Rationales for Imperialism World History Review

6.1 Rationales for Imperialism One of the major effects of the Industrial Revolution across the world was a new wave of empire building, or imperialism. What caused the new spurt of imperialism fervor during this period: - Culture - Nationalism - Economics ● Culture Most of the imperialistic advances during this period were made by European powers. Generally, Europeans believed in the superiority of the white race, and the superiority of their culture. They thought of themselves as the benevolent protectors of the minority race. Because they were the recipients of such a < magnificent= culture, they were < duty bound= to go share that culture with others. - The white man’s burden People applied Darwin’s theory of natural selection to social and political realities; this was known as Social Darwinism. - If the strong eat the weak in the natural occurrence of nature, why shouldn’t strong nations eat weak nations? European nations were among the wealthiest of all nations in the world during this time, and were used as rationale for their strength. ● Religion European Christians spread throughout the world during this period with a missionary zeal to convert the world. If this endeavor was to succeed, empires needed a presence in as many places as possible. - In many cases, these missionaries established schools in these imperial territories, which taught both religious and secular subjects. - They also built hospitals, and through their writings and interventions, helped abolished the slave trade. ● Nationalism Nationalism~ a group of people who have a strong common identity and become loyal to a single state Britain After losing their American colonies, they began looking around the world to see where else they could establish an empire. - < The sun never sets on the British empire= - India was the most valuable to Britain France competitively established colonies in North Africa (Algeria), West Africa (Senegal), and Indochina in Southeast Asia. Japan In the late 1800s, Japan was increasingly encroaching on Korea’s economy and politics. This angered the Qing leadership in China, and that anger erupted into a war in 1894, known as the Sino-Japanese War. - Because Japan had already modernized their military via the Meiji Restoration, they handily beat the Chinese and established Korea as a colony of their own. ● Economic As the Industrial Revolution continued, industrial powers began to grow hungry for raw materials. But not only did they require more and more raw materials, they also needed new markets to which they could sell all these manufactured goods. - The British, Dutch, and French governments chartered trade agreements with local rulers in India, the East Indies, and East Africa. ➔ These agreements gave Europeans the right to establish these trading posts, BUT it also gave them the right to defend those trading posts. In order to defend their interests in these far off colonies, European powers raised armies and eventually conquered territory in these places. - As a result of this, by the first half of the 19th century, Britain possessed the wealthiest economy in the world due to their sizable empire. And as the second Industrial Revolution progressed, other nations would challenge that title, specifically the United States. But, while major Industrial powers were fighting over the top spot in the world, Africa, Asia, and many Pacific nations would become the losers in that transaction. 6.2 State Expansion Imperialism~ a process by which one nation extends its influence and power into another nation either by diplomacy or force ● Imperial Expansion into Africa For much of the nineteenth century, European influence in Africa was restricted to trading posts. But, by the late 1800s Europeans began to desire more than that. British - One of their chief desires during this period was a shorter sea-based route to Asian trading posts. - They began to speculate about building a canal across Egypt to connect the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea. So, in 1869, the Suez Canal was completed and that dream became a reality. But, by 1882, because of unrest in the region, Britain became paranoid about its interest in the canal, and went ahead and seized control of it from the Ottomans. - On the other side of Africa, Britain already had some colonies, but they desired more. In those existing colonies, Britain had entered into diplomatic agreements with the African leaders that were favorable to both sides. But when the imperialistic fervor for Africa began to rise, the British completely disregarded these agreements and began taking over by force. By these means they established colonial holdings in Sierra Leone, Gambia, Lagos, and the Gold Coast. The French operated similarly in West Africa. France ousted the Ottomans from Algeria in 1830 and they established a settler colony. - Settler colony~ people from the imperial country relocated to that place in order to live there. As a result, there was a huge influx of French, Spanish, and Italian immigrants coming to live in Algeria. Scramble for Africa As more and more lands were claimed by European powers in Africa, competition for claiming began to rise. Because the Europeans began fighting over Africa, some people noticed that this land-grabbing fervor was going to cause a war. Berlin Conference in 1884 - Started by Otto von Bismarck