Aim (Day One): What were the motives behind
European
Imperialism?
Title: The Quest for Empire – Analyzing European
Motives
Do Now:
1.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.
OBJECTIVE I
1. What is imperialism? Define and give the
significance.
2. Speculate: why do you think the “Age of
Imperialism happened when it did?
OBJECTIVE II
1. Actively [mark it up as you read] review the
PPT handout [Slides 3 – 23].
2. Main points included:
a. Definition of imperialism
b. Various motives surrounding European
imperialism.
- Causes & Effects
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
The Age of Imperialism
• Imperialism =
a policy of
conquering
and ruling
other lands
“OLD” IMPERIALISM
•1500s-1700s
•England, France, Holland, Portugal,
and Spain
•Wars over colonies
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
“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
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
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
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.
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
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
JUSTIFICATIONS
•Social Darwinism
•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
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.”
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
Technologies that made Imperialism
Possible
• Transportation
• Military
• Communications
Cartoon showing China
being divided by the
United Kingdom,
Germany, Russia,
France, and Japan
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
Suez Canal
• 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
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
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
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
Why Imperialism?
Examining the main points
surrounding
European
Imperialism
–
Motives
&
Justification in plain English
Analyzing Motives of Imperialism
 ECONOMIC:
 POLITICAL:
 REGLIGIOUS:
 EXPLORATORY:
 IDEOLOGICAL:
Economic Motives of Imperialism

ECONOMIC:
 Make $$
 Control foreign trade
 New markets
 Raw materials and cheap labor
 Investments
 Export technology.
Political Motives of Imperialism

POLITICAL:
 Gain power
 Compete with other countries
 Expand territory
 Exercise military force
 Gain prestige
 Boost national pride & security
Religious Motives of Imperialism
 RELIGIOUS:
 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!]
Exploratory Motives of Imperialism

EXPLORATORY:
 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.
Ideological Motives of Imperialism

IDEOLOGICAL:
 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.
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”
Day One Wrap-Up: Please put
all papers/notebooks away
1.
In your own words, define the term,
imperialism.
1.
List an then examine at least two
motives
surrounding
European
Imperialism
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.
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!
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)
An example of what students are being asked to do:
Placar
d
Describe What You See
A
Shows: open-shaft diamond
mining at Kimberly, South
Africa.
Symbol of
Motive(s)
Economic: $$$
[African labor,
exploiting
natural
Europeans are exploiting the resources for
African workers and their
profit]
land for resources. Treating
the Africans as slaves, or
Ideological:
semi-slaves. As you look
[Europeans
closely, you will see the
treating African
African laborers conducting as inferior]
all of the work while the
Europeans act like mere
overseers, making sure that
the African workers keep the
task at hand – hard labor.
Why You Choose
This Motive(s)
“This placard
shows
Europeans
overseeing
African workers
as they mine a
natural
resource.”
)
An example of what students are being asked to do:
Placar
d
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
“This placard
shows a
Methodist
Sunday School
at Guiongua,
Angola (1925).”
Ideological:
[Teaching
European
customs & beliefs
– that European
culture was
superior to the
natives – adopt
it].
Represent the
spread of
Christianity &
European
culture/valuesHelped to play a
large role in the
conquest of
foreign lands =
Imperialism.