10.4 imperialism

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, January 2005

This stanza from Kipling’s poem is most closely associated with the belief that it was the duty of Western colonial powers to 

• (1) learn from the people they conquered 

• 2) teach their colonies how to produce manufactured goods 

• (3) civilize the people they controlled 

• (4) welcome less developed countries as equals

  
  

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. 

An historian would find this poem most useful to understand

• (1) a point of view that opposed Kipling’s claims 
  

• (2) a point of view concerning imperialism supported by some Europeans

• (3) the economic reasons the Europeans supported imperialism 

• (4) the effects of Kipling’s poem in the 20th century

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 

• (1) industrialism 

• (2) feudalism 

• (3) imperialism 

  
  

•  

  (4) fascism

  
  

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 Kipling would have most likely supported?

• (1) The British shared equal power with Indians in the colonial government in 1899.

• (2) The British used child labor in textile factories in India. 

• (3) The British established coal mines in India.

• (4) 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?

• 1. British involvement in India benefited Indian manufactures.

• 1. The East India Company’s goal was to enrich India’s economy.

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

• 2. The British helped create a new class of wealthy Indians.

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. 

According to Jawaharlal Nehru, which historical development contributed to a change in British policy with India?

• 1. Industrial Revolution

• 2. Napoleonic Wars

• 2. Green Revolution

• 2. Meiji Restoration

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. 

Which evidence best supports the claim made by Jawaharlal Nehru in this excerpt?

• 1. An account book from a British textile company showing that they sold less to Indians in 1920 than in 1880

• An account from an Indian metalworker stating that his shop had to close because he could not afford to pay British taxes required to sell his goods

• 1. A speech by the Prime Minister of Great Britain in 1910 proclaiming that the empire is losing more money that it ever has

• Maps of an Indian city showing that more shipbuilding and textile businesses existed during British rule than before it

...at the time of [Indian] independence in 1947 had more track mileage than that of any European state and less than only the United States, Canada, and the Soviet Union. The first railway track was laid in India in 1850, and by 1915 India had better than forty thousand miles of track and approximately one hundred million railroad passengers per year. Indian railway building was supported by several powerful groups: British cotton manufacturers, for whom railways were a cheap and efficient way to get cotton to the coast for shipment to England; British industrialists, who supplied India with most of its rails, locomotives, moving stock [railroad cars], and equipment; colonial officials, who saw railroads as a way to move troops quickly to trouble spots and an essential part of the Indian postal system; and millions of Indians, who, rather to the surprise of the British, took to rail travel with great alacrity [enthusiasm]….

Source: Andrea and Overfield, The Human Record: Sources of Global History, Houghton Mifflin (adapted) from the NYS Global History and Geography Regents Exam, January 2012.

 Which claim is best supported by the map and passage above?

• 1. The British built railroads in India to assist Indian owned businesses.

• The British built railroads in India to benefit their industrial interests in the country.

• The British built railroads in India to teach Indian engineers to expand the transportation options in India after independence.

• 1. The British built railroads in India in an attempt to gain independence from India.

...at the time of [Indian] independence in 1947 had more track mileage than that of any European state and less than only the United States, Canada, and the Soviet Union. The first railway track was laid in India in 1850, and by 1915 India had better than forty thousand miles of track and approximately one hundred million railroad passengers per year. Indian railway building was supported by several powerful groups: British cotton manufacturers, for whom railways were a cheap and efficient way to get cotton to the coast for shipment to England; British industrialists, who supplied India with most of its rails, locomotives, moving stock [railroad cars], and equipment; colonial officials, who saw railroads as a way to move troops quickly to trouble spots and an essential part of the Indian postal system; and millions of Indians, who, rather to the surprise of the British, took to rail travel with great alacrity [enthusiasm]….

Source: Andrea and Overfield, The Human Record: Sources of Global History, Houghton Mifflin (adapted) from the NYS Global History and Geography Regents Exam, January 2012

The historical developments shown in this map are the result of

• 1. Colonization

• 2. International aid programs

• 2. Urbanization

• 2. Communism

An Excerpt from the Treaty of Nanjing

ARTICLE III. 

It being obviously necessary and desirable, that British Subjects should have some Port whereat they may careen and refit their Ships, when required, and keep Stores for that purpose, His Majesty the Emperor of China cedes [gives] to Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain, etc., the Island of Hongkong, to be possessed in perpetuity [forever] by Her Britannic Majesty, Her Heirs and Successors, and to be governed by such Laws and Regulations as Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain, etc., shall see fit to direct.

Source: “Treaty of Nanjing (Nanking), 1842,” USC-UCLA Joint East Asian Studies Center from the NYS Global History and Geography Regents Exam, June 2014. 

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

• 1. Boer War

• 2. World War I

• 3. French Revolution

• 2. Opium Wars