of Germany - Imperial leaders would decide how to divide Africa in a way that pleased everyone and avoided war - They drew colonial boundaries according to their own pleasure, and this caused problems because they drew boundaries that divided long united Africans and combined long standing rival groups. - This contributed to endless trouble and unrest in the future. - No Africans were present at the conference. By 1875, Western European nations were ready to push into the interior of Africa to establish colonies. The Belgian king, Leopold II, pushed into Congo and claimed it as his own personal holding. As the sole owner of this colony, Leopold grew extraordinarily rich through enacting policies of brutality towards the Congolese. - Used force labor to extract ivory and rubber By 1908, the Belgian state took over this colony, and the conditions slightly improved. ● Imperialistic Push into Asia British - Under the auspices of the British East India Company, Britain, over time, began to claim more territory from the weakened Mughal Empire. Eventually, they conquered all of India. - They started by using their own troops, but as the campaign grew, they recruited Indian soldiers (sepoys) to contribute to their effort. China - European powers exercised economic imperialism. - During this time, China was experiencing a period of instability due to natural disasters and internal rebellion. So, Western powers flexed their military might and demanded trading rights with China, and China had little choice but to agree. - As a result, Western powers carved up China into spheres of influence. - The Qing Dynasty remained in power, but these Western powers had exclusive trading rights in their own sphere. Japan - Modernized their military during a period of reform called the Meiji Restoration, and started looking around for other territories to claim. - Desired colonial holdings rich in raw materials - Imperial expansion eventually included Korea, holdings in Southeast Asia, some Pacific islands, and parts of China. Dutch - Dutch East India Company established dominance in some of these places, but due to corruption in the company itself, they eventually failed. - Dutch government stepped in after failure and took the colonial holdings for themselves. Australia and New Zealand - British colonized both - Australia was established as a penal colony, where Britain sent all of its convicts. They sent their first convicts there in 1788 in a few contained locations, but by the 1820s, the British had conquered the entire continent. - - When they discovered that Australia’s climate was well suited for the production of wool, and copper and gold below the surface, many non-criminals arrived and it became a proper colony. New Zealand was established as a settler colony, which was tricky because the islands were already inhabited by the Maori people. The British created separate colonies for the Maori, but eventually encroached on Maori land. New Zealand Wars - Maori lost, which caused a deep and abiding resentment in them towards their colonizers. United States - First wave of expansion was on their own continent; Deep inside the American identity was an urge to push westward, and they did so until they conquered the entire territory. - The Western lands were already inhabited by natives, and though they resisted the American expansion, they lost the conflict. - In 1830, the American Congress passed the Indian Removal Act, which led to the systematic removal of American Indians from the east onto reservations in the midwest. - This migration was along the Trail of Tears, named because of the abuse and death the Indians experienced as they made the trek - Manifest Destiny~ the belief that Providence had given the U.S rights to all this land, and it was theirs therefore to take. - In the late 19th century, America gathered itself for an overseas empire. Spanish-American War 1898 - Americans declared war on Spain, went to war, and ended up gaining territories including the Philippines, Guam, Puerto Rico, and Cuba. Russia - Catherine II expanded the Russian empire; she won half of Poland from the Ottomans. - Alexander I annexed Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Finland, and part of Armenia. - Later on, Russia acquired a large portion of Manchuria from China. 6.3 Indigenous Responses to State Expansion When imperial nations began pushing into these other territories, often the response among the indigenous people was a surge of nationalism. This sense of nationalism often led to a resistance against the encroachment of these imperial powers. Americas - After the British won the French and Indian war, they issued the Proclamation of 1763 - The British won a multitude of territories on the American continent, and the proclamation reserved all lands in the Ohio River Valley for the natives. - After the Americans fought in the Revolutionary War, they continued to push westward. The Cherokee Indians - The Cherokee had dealt with British colonists and later Americans for a while. One way they sought to isolate themselves was assimilation, where they culturally became like Americans. - Created a constitutional government patterned after the U.S Constitution, and adopted many American cultural customs; which worked until gold was discovered on their lands. - In 1830, the American Congress passed the Indian Removal Act, which sent all the Cherokee and other