1. Aim (Day One): What were the motives behind European Imperialism
Aim (Day One): What were the motives behind European Imperialism? Title: The Quest for Empire – Analyzing European Motives
Do Now:
Based on your general knowledge surrounding imperialism and your spring break homework, what thoughts come to mind when you think of Africa?
Carefully contemplate the above listed question and then jot down ideas that pop through your mind.
In all honesty, do you think the “Age of Imperialism” might have altered &/or placed a negative outlook on contemporary state of the African continent? Explain.

2. OBJECTIVE I What is imperialism? Define and give the significance.
Speculate: why do you think the “Age of Imperialism happened when it did?

3. OBJECTIVE II
Actively [mark it up as you read] review the PPT handout [Slides 3 – 23].
Main points included:
a. Definition of imperialism
b. Various motives surrounding European
imperialism.
- Causes & Effects

4. Imperialism
Imperialism is a term associated with the expansion of the European powers, and later the US and Japan, and their conquest and colonization of African and Asian societies, mainly from the 16th through the 19th Centuries
Was effected not just through the force of arms, but also through trade, investment, and business activities that enabled the imperial powers to profit from subject societies and influence their affairs without going to the trouble of exercising direct political control

5. The Age of Imperialism Imperialism =
a policy of conquering and ruling other lands

6. “OLD” IMPERIALISM
1500s-1700s
England, France, Holland, Portugal, and Spain
Wars over colonies
Possible anecdotes: French and Indian War (Seven Years’ War), Spanish and Portuguese competition in Latin America, etc.

7. INTERLUDE – LATE 1700s-LATE 1800s
Europeans were preoccupied with happenings on the European continent and in the existing European colonies.
American Revolution
French Revolution
Napoleonic Wars
Latin American Wars for Independence
Growth of Nationalism
Industrial Revolution
Possible anecdote: The loss of colonies in the Americas helped spur interest in new colonies while also illustrating the need for change in the nature of imperialism.

8. “NEW” IMPERIALISM Beginning circa 1875 Renewed race for colonies
Spurred by needs created by the Industrial Revolution
New markets for finished goods
New sources of raw materials
Nationalism
Colonies = economic and political power
Social Darwinism = racist justification
Possible anecdote: British textile mills required more cotton than could be produced in Great Britain.

9. WHAT IS “NEW” IMPERIALISM?
No longer about setting up colonies or exercising direct control over areas
Became largely economic
Possession or control of an area for economic gain
Spheres of influence and extraterritoriality rather than colonial settlement

11. Motivations
Many Europeans came to believe that imperial expansion and colonial domination were crucial for the survival of their states and societies
Motivations can be grouped as economic, political, and cultural

13. Nationalism motivated European nations to compete for colonial possessions. European economic, military, and political power forced colonized countries to trade on European terms. Industrially produced goods flooded colonial markets and displaced their traditional industries. Colonized peoples resisted European domination and responded in diverse ways of Western influences.
Forms of imperialism:
Colonies
Protectorate
Spheres of influence
Imperialism in Africa, Asia, and Latin America (Caribbean, too)
European domination
European conflicts carried to the colonies
Christian missionary efforts
Spheres of influence in China
Suez & Panama Canals
East India Company’s domination of Indian states
American opening of Japan to trade
Responses of colonized peoples
Armed conflicts (European superior weaponry vs. outdated weapons/spears or bow & arrows of the natives)
Rise of nationalism amongst native population.

14. Economic Motives
Overseas colonies could serve as reliable sources of raw materials not available in Europe that came in demand because of industrialization
Rubber in the Congo River basin and Malaya
Tin in southeast Asia
Copper in central Africa
Oil in southwest Asia
Rubber trees in Malaya

15. Political Motives
Some overseas colonies occupied strategic sites on the world’s sea lanes
Others offered harbors or supply stations for commercial and naval ships
Foreign imperialist ventures were useful in defusing social tensions and inspiring patriotism at home, often between industrialists and socialists

16. JUSTIFICATIONS Social Darwinism Racism
Interpreted Darwin’s evolutionary theory in terms of powerful nations
“Only the strong survive”
Powerful nations able to develop areas and resources being “wasted” by native peoples
Racism
Increased feelings of white superiority
Increased feelings of Japanese superiority
Eugenics developed as a branch of science
Possible anecdote: Racism and eugenics developed and/or increased simultaneously to justify the dominance of imperial powers, both among the Japanese and Europeans.

17. Cultural Justifications
Christian missionaries saw Africa and Asia as fertile ground for converts and often served as intermediaries between imperialists and subject peoples
Other Europeans sought to bring “civilization” to subject peoples in the form of political order and social stability
Cecil Rhodes believed, “We (the British) are the finest race in the world and the more of the world we inhabit, the better it is for the human race.”

