Unit 4: Imperialism

Based on this political cartoon, which statement best describes the author’s point of view?

• Africa was not affected by imperialism.

• Europeans wanted to spread Christianity in Africa.

• European countries colonized Africa for natural resources.

• African people welcomed European colonists.

Which event was most likely the result of the action being taken in this cartoon?

• African and European states engaged in equal trade agreements.

• African people resented the presence of European powers on their land.

• Europeans helped establish democratic governments in African countries

• The Industrial Revolution started in Great Britain. 

Many of the political divisions shown on this map were directly related to the 

• Meiji Restoration 

• Opium Wars 

• Berlin Conference 

• Boer War

Which claim is best supported by the evidence included in this map?

• In 1913, European countries controlled most of the territory in Africa.  

• In 1913, European countries controlled all of the territory in Africa. 

• By 1913, European countries built extensive railroad systems in sub-Saharan Africa. 

• In 1913, European countries ruled territory in Africa with the consent of the Africans who lived there

What was a result of the political situation shown on this map?

• Most local rulers had power equal to that of European leaders

• The economic prosperity of the African nationalist leaders increased their power

• African leaders willingly adopted European forms of governance including constitutions

• The boundaries that were established led to the division of traditional cultures and commerce

What historical event led to the signing of the Treaty of Nanjing?

• Boer War

• World War I

• French Revolution

• Opium Wars

Based on the excerpt above, what did the British gain as a result of the Treaty of Nanjing?

• Unlimited coal resources

• An island to use as a port

• Control of all of Japan

• The right to make the Queen of Great Britain the Empress of China

Rudyard Kipling was a British short-story writer, poet and novelist. Considered one of the most popular writers in Britain during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Kipling eventually won the Nobel Prize in Literature. Kipling was born in Bombay, India in 1865. During this time India was under British control and many young British families lived in colonies like India. His poem, White Man’s Burden was published in a popular American magazine.

The White Man’s Burden.

Take up the White Man’s burden—

Send forth the best ye breed—

Go, bind your sons to exile

To serve your captives’ need;

To wait, in heavy harness,

On fluttered folk and wild—

Your new-caught sullen peoples,

Half-devil and half-child. . . .”

— Rudyard Kipling, 1899 from the NYS Global History and Geography Regents Exam, June 2003.

The message of this poem was used by many Europeans to justify

• industrialism

• feudalism

• imperialism

• fascism

Rudyard Kipling was a British short-story writer, poet and novelist. Considered one of the most popular writers in Britain during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Kipling eventually won the Nobel Prize in Literature. Kipling was born in Bombay, India in 1865. During this time India was under British control and many young British families lived in colonies like India. His poem, White Man’s Burden was published in a popular American magazine.

The White Man’s Burden.

Take up the White Man’s burden—

Send forth the best ye breed—

Go, bind your sons to exile

To serve your captives’ need;

To wait, in heavy harness,

On fluttered folk and wild—

Your new-caught sullen peoples,

Half-devil and half-child. . . .”

— Rudyard Kipling, 1899 from the NYS Global History and Geography Regents Exam, June 2003.

Based on this poem, which action would Kipling have most likely supported?

• The British shared equal power with Indians in the colonial government in 1899

• The British used child labor in textile factories in India

• The British established coal mines in India

• The British established schools in India to teach Indian children English and British culture

Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964) was a politician who fought for Indian independence from Great Britain and became the country’s first prime minister.

. . . The Chief business of the East India Company in its early period, the very object for which it was started, was to carry Indian manufactured goods—textiles, etc., as well as spices and the like—from the East to Europe, where there was a great demand for these articles. With the developments in industrial techniques in England a new class of industrial capitalists rose there demanding a change in this policy. The British market was to be closed to Indian products and the Indian market opened to British manufactures. The British parliament, influenced by this new class, began to take a greater interest in India and the working of the East India Company. To begin with, Indian goods were excluded from Britain by legislation, and as the company held a monopoly in the Indian export business, this exclusion influenced other foreign markets also. This was followed by vigorous attempts to restrict and crush Indian manufactures by various measures and internal duties which prevented the flow of Indian goods within the country itself. British goods meanwhile had free entry. The Indian textile industry collapsed, affecting vast numbers of weavers and artisans. The process was rapid in Bengal and Bihar; elsewhere it spread gradually with the expansion of British rule and the building of railways. It continued throughout the nineteenth century, breaking up other old industries also, shipbuilding, metalwork, glass, paper, and many crafts. . . .

-Source: Jawaharlal Nehru, The Discovery of India, John Day Company, 1946 from the NYS Global History and Geography Regents Exam, January 2006



Based on this excerpt, which statement best describes the author’s point of view?

• British involvement in India benefited Indian manufactures

• The East India Company's goal was the enrich India's economy

• British policies destroyed Indian businesses by restricting who they could sell to

• The British helped create a new class of wealthy Indians