Decolonization Project
Crowder AP World
The Situation: From the late 1800s to the mid 1900s, large portions of the globe
were controlled by a few western powers such as Britain and France. These
countries were known as empires. The land they controlled was colonized and used
for resources and raw materials in western industry. After WWII, there was a rapid
growth of pressure in the international community for these empires to decolonize,
essentially breaking up their territory into independent countries. As a result, a
string of new countries came onto the world stage during the later half of the
twentieth century. Decolonization has been a struggle for many former colonies.
Many have experienced civil wars, sectarian violence, genocide, and political and
economic crises since declaring independence.
The Challenge: You are on a panel overseeing the transition from colony to
independent nation for your selected country. Essentially, you will need to answer
this question: What measures should be taken to ensure the long-term success
of your newly independent country? It is your job to create a proposal suggesting
the best steps for your new country to take following independence. In order to pull
this off, you must find and address potential obstacles that could stand in the way of
long-term stability.
Potential obstacles are going to vary on a country-by-country basis.
Historically, common areas divisiveness have been: ethnic and religious
differences, sectarian violence, political instability, economic exploitation and
disparities, lack or misuse of resources, disease, etc. Research your country.
Find out which problems persisted before, during, and after European
colonization of your area. These will help you form viable solutions in your
proposal.
Your Task: Throughout the course of this project, you will be researching your
country, their progress through colonization, and their experiences following
independence. Pretending that you are on a panel overseeing the transition from
colony to country, you will compile a proposal in which you will identify 2-4 “high
priority” issues that disrupt your country’s stability and you will make
recommendations to address them. The proposal will be in the form of a series of
PSAs and an accompanying outline. The tables on the next page will more precisely
detail what is expected of your group.
Sources: For your research, you are expected to use at least 4 sources, at least one
of which MUST be a printed source. The bibliography must be present with the
proposal, or you will receive a failing grade (since this is technically plagiarism).
Some web-based resources that may help you are as follows:

CIA World Factbook- https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-worldfactbook/ - information on history, demographics, political, environmental,
and economic characteristics of all world nations
Decolonization Project
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Crowder AP World
Hofstede Centre - http://geert-hofstede.com/countries.html - not all
countries share similar ways of thinking or dealing with situations; your
solutions may need to be tailored to fit the cultural climate of your area
Gap Minder- http://www.gapminder.org - Collection of various data points of
countries over time. Also useful to use in comparing your country to another
World Mapper- http://www.worldmapper.org - Another useful tool in
comparing one country to another. Instead of plotting the data in a chart, it
redraws the map of the world to show those comparisons
Proposal- remember all data you include should date from pre-Independence as
best as possible – out of 300 PTS
Section 1:
Background
Requirements
Social, Political, Cultural, and/or Economic structures
in place prior to European Colonization- (ie. How did
this society “look” prior to being colonized?)
Issues facing area prior to European Colonization- (eg.
internal or external conflict, etc.)
Motives for colonization- What value did Empires see
in the area? (Resources available, etc.)
What type of rule did Empires use in your country?
(Direct or Indirect) Offer evidence to explain
Issues/Major events facing your area during
colonization- (ie. Cruel treatment, rebellion,
involvement in conflicts, etc.)
Ethnic and Religious Demographics or similar societal
divisions which may lead to conflict
Maximum
Points
10
10
10
5
15
10
Section 2:
Issues
Choice of “High-Priority” Issue to be addressed prior to
independence- need at least 2
Section 3:
Solutions
Explanation of why “high-priority” issue needs to be
addressed prior to colonization how could ignoring
this issue lead to increased problems in the future?
For each high priority issue, the following questions must
be addressed
A solution is presented on how to “fix” or improve the
issue
<2: 0
If 2: 20
If 3: 25
If 4: 30
>4: 35
10 each;
up to 40
total
<2: 0
If 2: 20
If 3: 25
If 4: 30
>4: 35
Decolonization Project
Section 4:
Reality
Crowder AP World
How will this solution be implemented? Who is
involved? What is the timeline for implementing this
plan (beginning to end)? What would the cost be?
Explanation of how this is a viable solution- can the
people of your country pull this off? How do you know?
Preferably, the only two bodies that should play a role
in implementing and paying for this plan is the country
that colonized your area (ie. The Empire) and your new
country
Since we are doing this project in the present day, we are
able to look back at what actually happened to your
country in the years since its independence! What went
well and what went badly? Why?
When did independence occur?
What steps were taken—if any—to ensure a successful
transition to new nation?
Who was the first leader of your country following
independence? What type of government was created?
Notable people in your country in the years since
independence
Would you consider (in actuality) your country in its
years after independence successful or not? Why?
Explain with substantive historical evidence (financial
problems or successes, political stability or instability,
social and cultural structures, etc)
15 each;
up to 60
total
5 each; up
to 20 total
5
5
10
10
30
Public Service Announcements – PSAs should not be as comprehensive as your
proposal; it is simply used to “sell” your solutions to your audience. Out of 200 PTS
Section 1:
Information
Student presents one PSA for each high-priority issue.
Remember, you needed at least 2 high-priority issues,
so you should make at least two PSAs
Student briefly describes the “high-priority” issue
facing his or her country in the PSAs
Student briefly describes the solution(s) to this “highpriority” issue in the PSAs
All spoken portions of PSAs are scripted. Scripts for all
PSAs are turned in at least two classes before the
remaining project is due
Maximum
Points
<2: 0
If 2: 20
If 3: 25
If 4: 30
>4: 35
20
30
2 classes
ahead: 30
Turned in:
10
N/A: 0
Decolonization Project
Crowder AP World
Section 2:
Style
PSAs have near-professional appearance (eg. person
delivering information- if shown- has professional
appearance, the video is edited in a clear and
comprehensive way, sound is clear) Other ways, you
may show this is some kind of logo or tagline, original
background music, etc.
PSAs are between 1-2 minutes in length each
Data or other visual aid is shown in video segments to
illustrate issue or solution- data is properly cited
internally
Every group member speaks at least once throughout
all group PSAs
All PSAs are placed together on a single CD, DVD, flash
drive, or Google Drive Folder
30
15
15
15
15
In addition to these two rubrics, you will also be assessed using MYP rubrics.
Your final grade will be a combination of all of these rubrics.
My Group Members: _______________________________________________________________________
My Country: _________________________________________________________________________________
A printed-out hard copy of your proposal and all PSAs are due together!
PSA Scripts Due Date:___________________________
Proposal Due Date: _____________________________
PSAs Due Date: __________________________________