tribes off to the Oklahoma Territory into reservations along the Trail of Tears. Ghost Dance - Indians in the northwest believed in a prophecy that announced their ancestral dead would return and drive the white man out of their lands. - A set of ritualistic dances and songs they performed, which was meant to hasten this event. - Was adopted by many of the native peoples, and culminated in the conflict at Wounded Knee 1890 in which the Sioux Indians were crushed by the Americans; effectively the end of the Indian Wars in America. Peru - - Tupac Amaru II, a cacique (hereditary leader) led an armed rebellion against Spanish colonial leaders. He arrested one of the colonial leaders and charged him with cruelty, contributing to Spanish retaliation. A rebellion among the natives spread throughout Peru and reached into other South American nations. Amaru was captured and executed, marking the last major Indian revolt against Spain. Mexico - Benito Juarez, of Zapotec blood (pre-Columbian), was a liberal who despised any sort of foreign influence in Mexico, and the French specifically had interests in Mexico. - The conservative members of his government resented his liberalism, and saw the French encroachment as a way to oust Juarez from power. - They conspired with the European powers to overthrow Juarez’s government. - After 3 years of armed resistance from the Mexicans, the French were ousted from Mexico. Australia - The British government was very clear with their settlers and convicts: be kind to the aboriginal peoples. - British settlers began to understand that the native peoples had no voice in the British courts, and couldn’t challenge their intrusion, and began to push onto their native lands. - Native people did rise up in defense, but the superior British military capacity crushed them. South Africa - As the European powers colonized Africa, they would often set up colonial governments run by Europeans. - In South Africa, the native Xhosa people refused to be ruled by Europeans. - The Xhosa fought with the British for over 40 years in the 19th century, and near the end, their cattle began dying off in huge numbers. Xhosa Cattle Killing Movement - The Xhosa concluded that their cattle had been infected with diseases from European cattle. So, they decided to kill all their own cattle, and believed that their spirits would drive the Europeans out of their land. - Killed 400,000 of their own cattle, but only left the Xhosa with famine and death. West Africa - Sokoto Caliphate was established in 1804 as a purification mission from the Islamic Hausa tribes. - The Caliphate established a thriving economy, which grew largely through the slave trade. - Was designated as British at the Berlin Conference - Despite resistance, the Sokoto Caliphate was dismantled in 1903 and made a protectorate of Britain. - The French additionally lusted after some territory and similarly ran into some resistance. - Samory Toure established the Wassoulou Empire in 1868. He resisted the French violently in a series of conflicts called Samory Toure’s War. - But, the French were victorious and established a colonial presence there. Sudan/Mahdist Revolt - Muhammed Ahmad, an Islamic cleric, understood that the British would come for his people similarly as they did to Egypt. - Gathered an army to resist the British forces in the 1880s, and successfully defeated them. After he died, the movement disintegrated. When the British returned to Sudan in 1896, they defeated the Mahdists and took over. Balkans - Territories in the Balkan peninsula were generally ruled by the Ottoman Empire, but began to lose their grip. - Resentment regarding Ottoman occupation bubbled in Greece, Serbia, and Bulgaria. This gave birth to a strong wave of nationalism. - They rose up against the Ottomans, and many of the Balkan states gained their independence and established new states. 6.4 Global Economic Development As certain nations grew in industrial capacity, they found that they were in great need of raw materials for their factories and more food to feed the growing urban population. Agriculture - Before the Europeans took over, most Africans engaged in subsistence farming, where they only grew enough for them to live on. - After the Europeans invaded, they halted subsistence farming in favor of cash crop farming. - Cash crop~ a crop that is grown for sale in a distant market, rather than local families. - African plantains were dedicated to cash crops such as coffee, plantains, rubber, and sugar. - The purpose of these crops was to export them to the colonial powers who demanded them. - Increase in agriculture promoted an increase in the demand for fertilizer. - Guano, aka bat and seabird feces, had been piling up in Peru and Chile for centuries. Therefore, it became a huge part of Peru and Chile’s export economy. Growing Middle Class - The growing middle class began to accumulate more wealth, and contributed to the high demand for meat. - This contributed to colonial holdings in Argentina and Uruguay producing mass accumulations of cattle for export to Europe. - Ships equipped with new refrigeration technology ensured that the meat would arrive unspoiled. Raw materials - Because industrial factories needed raw materials to keep producing manufactured goods or sale, they turned to colonies to provide raw materials. Cotton - Around 80% of cotton for British textiles was imported from