialism** is one nation taking over another nation's land or territory and establishing political and/or economic control over that land and its native population. 

**Colonialism** is one nation taking over another nation's land or territory, establishing political and/or economic control over that land, moving *their own* population into that land, and usually eradicating or forcing out the native populations. 

The prime difference is between *just* exercising political & economic control of a conquered land (imperialism) vs actually displacing -- in part or in full -- the native population of the land with the conquering nation's own population (colonialism). 

What the British colonists and later the United States did to the native populations of North America was colonialism, because they forced the native populations off their land and slaughtered (or otherwise caused the death) of the majority of indigenous peoples on the continent. 

What the British empire did to the Indian subcontinent was (for the most part) imperialism. They exerted political and economic control over the populations of that continent, but (for the most part) they did not displace those populations and ship in a bunch of British people to settle the lands that had belonged to displaced populations. 

There's a lot of "for the most part" caveats in that, because when something flips from imperialism to colonialism is a big grey area.