Unit 6: Consequences of Industrialization from 1750-1900 Flashcards
Rudyard Kipling
-English writer
-Spent his youth in British colonial India
-His poem, “The White Man’s burden” was used to justify the idea that whites of Western countries should establish colonies for the good of the “inferior” people of the world.
What justified European colonization?
Advocates justified European colonization using explanation from a belief in nationalism; a desire for economic wealth, a sense of religious duty, and belief they were biologically superior.
What were nationalist motives for imperialism?
Many world powers asserted authority over other territories because they had a stronge sense of identity.
Building an empire in Asia or Africa was one way for a country to assert it’s national identity.
European Nationalism
Britian: Looked for new lands after losing the 13 colonies. First british settlers arrived in New South Wales in 1788. Also took control of India from the East India Company.
France: Expanded it’s overseas territories. Had occupied Algeria (N Africa), Senegal (W Africa), islands in the S Pacific, an Indochine (S Asia).
Italy & Germany: Newly unified states. Each wanted colonies for economic and strategic reasons as well as prestige.
Spain: Power was greatly diminished by the 19th century; didn’t play a dominant role in 2nd wave of imperialism.
Japan: Asserted its nationalist pride through invasions in Korea. This irritated China and the conflict grew into the Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895). Japan’s victory gave it control of Korea, and they also seized Taiwan
Cultural and religious motives
Pseudoscientists were people who presented theories as science that are actually incompatible with the scientific method. They strengthened the attitudes of colonial pwer who believe they were superior to those they settled over.
Phrenologists were people who studies skull sizes and shapes and believe that a smaller skull size proved the stupidity of Africans, indigenous Americans, and Asia. Obviously false.
Social Darwinism
-19th century theory of evolution by natural selection
-This stated that biological competition had weeded out the “weaker” species and only the “fittest” species survived.
The thinkers that adapted his theory and named it social darwinism
-Writers and politicians further used social darwinism to justify imperialism by powerful countries.
Charles Darwin
-Darwin wasn’t a darwinist but used the “survival of the fittest” theory to argue that the spread of Edurpean and US pwer proved the biological superiority of whites.
Cultural ideologies
Several colonies merged to form a single community, bringing together people from various cultures with diverse languages and customs. Colonizers introduced their own language which helped unify the often diverse colonies.
-also introduced political,m educational, and religious institutions.
were people who traveled to different places to share and spread their religious beliefs.
Religious Motives
Missionaries were the most tireless civilizing influences.
British protestant missionaries in the 18th/19th century also participated in colonization. Critics charged that missionaries supported imperialism by persuading people to give up their traditional beliefs and adopt christianity.
“Protestant missionaries” specifically refers to those missionaries associated with Protestant Christianity
What did those missionaries do?
They set up schools for instruction in religion, also taught subjects that prepared stidents to be profesionals.
Provided medicines and medical care.
Some worked in Sub-Saharan Africa to end the illegal slave trade.*
“Protestant missionaries” specifically refers to those missionaries associated with Protestant Christianity
*most famously David Livingstone
Economic motives
To maximize profits, companies chartered by the British, French, and Dutchgovs signed commercials treties with local rulers in India, East Africa, and the East Indies.
The treaties gave Europeans the right to establish trading posts ad forts to protect their interests.
The Indstrl Rev transformed european economies, and the desire for the sources for raw materials and markets for manufactured goods provided by colonies enticed imperial powers to increase their expansion.
East India Company (EIC)
English monarch granted the EIC a royal charter in 1600, giving it a monopoly in England’s trade with India.
The company primarily traded in cotton silk, indigo, and spices.
The EIC expanded greatly and bacame the major agent of British Imperialism in India (18th cen.) and became the British gov’s managing agency (19th cen.)
EIC engaged in slave trade and illegal opium exporting starting in 1620.
Dutch East India Company (VOC)
Dutch gov gave the VOC a monopoly on trade between the southern tips of Africa and South America. It concentrated on islands around Java and replaced the Portugese who had controlled the region.
Corruption and debt led to the creation of the Dutch East Indies (today’s Indonesia).
Second Industrial Revolution
As the 2nd Indstrl Rev progressed, other nations began to challenge Britian’s economic lead.
They looked to Asia, Africa, and the Pacific to expand markets, provide raw materials for their factories, and food for their growing urban populations.
“New” Imperialism
After the Indstrl Rev and Napolenic Wars, Britian was the leading economic power throught the first hald of the 19th century.
Its colonies provided raw materials like cotton, wool, vegetable oils, and rubber. Also food items like wheat, tea, coffee, cocoa, meat, butter.
It’s colonies, especially settler colonies, also provided markets for British manufactured goods.
