Honors World History: Conflict and Connections
China and Western Imperialism
Lesson Idea
Instructions
Purpose
Investigate Western and Chinese points of view regarding Imperialism, specifically through
documents about the Opium Wars and the Boxer Rebellion.
Part 1:Web Search Document Analysis
Access the two textual documents from the following web addresses:
Document #1
“Commissioner Lin: Letter to Queen Victoria, 1839”
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1839lin2.html
Document #2
“The People of Canton: Against the English, 1842”
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1842canton.html
Analyze these documents using the document analysis handouts below.
Part 2: Political Cartoon Document Analysis
Repeat the document analysis for the two political cartoons – documents 3 and 4.
Part 3: Synthesis
Support or refute the statement below using evidence from the documents. Try to group documents
according to similarities in their points of view, subject matter, or significance.

Updated 06/05/06
Imperialism is politically, economically, and morally justifiable.
1
Document #3
Source:
Hunt,
Michael
H.,
Ideology
and U.S.
Foreign
Policy,
New
Haven:
Yale UP,
1987.
Updated 06/05/06
2
Document #4
Sourc
e:
Hunt,
Micha
el H.,
Ideolo
gy and
U.S.
Foreig
n
Policy,
New
Haven:
Yale
UP,
1987.
Updated 06/05/06
3
Document Analysis
Analyze the four documents by using the APPARTS document analysis method.
Document #1
“Commissioner Lin: Letter to Queen Victoria, 1839”
A
Author
P
Place and time
P
Prior knowledge and historical context
A
Audience
R
Reason
T
The main idea
S
Significance
Document #2
“The People of Canton: Against the English, 1842”
A
Author
P
Place and time
P
Prior knowledge and historical context
A
Audience
R
Reason
T
The main idea
S
Significance
Updated 06/05/06
4
Document #3
A
Author
P
Place and time
P
Prior knowledge and historical context
A
Audience
R
Reason
T
The main idea
S
Significance
Document #4
A
Author
P
Place and time
P
Prior knowledge and historical context
A
Audience
R
Reason
T
The main idea
S
Significance
Updated 06/05/06
5