America. - However, after America became occupied with the civil war, cotton exports dropped dramatically. - Instead, by the late 1800s, 90% of all Egypt’s exports were cotton. Rubber - Became a crucial material for the Industrial Revolution - Rubber trees grew in great abundance in the Amazon rainforest in South America. So, colonial powers forced the natives to work at rubber extraction. Palm oil - Came from West Africa and was an important food crop already. However, industrial powers quickly became interested in palm oil because it was a great lubricant for factory machines. - Therefore, they turned palm oil into a cash crop, and used enslaved laborers to produce it. Diamonds - There was a diamond rush in South Africa during 1871. - Cecil Rhodes was an Englishman who formed the DeBeers Mining Company, and because of his ambition in this area, South Africa was exporting 90% of the world’s diamonds by 1890. He became very powerful and was elected to the South African parliament, becoming Prime Minister of the Cape Colony by 1890. - Rhodes’s racist policies in South Africa laid the foundation for apartheid, aka racial segregation. Two consequences for the demand of raw materials and agriculture: 1. An increasingly interconnected global economy - Industrial nations needed raw materials for factories, and imported these materials from their colonies. - Once these raw materials were turned into manufactured goods, they were sold right back to their colonies. - Urban populations were growing, and there wasn’t enough domestically grown food to suffice. In order to meet this demand, these countries began to import foodstuffs from their colonies. This was made possible by new technologies such as refrigeration. 2. The narrowing and weakening of the colonial economy - The large-scale shift to cash crop farming meant that the colonial people often grew cash crops at the expense of other agricultural necessities. - When a colonial economy is dependent on a single agricultural export, if something goes wrong with that crop, then financial trouble occurs. - For example, crops like cotton severely deplete the nutrients in the soil. There was only so long that cotton could be planted by itself, and if it failed, the economy failed with it. 6.5 Economic Imperialism Economic imperialism~ a situation in which one country has significant economic power over another country ● Economic Imperialism in Asia India - British East India Company established themselves in India in the early 1600s to participate in the Indian spice trade - However, Britain was not satisfied with the profit off of the spice trade alone, and started to exert more political dominance over the Indian economy - Britain led India into a situation where the majority of their export economy was cotton, because Britain needed cotton for industrialization. China - During this period, the British demanded huge quantities of porcelain, silk, and tea, so they imported these goods in mass quantities. - The British were more interested in Chinese goods than the Chinese were interested in British goods. ➔ Led to a deep trade deficit on Britain, and their stores of silver depleted quickly. - The British East India Company forced Indian formers to start manufacturing opium, and began smuggling tons of opium into China and selling it to the Chinese people. The more people who got addicted, meant the more opium the British sold. - In 1729, the Chinese emperor made the buying and selling of opium illegal, but too many people had come to depend on it by then, and the ban had little effect. - The Chinese grew tired of the abusive situation and rose up against the British in what became known as the Opium Wars. ➔ Opium Wars first began in 1839, and the main goal was for the Chinese to oust the British. But because the British possessed a superior military, due in large part to the Industrial Revolution, the British won. - ➔ At the end, Britain did not take over China politically, but they took over economically by forcing China to open additional ports of trade to Britain and by requiring a free-trade agreement, which included opium. ➔ Showed that industrialized nations will crush non-industrialized nations every time. Later in the 1800s, many nations seeked to become a part of China’s free trade. Came to agreement to divide China into spheres of influence. ➔ Japan, France, Germany, Russia, and the US split China, where they had exclusive trading rights in each sphere. ● Imperialism Elsewhere Latin America - In the second half of the 19th century, there was a big imperial interest in Latin America, particularly from the US, Britain, and Spain. They were seeking raw materials, low wage workers, and markets for their goods. America - Monroe Doctrine in 1823 declared that the western hemisphere belonged to the US, and that European intervention was no longer welcome. - America was able to control Latin America and the Caribbean through the great prosperity and power they gathered as a result of the Second Industrial Revolution. - The US invested heavily in the industrialization of places such as Mexico and Cuba, mainly through railroads and the development of industries like meat packing, guano extraction, and mining. They gained many trading partners as a result. Britain - Invested huge sums of money into Argentina, especially in the development of breeding livestock, farming, and railroads. - Helped finance the building of the Port of Buenos Aires to facilitate the massive import and export of manufactured goods Spain - Chile was a colonial holding of Spain, and initially, Chile’s economy was almost entirely dependent on agricultural exports to Spain. However, once copper was discovered in huge quantities in the Chilean hillside, it became a big part of Chile’s export economy. 