Imperialism

After the Industrial Revolution, industrialized countries had more people and more factories. Factory owners needed raw materials like oil, tin and rubber to continue making modern goods. But in Europe, these materials were not easy to come by. They needed to go elsewhere to find materials.

Europeans decided to claim land in Africa, Asia and Latin America as their own. Like the conquistadors of the sixteenth century, the Europeans just took the land through force. This new era of conquest in the late 1800s was called imperialism.

The Europeans did not consider the indigenous, or native, peoples to be civilized, or in some cases fully human. European imperialists justified their conquests by calling them civilizing missions. Many believed that they were doing the natives a favor by teaching them about Western society and that it was their mission to civilize the “uncivilized.”

Which of the following best describes the relationship between the Industrial Revolution and imperialism?

• 
  The Industrial Revolution created an increased demand for raw materials, which led Europeans to conquer new lands in search for them in the late 1800.

• The Industrial Revolution created an excess of raw materials, which led Europeans to trade raw materials with new nations in the late 1800s.

• The Industrial Revolution led to decreased trade with Africa, which led Europeans to go to war with many African nations in the late 1800s.

• Europeans conquered new lands in the late 1800s, which led to a growth in factories in the Industrial Revolution.

Another cause of imperialism was social Darwinism. Charles Darwin had created the theory of evolution in 1859, which was the idea that all species have descended from a common source. In his theory, he described the idea of natural selection. Natural selection holds that those animals that are fit to survive will continue to live, while those that are not fit for survival will die.

Social Darwinism applied this scientific theory to society and distorted it. Europeans saw themselves and their cultures as more “fit for survival” than the people and cultures in Africa, Asia and South America. So they had no issue taking over native groups that they found to be less fit. The imperialists believed that they had the duty to colonize other lands.

Which of these statements would Charles Darwin most likely agree with?

• Sometimes, the weak survive to pass on their traits.

• Europeans have a responsibility to colonize land in Africa, Asia and South America.

• An animal that is well adapted to its environment has a better chance of survival.

• Cultures all descended from a single, common source.

The British had a strong influence on the people of India. They built railroads and created schools, though the schools served only the wealthier upper class. The British were also harmful and disrespectful, telling people to grow cotton rather than food, so people began to starve. They had little respect for the Indians’ culture, holding parties at the Taj Mahal, a sacred tomb.

British cultural insensitivity led to a rebellion called the Sepoy Mutiny. Until the 1850s, the British government indirectly influenced India through the British East India Company. They paid Indian soldiers, called sepoys, to protect British interests. In 1857, the sepoys heard a rumor that the British were greasing bullet cartridges with a mixture of cow and pig fat. Bullet cartridges needed to be bitten open. Being forced to bite into cow and pig fat was an extreme insult to the sepoys because Hindus don’t eat cows, and Muslims don’t eat pigs. The rumor added fuel to the growing anger at the British. The sepoys mutinied, or turned against their commanders, leading to a terrible battle in which many people were killed. Eventually, the British won and the British government, instead of the East India Company, was in charge of India.

Which of the following best describes how the sepoys felt about the British before the Sepoy Mutiny?

• resentful

• friendly

• 
  grateful

• complacent

People in the Americas and Europe had interacted with Africans in the triangular trade during the 1700s. In 1808, Britain and the United States declared the slave trade illegal and by the 1890s, most major countries had also made it illegal. However, Europe was not done with Africa. Europeans realized that Africa was one of the few places in the world that had not been fully colonized. They wanted to have as much land as possible, so they set off on the scramble for Africa.

Before this time, there were several reasons European countries didn't venture off the coast. First, they didn't have any way to fight off jungle diseases such as malaria, which is spread by mosquitoes. The drug quinine allowed Europeans to fight off malaria and move into the central areas of Africa. New railroads and steamships also made travel easier.

Which of the following best describes the relationship between Europe and Africa?

• After the slave trade became illegal, Europeans stopped interacting with Africans.

• Because of malaria and other diseases, Europeans did not visit Africa until 1900.

• Unlike the Americas, Europe did not participate in the triangle trade and first became interested in Africa’s land once there was medicine for malaria.

• Early on, Europe traded with Africa for slaves, and later Europeans set out to conquer as much land in Africa as they could.

Imperialism in South Africa held some of the greatest colonization difficulties. When the scramble for Africa began, there were already about 200,000 Europeans living in South Africa, called Boers or Afrikaaners. The Boers were white and had descended from the original Dutch settlers in South Africa. They thought that people with white skin were superior to those with dark skin, so they forced the indigenous Africans onto reservations.

The African Zulu tribe fought back under Shaka Zulu’s powerful and disciplined leadership. It seemed that the Zulus might be able to overcome the colonizers. But when Shaka died, the Zulus lost much of their prowess, and the Boers took power again.

In 1899, the British fought the Boers for control of South Africa in the Boer War. After forcing 150,000 Boer women and children into camps, the British won. In 1910, Britain formed the Union of South Africa. To appease the Boers, only white people in South Africa could vote. These racist laws would set the stage for intense racial conflict in the later twentieth century that included a policy of apartheid.

Who fought in the Boer War?

• The Zulu and the British

• The British and the Boers

• The Boers and the Zulu

• The Zulu and the Afrikaaners

During which century did the age of imperialism begin?

• 1600's

• 1700's

• 1800's

• 1900's

What does the phrase "the white man's burden" refer to?

• 
  the Europeans' belief that they had a mission to civilize people of color

• the European epidemic of back pain as a result of the agricultural revolution

• 
  a famous song that provides arguments for slavery

• Cecil Rhodes's company during the scramble for Africa

What was the name of the theory that applied natural selection to civilized society?

• social Darwinism

• evolutionary society

• societal fitness

• Darwinian economics

Why hadn't conquistadors conquered Africa during the Age of Exploration?

• Maps of the time period did not include Africa.

• They didn't have the drugs needed to fight malaria.

• They were too busy colonizing Latin America.

• Their ships weren't strong enough to reach the southern tip of Africa.

Which two African countries remained independent during the scramble for Africa?

• South Africa and Kenya

• 
  North Rhodesia and South Rhodesia

• Ethiopia and Liberia

• 
  Nigeria and Tanzania