Imperialism

1
Imperialism

• British Empire

2
After the freeing of their slaves, how did
British and other plantation colonies fill their
needs for labor? Where did the laborers come
from?

• After emancipation, plantation colonies continued
  to need new laborers.
• Most older colonies needed to replace the
  emancipated workers who refused to return to the
  plantations.
• Some colonies with few freed slaves or no
  tradition of slaves needed workers in order to
  expand operations.
• Many Africans, Chinese, Indians, and Pacific
  Islanders were recruited and signed contracts
  ranging from five to seven years as indentured
  laborers.
• In the West Indies, the demand for new workers
  stemmed in part from the refusal of emancipated
  slaves to work.
• High mortality and low birthrates increased the
  need for additional workers. Some Africans who
  were recruited for work on plantations had been
  rescued from slave ships by the Royal Navys
  antislavery squadrons.
• Still, the number of Africans was fairly low, as
  was the number of Chinese workers, who went
  primarily to Cuba.
• Most indentured laborers came from Indiaa
  British colonyand were sent to British colonies
  and those of other nations around the world.
• Crucial to the movement of such large numbers of
  workers was the development of larger and faster
  ships.

3
Discuss the process by which the Zulu and the
Sokoto Caliphate were created. How typical were
these examples of African state-building in this
era?

• These African states were founded by African
  leaders in response to internal conditions, and
  not by European or other outside pressures.
• For instance, the African societies that were
  transformed into the Zulu arose from
  environmental crises that created conflict over
  grazing and farming lands.
• Shakas military leadership brought neighboring
  groups under centralized control.
• Military regiments based on age groups helped
  expand the Zulu kingdom.
• The Zulu in turn fostered the creation of other
  statesstates that were formed in opposition to
  the power of the Zulu.
• Some examples include the modern nations of
  Swaziland and Lesotho. New states in West Africa
  also came about because of internal conditions.
• Likewise, the Sokoto Caliphate was created by
  West African Islamic reformers who denounced
  existing West African Muslim rulers for allowing
  non-Muslim religious practices and observances to
  continue.
• Those Muslim scholars called for a jihad against
  the rulers.
• Islamic reformers also founded other new Islamic
  nations in West Africa.

4
By the middle of the nineteenth century, the
nature and size of Britains overseas empire had
changed dramatically. Describe the changes that
took place between 1750 and 1850, using the
eastern part of the empire as an example. Include
Australia and New Zealand in your answer, and
explain why those colonies were unusual in this
period.

• Technological advances in ships and shipping,
  together with the rise of free trade and the
  decline of mercantilism, altered the British
  Empire in fundamental ways.
• In spite of losing most of its North American
  colonies through revolution, Britain continued to
  defeat rivals for other overseas colonies in the
  decades after 1750.
• This new empire building was focused on
  dominating trade.
• Cape Colony in southern Africa is a good example.
  
• British interests in the Cape served as a base
  for long-distance trade to India.
• Britains small holdings elsewhere in Africa were
  also concerned with controlling trade with those
  areas.
• Australia and New Zealand were different from
  Britains African and Indian colonies in that
  they were intended as areas of European
  settlement.
• In this respect, Australia and New Zealand
  resembled the former British colonies in North
  America.
• As settler colonies, Australia and New Zealand
  were allowed more political freedom and
  independence than colonies in Africa or India.
• In granting Australia and New Zealand more
  autonomy, Britain hoped to retain the loyalty of
  these settlers.

5
What was the nature of European contact with
North Africa between 1800 and 1870?

• Contacts with Europeans varied from peaceful
  relations to full-scale invasions.
• In Egypt, Napoleons occupation made Egyptian
  leaders aware of the need to modernize and
  militarize the countrys military and government
  to meet future European threats.
• However, over-reliance on cotton exports and too
  rapid expansion of industry created an Egyptian
  state indebted to and partly controlled by the
  British.
• Ethiopia mended its internal divisions toward the
  end of the nineteenth century and also rushed to
  modernize its military.
• An ill-advised Ethiopian capture of British
  officials prompted an invasion and temporary
  occupation by British troops.
• Algeria was initially friendly with France and
  supplied Napoleon with grain for his Egyptian
  invasion in 1798.
• French failure to accede to Algerian demands for
  repayment resulted in the French invasion in 1830
  and the occupation of Algeria was completed by
  1848

6
To what extent were the peoples of Africa and
Asia victims or losers in the story of
imperialism?

• This is a complex issue.
• Although European imperialism is a profoundly
  disruptive force economically, politically and
  culturally in Africa and Asia, there was
  collaboration between Europeans and African and
  Asian elites.
• Therefore many indigenous peoples benefited along
  with the Europeans from imperialism.
• Also, while European imperialism was disruptive,
  many were beginning to use European education and
  technology to transform their societies.
• Lastly, indigenous cultures remained vibrant and
  resisted European policies as is demonstrated by
  the Sepoy Mutiny.
• Africans and Asians continued to shape their own
  future in spite of the growing dominance of
  Europe.