6.6 Causes of Migration Economies had been globalized as a result of the Industrial Revolution; done through economic imperialism, or new modes of transportation such as steamships and railroads. This contributed to huge waves of migration internationally. ● Migration through Labor Systems - During this period, industrial factories required an increasing consumption of raw materials. As a result, the demand for labor in cash crop plantations spiked. The majority of labor on cash crop plantations came from slavery. - However, at the same time, there was a rising movement calling for the abolition of slavery. - But, the demand for raw materials wasn’t diminishing, so they needed to replace the labor formerly done by enslaved people. ➔ Indians migrated to British colonies across the world. ➔ Chinese laborers went in mass to California and British Malaya ➔ Japanese laborers migrated to Hawaii, Peru, and Cuba to work sugar plantations. Indentured Servitude - These laborers participated in indentured servitude, which was especially attractive to poor laborers, because the agreement allowed them to work for a number of years in order to pay for their passage to the new land. After they had completed their indenture, they were free to do as they pleased. - Many indentured servants sent money back to their families, and some stayed in their countries after their indenture was complete. In this way, migrants influenced the culture of the receiving country. ➔ Many Indians accepted work and migrated to places like Fiji, Trinidad, and Mauritius, and Indian cultural influence remained as a cultural continuity, especially in regards to food and language. Contract Labor - When the British abolished the slave trade in 1806, their first attempt at replacement was to bring in Chinese and Indian workers who would agree to work for very low wages. - These contract laborers did the work of formerly enslaved people, especially in the sugarcane fields in the Caribbean - By 1877, most of the countries who were benefiting from Chinese and Indian labor passed laws to improve their treatment of laborers. Penal Colony - Britain established a penal colony in Australia in the late 1700s, where convicts were sent to build railroads and participate in hard labor. - France also established many penal colonies, such as Devil’s Island in French Guiana. Prisoners were forced into hard labor and underfed, and generally suffered terrible housing conditions. - In some cases, people were tricked into signing bad contracts, and penal colonies were another form of coerced labor in some cases. ● Migration in the Face of Challenges - Did not migrate because of work, but migrated because of existential conditions at home. This contributed to a diaspora. - Diaspora~ a scattered population whose origin lies in a different geographic location ➔ Many Chinese people made up a diaspora in the western United States India - During this period, there was a lot of poverty in India leading to mass migrations out of India. - The British offered opportunities for indentured servitude in Mauritius, other colonial powers following shortly after. China - Many accepted the offer for indentured servitude because of poverty, famine, and the hope of better opportunities elsewhere, - Huge numbers of the Chinese migrated to America, where they completed the construction of the transcontinental railroad. Ireland - In 1801, Ireland became part of the United Kingdom, and the UK abolished the Irish parliament. Because the British were Anglican, the Irish Roman Catholics faced serious discrimination as a result of their religion, so they fled. - Most of the Irish who emigrated during this time were facing famine. - In 1845, a blight on the potato crops destroyed the chief source of food for the Irish lower classes. During the Great Potato Famine, millions of Irish left Ireland and relocated to many different places, but particularly went to the US. - Mainly worked in factories and low wage jobs, and the discrimination against their Catholic beliefs were prominent. However, these conditions were favorable to famine. ● Migration to Settler Colonies - British established settler colonies in Canada, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. - - Many migrants were technical experts, such as engineers and geologists. These people were frequently migrating because colonial powers wanted to extend industrialization and western technology into the territories they controlled. In South Africa, engineers planned (rail)roads, and worked on mapping the land and identifying locations for valuable raw materials. In the late 19th century, Japan attempted to colonize Mexico, and may have ended up migrating there. They also created a diaspora in Hawaii and the western United States 6.7 Effects of Migration Migration has two parties: the home society and the receiving society. ● Effects of Migration on the Home Society - Many migrants were men leaving their homes to find work elsewhere; this shifted the gender roles in the household. - In some cases, men left