18. The White Man’s Burden Take up the White Man’s Burden—
Send forth the best ye breed—
Go bind your sons to exile
To serve your captives’ need;
To wait in heavy harness,
On fluttered folk and wild—
Your new-caught, sullen peoples,
Half-devil and half-child.
Rudyard Kipling

19. Technologies that made Imperialism Possible
Transportation
Military
Communications
Cartoon showing China being divided by the United Kingdom, Germany, Russia, France, and Japan

20. Transportation Technologies
The USS Monocacy was used to protect US interests along the Yangtze River in China
Steamships allowed imperial powers to travel upriver much further than sailboats so imperialists could project power deep into the interior regions of foreign lands

21. 1869 opening of the Suez Canal at Port Said
Between 1859 and 1869, the British constructed the Suez Canal which links Port Said on the Mediterranean Sea and Suez on the Red Sea
Allows two-way north-south water transport from Europe to Asia without circumnavigating Africa
In 1882 the British army occupied Egypt to ensure the safety of the canal which was crucial to British communications with India
1869 opening of the Suez Canal at Port Said

22. Military Technologies
Breech-loading firearms with rifled bores provided European armies with an arsenal vastly stronger than any other in the world
European armies could impose colonial rule almost at will
British soldiers show a Maxim gun to an elderly Zulu chief in 1901

23. Gatun locks under construction in 1910
Panama Canal
Between 1904 and 1914, the US built the Panama Canal which links the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans without having to transit Cape Horn
Gatun locks under construction in 1910

24. Communications Technologies
Oceangoing steamships reduced the time required for imperial capitals to deliver messages to colonial lands
In the 1850s engineers began developing submarine telegraph cables to carry messages through oceans
By 1902, cables linked all parts of the British Empire throughout the world
Insignia of the British Indian Submarine Telegraph Company

25. Why Imperialism?
Examining the main points surrounding European Imperialism – Motives & Justification in plain English

26. Analyzing Motives of Imperialism
ECONOMIC:
POLITICAL:
REGLIGIOUS:
EXPLORATORY:
IDEOLOGICAL:

27. Economic Motives of Imperialism
Make $$
Control foreign trade
New markets
Raw materials and cheap labor
Investments
Export technology.

28. Political Motives of Imperialism
Gain power
Compete with other countries
Expand territory
Exercise military force
Gain prestige
Boost national pride & security

29. Religious Motives of Imperialism
Spread Christianity
Spread European/American values and moral beliefs
Educate people of other cultures [My mistake, a “better culture” – One better than the East Indians, Africans, & Asians – wink, wink!]

30. Exploratory Motives of Imperialism
Explore the “unknown”= Explore the “Dark Continent.” Europeans had limited knowledge of Africa beyond the coast.
Conduct scientific research
Medical searches
Adventure
Investigate “unknown” cultures.

31. Ideological Motives of Imperialism
Cultural values
Belief in Race superiority (racism)
Belief in duty to “civilize” people in other parts of the world
Belief that all great nations should have empires
“Survival of the Fittest”- only the strongest nations will survive.

32. Two Videos Surrounding European Motives for Imperialism
First one: “Motives for British Colonization of Africa based on ‘Things Fall Apart’”
Second video: “European Colonialism in Africa”

33. Day One Wrap-Up: Please put all papers/notebooks away
In your own words, define the term, imperialism.
List an then examine at least two motives surrounding European Imperialism

34. OBJECTIVE I (Day Two): Analyzing Motives of Imperialism
Today’s Focus: You will be analyzing 15 written and visual artifacts depicting European motives for empire building in the late 19th century.

35. Analyzing Motives of Imperialism
STEPS:
Meet in assigned pairs
Together, design a symbol to represent each motive
When you are complete, trade placards with your neighbor or another pair in the room.
Examine the placard to determine which motive it reveals.
Describe what you see, draw a symbol for each motive and write an explanation of why you chose that motive.
Your goal is to complete all of the placards!

36. Open-shaft diamond mining in Kimberly, South Africa, 1872
Imperial motives: ECONOMIC (African labor, exploiting natural resources for profit) or IDEOLOGICAL (Europeans treating Africans as inferior)

37. An example of what students are being asked to do:
Placard
Describe What You See
Symbol of Motive(s)
Why You Choose This Motive(s) A
Shows: open-shaft diamond mining at Kimberly, South Africa.
Europeans are exploiting the African workers and their land for resources. Treating the Africans as slaves, or semi-slaves. As you look closely, you will see the African laborers conducting all of the work while the Europeans act like mere overseers, making sure that the African workers keep the task at hand – hard labor.
Economic: $$$ [African labor, exploiting natural resources for profit]
Ideological: [Europeans treating African as inferior]
“This placard shows Europeans overseeing African workers as they mine a natural resource.”

38. )

39. An example of what students are being asked to do:
Placard
Describe What You See
Symbol of Motive(s)
Why You Choose This Motive(s) B
Europeans teaching native people about Christianity and the ways of Europe [cultural imperialism] in a makeshift school/learning center.
Religious motives: [Europeans spreading Christian values & education
Ideological: [Teaching European customs & beliefs – that European culture was superior to the natives – adopt it].
“This placard shows a Methodist Sunday School at Guiongua, Angola (1925).”
Represent the spread of Christianity & European culture/values- Helped to play a large role in the conquest of foreign lands = Imperialism.