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Colonial Empires
By Maureen O’Grady
Review of the
Age of Exploration
In the 1400’s, Europeans explored the world for many reasons:
* to find a sea route to the spices of ________
* to find gold, silver, and precious __________
* to expand their knowledge of the world
* to build and control larger ____________
* to expand the ____________ religion
* to find natural __________ for their newly created factories
* to open up new markets for their newly created products
Review of the
Age of Exploration
Which statement best summarizes the reasons for European
exploration?
A. European explorers were trying to prove that the earth was flat.
B. Europeans were looking to find ways to ease the overcrowding in
their cities.
C. The monarchs of Europe were trying to develop and use new
sailing techniques.
D. The Europeans were trying to expand their territories, gather
riches, and spread their religion.
and the answer is………
Review of the
Age of Exploration
D. The Europeans were trying to expand their territories,
gather riches, and spread their religion.
What mnemonic device have we learned to
remember this information?
the
3G’s
God, Gold, and Glory
Beginning of Colonies
• Once an area was “discovered,” it was claimed by
the country who financed (or paid for) the
expedition.
• The countries would set up colonies (territories
controlled by people from a foreign country).
• The colonies helped the European countries make a
lot of money. This economic ($) theory, called
mercantilism, called for using colonies to increase a
nation’s wealth by gaining access to:
– cheap/free labor
– market for goods
- natural resources
-trade routes
Impact of the
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a time of great change. The development
of machines prompted entrepreneurs to build factories. The ability to
mass produce items created a great demand for low-cost raw materials
and profitable markets to sell their goods.
shipped to England
cotton grow in
India
turned into cloth by British
machines and workers
material
purchased by
Indians
cloth shipped
to India
Imperialism
This thirst for new land, natural resources, cheap labor,
and new trade opportunities, prompted the European
powers to expand into Africa, Asia, and the Americas. This
desire to create overseas empires is called imperialism.
Between 1875 and 1895, a handful of European powers
seized over 25% of the world’s population. Some of the
major players were Portugal, Spain, England, and France.
Portugal
Thanks to Prince Henry the
Navigator’s leadership, the
Portuguese were able to explore a great portion
of Africa’s coast. They only found a little of the
gold that they were looking for, but soon realized
sugar was their ticket to riches.
The Portuguese set up plantation colonies in
places like Brazil. They grow sugar cane there
and imported Africans to work the land as slaves.
Spain
• Thanks to Christopher Columbus,
the majority of Spain’s colonies were
in the New World. When he reached
land, he started claiming it for Spain, the sponsor of his
voyages. His explorations opened the door to further
exploration and enormous wealth.
• The majority of South America and the western part of
what is today the USA became part of the Spanish
empire.
• Like the Portuguese, the Spanish found that growing
crops was very profitable.
England
The British Empire was by far the biggest in
world history. At the peak of its power, it was often said
that “the sun never sets on the British Empire.” Which
means that because of the empire spanning the globe it
ensured that the sun was always shining on at least one
of it numerous colonies.
England had colonies on the continents of North
America, Asia, Africa, and Australia. When one thinks
of the British Empire they think of places like the 13
Colonies, present day Canada, India, and Australia.
England
• England established settler colonies on North America.
Large numbers of people from the mother country,
England, moved to the new colony to start new lives.
The local people or tribes, were often moved off the
more desirable land by force.
• In Australia, the newcomers were prisoners sent there
by the English court system. This was due to the
overcrowding of their jails. The impact felt by the native
people, the Aborigines, was enormous.
England
• Australia was important to England for other
reasons, too.
* British gov’t wanted to station some of its
navy there since it was in the southern hemisphere
* it was an economic base to expand trade
* the British didn’t want the French to have it
France
• Along with England and Spain, France was one
of the world’s dominant empires. It had
colonies around the world.
• They controlled islands in the Caribbean, the
Indian Ocean, the South Pacific, the North
Pacific, and the North Atlantic.
• They had power in parts of Canada, South
America, SE Asia, and NW Africa.
Scramble for Africa
• During the late 1800’s, several countries
wanted more overseas land. The result was
the “Scramble for Africa.” Several European
countries divided the continent among
themselves.
• No major country, including Great Britain,
France, and Germany wanted to be without
colonies.
Why the Scramble for Africa?
1. Africa was rich in resources:
diamonds
gold
copper
tin
land for growing peanuts, palm oil, cocoa, and rubber
2. Africa was a market for European goods.
3. Some European countries showed national
pride by competing for colonies in Africa.
4. During the 19th century, many Europeans
viewed themselves as the most advanced
civilization. Some felt they needed to
“civilize” people in the rest of the world.
Consequences of Imperialism
There were both negative & positive consequences:
improved knowledge of the world
slavery
increased trade
spread of disease
cultural diffusion
(spreading ideas about who you are – language, religion, dress, food…)
disruption of culture
(one group’s way of life loses value, gets pushed to the side)
countries were stripped of their wealth
wars were fought
Today’s ImpacT
The impact of colonization and imperialism are still
present in our lives today:
Languages – Spanish in Mexico, _______ in India
_________ – many different ethnicities in the Americas
Religions - Christianity in Latin America, parts of Africa
Place Names – Florida is Spanish for ______________,