without a replacement man in their family, meaning the woman’s role in the family became larger and in the wider society. - In other places, men waited until there was a male family member who could come in and stay in their place until they returned. In this case, gender roles remained largely the same. - Once the men who migrated completed their agreed tenure.. ➔ Their families came to join them in whatever place they migrated to, and gender roles remained the same. However, women often had a stronger voice in the family once they were reconstituted than they did before their husbands left, because the women carried the whole burden of the family while the husband was gone. ➔ Men would return to their home countries, and especially in cases where a male family member took their place, nothing really changed in gender roles. ● Effects of Migration on Receiving Societies General Effects - When people migrated, they brought their culture with them. - In many cases, migrants from the same culture found each other in these new places and huddled together in an ethnic enclave. - In some cases, the culture of these ethnic enclaves influenced the culture of the receiving societies, in terms of food, language, and religion. Specific Effects Chinese Enclaves - As huge amounts of Chinese migrated around the world for work, they brought their culture with them. - When they migrated to Southeast Asia, they ended up in good conditions, and some even ended up holding government jobs in the Dutch East Indies. - In Indochina, they engaged in commerce with encouragement from the French colonial government. - In Malaya, Chinese migrants ran opium farms and had significant hands in the opium distribution. - They initially came to the Americas during the California gold rush, where they worked mining gold. Eventually, they became the most crucial labor force in the construction of railroads, particularly the transcontinental railroad in the US. - Large numbers of Chinese immigrants relocated to Peru and Cuba to work as indentured servants on sugar plantations. In addition, they worked on railroads there and mined guano. - Wherever the Chinese found themselves, they left their cultural mark, especially in terms of food. Indian Enclaves - Many Indian migrants signed on to the British system of indentured servitude and were flung to all parts of the British empire. - In Africa, Indians mostly traveled to the island of Mauritius and the coastal South African province of Natal. - In Mauritius they worked on sugar plantations, and in Natal, they built railroads. - Many were Hindus and brought along with them their religious norms like the caste system, but eventually they abandoned this idea since it didn’t have much currency outside of a Hindu dominated culture like India. - However, they kept their faith alive through home shrines to personal gods. - Indians were the major source of labor in Southeast Asia for about a hundred years starting in the 1830s. ➔ They began as indentured servants, but eventually a new system was introduced to replace it called Kangani. ➔ Kangani was a system that sent families to work on plantations in Malaya, Ceylon, and Burma. When they migrated as whole families, they were often given more freedom than the men who entered indentured servitude. - Many Indians went to the Caribbean Islands, where to this day they still make up a sizable portion of their populations. Irish Enclaves - After the Irish fled the Great Potato Famine, they mostly settled in urban areas and took up low-wage factory work. - They took on labor for public works such as canal building. - Tended to huddle together in low cost housing called tenements. - Were the subjects of strong anti-immigrant sentiments from the Americans because they were Roman Catholic Immigrants. - Younger population transitioned easier because they assimilated into American culture. - Americans embraced Irish music and dance. - Irish developed a strong voice in the improvement of labor conditions by forming and joining labor unions, and contributed to the spread of Catholicism. Italian Cultural Enclaves - Faced many similar issues to the Irish. - A significant portion migrated to Argentina because the Argentine Constitution encouraged European immigration and guaranteed equal rights. - Argentine Spanish adopted many Italian words, and Italian is still spoken as a secondary language. ● Response towards Immigration from Other Cultures Besides Argentina, many countries disliked immigrants because they were willing to work for lower wages than the native people were, and so the jobs often went to the immigrants. United States - Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was the first time the American Congress banned immigration of a certain group of people or nationality. - Lots of Chinese immigrants migrated to Australia during the gold rush of the 1850s and as their numbers swelled, the British government took similar measures to slow the flow of Chinese immigrants that the U.S government did. ➔ Chinese Immigration Act of 1885 set quotas on the number of allowable Chinese immigrants. - In the late 1800s, the number of Chinese people in Australia was declining, but were heavily concentrated in urban centers where their presence was more visible. ➔ White Australia Policy: In 1901, the British Parliament passed more laws restricting anyone from immigrating to Australia who wasn’t British.