7
How did West Africans react to the end of the
Atlantic slave trade?

• African reaction was gradual, as was the
  suppression of the slave trade itself.
• Suppression began in 1808 and continued until the
  trade finally ended in 1867.
• Whereas the British and the Americans were among
  the first to prevent their citizens from engaging
  in the importation of slaves, the Spanish and
  Portuguese continued the flow of Africans to the
  Americas.
• Even as the trade declined, the value of trade
  between Africa and the Atlantic continents
  continued to climb rapidly.
• West Africans substituted numerous legitimate
  exports to replace slaves, particularly palm oil,
  gold, and ivory.
• Still, many African states had come to depend on
  exporting slaves and tried to convince European
  countries to continue the trade.
• West Africans also used slaves internally.
• For example, slave labor contributed
  significantly to the transport of palm oil.
• Thus, the end of the slave trade led to many
  changes in West Africa.

8
What impact did industrialization have on the
process of colonization in Africa Asia?

• European colonization of Africa and Asia was
  heavily affected by the reality of
  industrialization.
• The economic motives that industrialization
  created for European states required them to seek
  out resources and labor and a place to sell their
  goods.
• European states needed markets for manufactured
  goods as well as a source for raw materials such
  as rubber, palm oil, iron ore, cotton, and many
  other products.
• In addition, these highly populated Asian and
  Africa locations provided customers to purchase
  these goods (although most did not have the means
  to do so).
• The new military technology promoted further
  interaction.
• The military and maritime capacity of
  industrially produced weapons and clipper ships
  that made travel and conquest possible.

9
After the establishment of the British East India
Company (EIC) in 1600, it took Britain over 250
years to gain complete control of India. How did
Britain extend its control?

• The British struggle for power in India had
  several phases.
• First, Britain needed to defeat the Dutch and
  French interests and to overcome Indian and
  Mughal resistance.
• The EIC encountered a Mughal Empire fragmented
  into many states.
• The EIC used hired Indian troops, sepoys, to
  establish its power. It secured Indian territory
  region by region, either by forming alliances
  with Indian rulers or by asserting direct control
  with military force.
• Indian tax revenues and company profits combined
  to finance EIC efforts.
• By 1818, the EIC controlled a large Indian empire
  and instituted political reform to consolidate
  the government.
• It disarmed the citizenry, encouraged agriculture
  and selected industries, and promoted private
  property rather than Indias complex pattern of
  landholdings.
• The British supported and created new customs and
  traditions, which were meant to maintain the
  social and political hierarchies and thus
  consolidated British power.
• In the aftermath of the 1857 sepoy uprising,
  Britain had complete control, confirmed by Queen
  Victorias proclamation in 1858.

10
What was the nature of the secondary empires in
eastern Africa in the 19th century?

• The effects of the slave trade, agriculture, and
  ivory exports established new East African
  empires.
• They are referred to as secondary empires
  because the Europeans supplied weapons and had a
  high demand for African goods but did not control
  these states directly as they did in other
  places.
• Created and controlled by Arabs and Africans,
  these East African empires came into being partly
  as a result of the suppression of the West
  African slave trade.
• Reacting to British pressure, slave traders moved
  around the Cape of Good Hope into eastern Africa.
  
• Although twice as many African slaves were sold
  through the well-established North African and
  Middle Eastern trade than exported to the
  Americas, the numbers were still substantial.
• Slavery within eastern Africa also remained
  significant, with 700,000 slaves working on clove
  plantations.
• Those agricultural plantations and the burgeoning
  ivory trade resulted in the establishment of new
  and strengthened African states.

11
The rebellion of 18571858 was a turning point in
the history of modern India. How did the
political reform, industrialism, and nationalism
in the years following 1858 contribute to in
creating the modern Indian state.

• Various changes were brought about by the Indian
  rebellion in 18571858, as a reaction to the
  force of nationalism and protectionism on behalf
  of the British
• In addition to gaining a centralized government
  and national consciousness, Indians enjoyed the
  economic growth that accompanied tremendous
  improvements in transportation and
  infrastructure. In the government, Mughal and EIC
  rule ended, and a British governor-general took
  control.
• Indians were promised equal protection under the
  law.
• The elite Indian Civil Service controlled
  government administration and the judiciary.
• The British government invested heavily in the
  upgrading of harbors, waterways, and roads it
  also felled forests to expand agriculture.
• Steamboats, telegraphs, and railroads expanded at
  rapid rates, and the economy boomed. However,
  there were still drawbacks.
• Some Indian craftworkers lost their jobs in the
  face of rising British imports, and the new
  centralized government was dominated by British
  interests.
• Many Indians lamented the failure of the 1857
  rebellion and argued that ridding India of ethnic
  and religious divisions was the only way to unite
  the country under Indian leadership and achieve
  independence.
• Rammohun Roys Brahmo Samaj (Divine Society) was
  one example of an early nationalist group, which
  combined Western secular values and learning with
  traditional Indian culture.