Imperialism

​The Sun Never Sets on the British Empire

• I can assess imperialism in Africa and Asia including the influence of geography and natural resources

• I can examine anti-imperialism resistance including Opium Wars, Boxer Rebellion and the Indian Revolt of 1857

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​Learning Targets

• Industrialization

  • raw materials/natural resources

  • metals, coal, rubber, cotton, palm oil

• Nationalism

  • mass production of weapons

• 1815 - Western Europe and USA inhabited 35% of Earth's territory

• 1914 - 85%

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Why Imperialism?

• Imperialist nations wanted the raw materials and luxury goods

• Europeans and Americans also wanted to spread Christianity

• Conquest against enlightenment ideas

• Darwin's On the Origin of Species - survival of the fittest

• White Man's Burden

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Justification for Imperialism

• Up until this points - very few Europeans have gone INTO Africa

• Malaria

• Discovered gold and diamonds

• 1880 - France, Britain, Portugal, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Spain

• 1884 - Met in Berlin to divide Africa

  • oil, ivory, gold, diamonds, metals, rubber, cotton

Scramble for Africa

• mix of economic exploitation, racist subjugation and well-meaning reform

• Ethnic tensions, conflict killed thousands

• Good: schools, hospitals, infrastructure, slave trade was suppressed

• Some African elites ruled for their imperialists

• Spurred Nationalism

Effects of Imperialism

• Cotton, Spices, Tea, Opium

• British East India Company (BEIC)

• Mughal Empire declined, BEIC took control of the area

• Exploitation and benefit

• Indian soldiers - Sepoy

• 1857 - Sepoy Rebellion

  • rumors spread, BEIC ignored religious beliefs

• British government took control for next 90 years!

India

• limited foreign merchants

  • silk, porcelain, tea

  • merchants could only purchase goods with silver bullion

• The West protested - wanted to sell to China

• British marketed Opium

  • drained silver

  • workers incapacitated

    British marketed Opium

China

• China made opium illegal and had their own Boston Tea Party

• 1842 - 1st Opium War

• 1860 - 2nd Opium War

• unequal treaties resulted in both

  • opened more ports to the West

  • Hong Kong belonged to GB

• Taiping Rebellion wanted reform

• Boxer Rebellion wanted foreigners gone

• 1911 - Qing Dynasty ends, Chinese Republic begins

Opium Wars