Scrambling for Colonies WHAP/Napp
“When European traders arrived in India and China they found huge countries governed by powerful empires. Africa was quite different. Africa was an entire continent, second only to Asia in size, with many states and with even more areas under the control of local families, clans, and ethnicities. Each area had its own history, and the experience of each different European group varied in each different region. In sub-Saharan Africa, for the most part the early European experience was limited to the shoreline of the west coast. The Europeans came in search of a shipping route to Asia, and this required only coastal contact in Africa. They found that they could buy the slaves they wanted in port towns that they established also along the coast. Africans would capture, collect, and bring the slaves to them for sale. The Europeans for the most part accepted this commercial arrangement as economically efficient. It saved them from conflict with local African rulers. It also did not endanger their health with diseases against which the Europeans had no immunity.
As the years passed, Europeans wanted more knowledge of Africa. Exploration of the interior attracted many adventurers: In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries West Africa and the Niger River were the main attractions for many European explorers. By the middle of the nineteenth century the mystery and potential of central and East Africa attracted some of the most daring explorers. David Livingstone began his career in Africa intent upon establishing a missionary station and providing medical assistance.
As European powers explored and colonized central Africa, they came into direct competition with each other. Fearing the consequences of this competition, Germany’s Otto von Bismarck employed diplomacy to defuse European conflict. He convened a conference in Berlin in 1884-5 to determine the allocation of Congo lands and to establish ground rules for fixing borders among European colonies in Africa. The Berlin Conference assigned the administration of the Congo, an area one-third the size of the continental United States, to Leopold II personally as a kind of company government. The Congo became, in effect, his private estate, eighty times larger than Belgium itself. Its economic purpose was, first, the harvesting of natural rubber from vines in the jungle, and, later, the exploitation of the area’s rich mineral reserves, especially copper. Workers could be killed or have their hands cut off for failing to make quotas. The Berlin Conference also divided up the lands of Africa on paper, generally apportioning inland areas to the European nations already settled on the adjacent coast. These nations were then charged with establishing actual inland settlements in those regions, and they quickly did so, dispatching settlers in a ‘scramble for Africa.’” ~ The World’s History
1. The Berlin West Africa Conference in 1884-1885 established(A) The European colonization of Asia.
(C) That the Americas were off-limits.
(D) That Africa would be carved into spheres of influence similar to China.
(E) That, if a European power indicated its intention to colonize, proceeded to occupy an African territory, it could claim it. / 2. The colonization of the Belgian Congo is noted for the
(A) Spirited resistance of the Congolese.
(B) Brutal treatment of the Congolese people by King Leopold II.
(C) Policy of free trade that encouraged merchants from all countries.
(D) Humane policies of the Belgian government toward the Congolese people.
Key Words/ Questions / I. The New Imperialism
A. In 1815 nations of western Europe controlled 35 percent of the world’s
habitable territory but they controlled 85 percent by 1914
B. Industrialization gave West greater ability to conquer and more reasons
C. Western economies were hungry for raw materials
D. Conversely, Western nations needed markets for the goods
E. And ideas such as Social Darwinism fueled rationale for conquests
1. The idea that stronger groups dominate weaker groups
F. Conviction that it was duty of white Westerners to teach and modernize darker-skinned, supposedly “primitive” peoples of Africa and Asia
G. Rudyard Kipling expressed this sentiment in the “White Man’s Burden”
H. The French spoke of their civilizing mission (la mission civilisatrice)
II. Increasingly Aggressive Imperialism
A. Almost entire non-Western world was either colonized during nineteenth
century or fell under influence of Western nations
B. Largest and most widespread colonial possessions belonged to Britain
C. After 1870, new countries – Germany and Italy – also began to build overseas empires, in an attempt to catch up with older imperial powers
III. Different Approaches to Imperialism
A. British were prone to same sense of racial superiority as other
Westerners but interfered as little as possible with local customs
B. But British also introduced positive social reforms and scientific ideas
C. French subscribed to la mission civilisatrice, but were less consistent
D. Portuguese and Belgians were known to be especially harsh and cruel
E. Germany and Italy were also brutal
IV. The United States
A. “Manifest Destiny” – U.S. was entitled to entire center of continent
B. Spanish lost empire in North America in 1810s and 1820s
C. Russians gave up Alaska to the U.S. in 1867
V. Other Regions
A. Heart of the British Empire was India
B. At Battle of Plassey, in 1757, British won a major victory over Mughals
C. Victory led to a rapid decline of French influence in subcontinent
D. Until the late 1850s, India was not administered directly by British
government, but by semiprivate British East India Company
E. In 1857, the Indian Mutiny (also known as the Sepoy Rebellion) – failed
F. Convinced government to assume full control over the colony
G. Spark that started rebellion was cartridges coated with animal grease
H. Offended both Hindus and Muslims
I. Scramble for Africa, from 1884 – 1910, European race to control Africa
J. Berlin Conference, 1884 to 1885, presided over by Otto von Bismarck,
laid down guidelines for African expansion
K. By 1914, only two nations in Africa were free: Liberia and Abyssinia
“Throughout Africa, Europeans confronted the problem of finding labor for their new farms and enterprises. By confiscating African land and redistributing it among themselves, Europeans took farms away from Africans and produced a new wage-labor force. The 1913 Natives Land Act of South Africa closed 87 percent of South African land to African ownership; the remaining 13 percent was the most marginal land.”
