19th Century American Imperialism

Beginning in the 1800s, Europeans colonized many different parts of the world in order to gain more power and influence. Imperialism, which is defined as a policy of extending a country’s power and influence through colonization, military force, or other means, flooded through Europe. Quickly, different European countries, like Britain, France, Belgium, Germany, and Russia, conquered the lands and people of nations around the world. They were able to do so because the Industrial Revolution had given them the advanced technology, such as weapons, needed to conquer the lands. Many reasons why the Europeans colonized lands, like India, Africa, and southeast Asia, included the fact that colonies benefited the state. They were able to exploit the

Exploitation, which is defined as the action of treating someone unfairly in order to benefit from their work, was very common in the European colonies. A good example of exploitation during imperialism was how Belgium and King Leopold II exploited the Congolese and their land. “...to reduce all the varied, and picturesque, and stimulating episodes in savage life to a dull routine of endless toil for uncomprehended ends...in fine, to kill the soul in a people-this is a crime which transcends physical murder. And this crime it was, which, for twenty dreadful years, white men perpetrated upon the Congo natives.” This quote is showing how in the Belgian Congo, the people were forced to work, and it sucked the life out of them. This is a consequence of European imperialism because the people here were forced to work for a foreign government, Belgium, and did not have a say in the matter. However, not only the people were exploited in imperialism. The lands were also exploited. Many different resources were taken from the colonies, as seen in Document D. For example, from just a single British colony, Rhodesia, copper, zinc, lead, and coal were exported in order to make coins, alloys, wiring, ammunition, and fuel. This shows how the land of Rhodesia was exploited in order to make those different items. This happened throughout the colonized lands of all European states.

Whether peacefully or violently, the colonized found a way to oppose foreign rule and the colonizers found a way to impose their rule. In Document G, it says, “When we do not like certain laws, we do not break the heads of law-givers but we suffer and do not submit to the laws.” This is showing that any laws the government tried to force upon the people would be rejected by them and would not be followed. This showed growing tensions because the colonized were not submitting to European rule. They were doing everything in their power to try and get the Europeans out of their nation. Another example of tensions between colonizers and the colonized was shown in the article, ‘The Pattern of Response.” It says, “...when colonists asked for increased labor, peasants dragged their feet. These ‘weapons of the weak’ stopped short of open defiance but nonetheless presented a real challenge to Western rule.” This is showing that the peasants would oppose the law by doing as little as they possibly could. This is an example of growing tensions due to European imperialism because the peasants were trying to oppose the foreign rule to the best of their ability. There were many problems between the colonizers and the colonized because of European