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Scrambling for Resources, Markets, and Power
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“Increasingly, Europeans viewed the culture and achievements of Asian and
African peoples through the prism of a new kind of racism, expressed now in terms
of modern science. Although physical differences had often been a basis of fear or
dislike, in the nineteenth century Europeans increasingly used the prestige and
apparatus of science to support their racial preferences and prejudices.
Phrenologists, craniologists, and sometimes physicians used allegedly scientific
methods and numerous instruments to classify the size and shape of human skulls
and concluded, not surprisingly, that those of whites were larger and therefore more
advanced. Nineteenth-century biologists, who classified the varieties of plants and
animals, applied these notions to varieties of human beings as well. The result was
a hierarchy of races with the whites, naturally, on top and the less developed ‘child
races’ beneath them. Race, in this view, determined human intelligence, moral
development, and destiny. ‘Race is everything,’ declared the British anatomist
Robert Knox in 1850, ‘civilization depends on it.’ Furthermore, as the germ theory
of disease took hold in nineteenth-century Europe, it was accompanied by fears that
contact with ‘inferior’ peoples threatened the health and even the biological future
of more advanced or ‘superior’ peoples.
These ideas influenced how Europeans viewed their own global expansion. Almost
everyone saw it as inevitable, a natural outgrowth of a superior civilization. For
many, though, this viewpoint was tempered with a genuine, if condescending, sense
of responsibility to the ‘weaker races’ that Europe was fated to dominate. ‘Superior
races have a right, because they have a duty,’ declared the French politician Jules
Ferry in 1883. ‘They have the duty to civilize inferior races.’ That ‘ civilizing
mission,’ as Europeans regarded it, included bringing Christianity to the heathen,
good government to disordered lands, work discipline and production for the
market to ‘lazy natives,’ a measure of education to the ignorant and illiterate,
clothing to the naked, and health care to the sick, while suppressing ‘native customs’
that ran counter to Western ways of living. All of this was defined as ‘progress’ and
‘civilization.’
Another, harsher side to the ideology of imperialism derived from an effort to
apply, or perhaps misapply, the evolutionary thinking of Charles Darwin to an
understanding of human history. The key concept of this ‘social Darwinism,’
though not necessarily shared by Darwin himself, was ‘the survival of the fittest’
suggesting that European dominance inevitably involved the displacement or
destruction of backward peoples or ‘unfit’ races.” ~ Ways of the World
1- How did Europeans increasingly come to view Africans and Asians?
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2- How was “science” used to classify humans?
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3- What was the European view of a “hierarchy of races”?
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4- Explain the “civilizing mission’.
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5- Explain Social Darwinism. __________________________________________
Notes:
I. The New Imperialism
A. In 1815 nations of west controlled 35 percent of the world’s habitable
territory but they controlled 85 percent by 1914
B. But imperial activity of mid-1800s through early 1900s“new” imperialism
C. Industrialization gave West greater ability to conquer and more reasons
D. Western economies were hungry for raw materials
E. Conversely, Western nations needed markets for the goods
F. A social factor – Europe’s rapid population growth during the 1800s, partly
due to new crops from Americas –prompted imperial activity
G. Medical advances made it possible for Europeans and Americans to
penetrate the tropical regions more deeply
H. Social Darwinism
1. A misguided application of Darwin’s theories of natural selection
2. Biological principle of “survival of the fittest” should apply to humanity
3. Darwin himself denounced this idea as a perversion of his scientific work
I. Conviction that it was duty of white Westerners to teach and modernize
darker-skinned, supposedly “primitive” peoples of Africa and Asia
J. English poet Rudyard Kipling gave this sentiment its most famous label: the
“White Man’s Burden”
K. The French spoke of their civilizing mission (la mission civilisatrice)
L. This attitude was well meaning and heartfelt, but also condescending
II. Increasingly Aggressive Imperialism
A. During first half of 1800s, balance of power achieved by Congress of Vienna
(restored old regimes after French Revolution) had largely kept the peace
B. During and after 1850s, war broke out among European powers several
times: Crimean War (1853-1856), wars of Italian unification, wars Prussia
fought to unify Germany one was Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871)
C. Almost entire non-Western world was either colonized during nineteenth
century or fell under influence of Western nations
D. By far largest and most widespread set of colonial possessions was Britain’s
E. After 1870, new countries such as 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 useful scientific ideas
C. French subscribed to la mission civilisatrice, but were less consistent about it
D. Portuguese and the Belgians were known to be especially harsh, even cruel
E. Germany and Italy were also brutal
IV. The Americas
A. “Manifest Destiny”-belief that 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 1880 – 1910, European race to take over 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 remained free: Liberia and Abyssinia
L. Boer War  1899-1902  Boers (Afrikaners) were descendants of Dutch and
French settlersIn the end, Afrikaners were subjected to British rule
M. Though China was not technically colonized, compelled after Opium Wars to
open its borders and trade with other countries at disadvantageous terms
N. Imperial ambitions of Russia, Austria, the newly formed Italy, and the
rapidly deteriorating Ottoman Empire were all centered on the Balkans
Complete the Review Quilt Below (Place Key Points in Each Box):
New Imperialism: Reasons for New
Medical Advances
Social Darwinism:
Imperialism:
that Aided
Imperialism:
Civilizing
Mission:
“White Man’s
Burden”:
Congress of Vienna:
Balance of Power:
Wars in Second
Half of 1800s:
Unification of
Italy and
Germany and
Imperialism:
Manifest Destiny:
British East India
Company:
Causes of Sepoy
Mutiny:
Effects of Sepoy
Mutiny:
Scramble for Africa
Berlin
Conference:
Ethiopia and
Liberia:
Boer Wars:
Opium Wars:
Balkans:
Strayer Questions:
 How did the New Imperialism differ from the Old Imperialism?
 What were motives for the New Imperialism?
 What were effects of the New Imperialism?
 How did Social Darwinism impact imperialist endeavors?
 What were the causes and effects of the Sepoy Mutiny?
 What were the causes and effects of the Scramble for Africa?
 How did the New Imperialism change world history?
1. War with which Western power
reduced Mexico's territory by about
half?
(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. The principal architect of the
"Congress System" that prevailed in
Europe during the first half of the 1800s
was
(A) Metternich
(B) Cavour
(C) Bismarck
(D) Gladstone
(E) Castlereagh
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 English East India Company and
the VOC were privately owned
companies that enjoyed all of the
following advantages except
A) Funds to outfit ships and hire crews.
B) Commodities and money for trade.
C) Direct government supervision.
D) The potential for tremendous profits.
E) Heavily armed ships to back up their
demands.
Thesis Statement: Change Over Time: Africa 1000 – 1900 C.E.
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