~ The World’s History
(A) The United States
(B) France
(C) Spain
(D) Portugal
(E) Germany
2. What were native troops who served under the British authorities in India called?
(A) Brahmins
(B) sepoys
(C) thugs
(D) coolies
(E) gurkhas
3. Which of the following legacies of British colonial rule proved most disruptive in the immediate aftermath of Indian independence?
(A) Education of diverse Indian elites in a common English language
(B) Hindu-Muslim rivalry fostered by colonial divide and rule practices
(C) Establishment of parliamentary democratic norms in government
(D) Military training provided to Indian sepoys
(E) Toleration of caste distinctions / 4. Which of the following improved communication between India and Britain?
(A) completion of the Suez Canal
(B) use of steamships
(C) invention of the telegraph
(D) laying of submarine cables
(E) All these answers are correct.
5. Which of the following nations is considered to have treated its colonies most poorly?
(A) Belgium
(B) Great Britain
(C) France
(D) the Netherlands
(E) Austria
6. The “white man’s burden” proposed by Rudyard Kipling referred to the
(A) Cost of creating and supporting an empire.
(B) Moral duty of the west to work to “civilize” the rest of the world.
(C) Cost of abolishing slavery in Africa.
(D) Need for Christian missionaries to undermine Islam in Africa and Asia.
(E) All these answers are correct.
Thesis Practice: Change over Time
Analyze continuities and changes in economic, cultural, and political structures in sub-Saharan Africa from 1100 – 1914 C.E.
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Identify and explain the key terms, key individuals and dates:
· Otto von Bismarck
· Berlin Conference
· 1884-1885
· “Scramble for Africa”
· King Leopold II
· Belgian Congo
· La Mission Civilisatrice
· “White Man’s Burden”
· Social Darwinism
· “Manifest Destiny”
· Battle of Plassey
· Sepoy Rebellion or Indian Mutiny
· 1857-1858
· Liberia and Ethiopia
Critical Thinking Question:
Describe the political, social, and economic changes brought to sub-Saharan Africa during the period of the new imperialism (19th century).
Reading:
Compare European imperialism in the initial period after 1450 to the colonial movement between 1750 and 1914.
“In the early period, with the exception of the Americas, European imperialism was limited to cooperation with local rulers and entry into already established trade systems in Africa and Asia. Slavery and plantation products were important components of the trade. Asian commerce focused on importation of luxuries. Europe had a negative balance of trade with nations such as China because Western products were not valued. The West was not able to enforce its will through force of arms, and missionary efforts had limited effect. The later colonialism accompanied Western industrialization and gave the West overwhelming military superiority. The Europeans shifted from importing luxuries and slaves to importing raw materials; their colonies became important markets for their manufactured goods. Political units dominated by Europeans were created. Missionaries were much more influential. Many more Europeans lived abroad and they had a feeling of racial superiority.” ~ World Civilizations
Critical Thinking Question:
Contrast the motives for imperialism in the pre-industrial era with those of the industrial era.
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