6.3 Flashcards
Indigenous Responses to State Expansion
Imperialism led to a surge of ______ amongst natives?
A: Nationalism.
This led to resistance
Indigenous resistance to imperialism in the Americas
In 1750, the U.S. didn’t exist yet. The British colonies had won the French and Indian War, and issued the Proclamation of 1763.
- Cherokee Indians sought to preserve themselves through assimilating into British American culture. This semi-worked, until gold was discovered in their lands, and the Indian Removal Act of 1830 was enacted. This led to the “Trail of Tears”, and dictated that Cherokee and other natives had to go to Oklahoma territory
2nd half of 18th century: resistance movement from natives known as the Ghost Dance.
- Natives believed in a prophecy that said their ancestors would return and drive the white men out of their lands. They would do Ghost Dances: ritualistic dances and songs that were meant to usher on the content of the prophecy.
- Tensions culminated in the battle at Wounded Knee in 1890, where Sioux Indians were bitterly defeated by Americans, officially ending the large-scale Indian wars within America.
The Proclamation of 1763
Appointed by the British Colonies. The British had won French American territory, so this proclamation reserved land in the Ohio River Valley for natives, but the American settlers pushed west and colonized there anyway
Indigenous resistance in Peru
Cacique Tupac Amaru II led an armed rebellion against Spanish colonial leaders bc of the abuses of Spain, including the presence of corrupt judicial and economic authorities called corregidores, who used their power to inflate the prices of basic items and pocket Native American’s tribute taxes. Tupac Amaru II arrested and charged colonial leaders with cruelty, and the Spanish acted on the rebellion. Their action only inflamed the situation, and rebellion grew across Peru and in other South American nations.
Eventually, Amaru was captured and executed, marking the final major native revolt against New Spain.
What is a cacique?
It is a Latin American title that identifies hereditary leaders.
Indigenous resistance to imperialism in Mexico
Benito Juarez, a Zapotec (a pre-Columbian peoples), was in power. He was liberal, resisted outside influence.
France desired Mexico’s territory.
Members of Mexico’s government didn’t like Juarez’s liberalism, and used the French’s desire to imperialize in order to overthrow Juarez.
This was successful, and resulted in a short-lived, 3-year French occupation of Mexico that was cut short due to resistance from armed Mexicans.
Indigenous resistance to imperialism in the British penal colony of Australia
Native were w/o political voices in British courts, and w/o a peaceful method of contesting British rule.
Natives attempted to rebel, but they lost to the British, and lost thousands of lives.
Indigenous resistance to imperialism in South Africa
- Xhosa people resisted European authority. This led to war w/ the British for over 40 years during the 19th century. The Xhosa believed that their cattle was dying bc of a European cattle disease, and that if they killed their cattle, spirits would be released that would drive the Europeans out of their land. They killed all of their cattle, called the Xhosa Cattle Killing Movement, in which over 400,000 of their cattle was slaughtered. This resulted in widespread famine and death amongst the Xhosa, and allowed the British to take them over officially.
Indigenous resistance to imperialism in West Africa
- Sokoto Caliphate: a “purification” movement arose in 1804 from Hausa Muslim tribes. They had a good economy that had grown as a result of the slave trade, but their territory was designated as British in the Berlin Conference.
By 1903, the Sokoto Caliphate was dismantled and ruled by the British, despite resistance. - In 1868, the chieftain Samory Toure established the Wassoulou Empire, which he used to resist French imperialists in the “Samory Toure’s War”. The French won, established colonies.
Indigenous resistance to imperialism in East Africa
- Sudan: Muslim cleric Muhammed Ahmad resisted the British in the 1880s with a prepared army, and actually defeated the British in the Mahdist Revolt. When Ahmad died, resistance died as well, and the British returned and colonized in 1896.
- Balkans: the Ottomans were already in decline, and resentment towards the Ottomans was growing in Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia, and more - a unifying nationalism grew in these places due to their common resentment. They rose against the Ottomans, resulting in many Balkan states being freed, gaining independence, and/or establishing new states.
