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The effect of colonialism
The effect of colonialism
Industrialization during the early 19th century
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Chapter 33: The Building of Global Empires The establishment of global empires greatly impacted the world as imperial powers tightened links between civilizations worldwide. Imperialism not only brought people together but it put divisions between them as well through the use of powerful tools and deadly weapons. Foundations of Empire Campaigns to conquer foreign lands have always been dangerous and expensive. - Societies felt that conquest was necessary and devoted political, military, and economic resources to the conquest of other territories. - In 19th century Europe the supporters of empire justified the use of these resources in conquest. - Their imperialist ventures were supported by many. Motives of Imperialism Imperialism consisted of colonialism, economic aspects, political aspects, and cultural justifications. - The building of empires is an old story in world history. - Like the building of empires, the establishment of colonies in foreign lands is a practice dating from the ancient times. - During the second half of the nineteenth century, many Europeans came to believe that imperial expansion and colonial domination were crucial for the survival of their states and societies as well as the health of their personal fortunes. - Entrepreneurs like Rhodes tried to promote overseas expansion because it benefitted them. - Proponents of imperialism also held that colonies would consume manufactured products and provide a haven for immigrants in an age of rapidly increasing European population. - As European states extended their influence overseas, a geopolitical argument for imperialism gained prominence. - Imperialism had its uses for domestic politics. - Even spiritual motives fostered imperialism. - While ... ... middle of paper ... ...ce movements served as models for anticolonial campaigns in other lands. Questions - What was the effect of sovereignty on the world’s societies? BP - What was the difference between scientific racism and popular racism? C - How imperialism in Asia was different from imperialism is Africa? CP People - Count Joseph Arthur de Gobineau: He characterized Africans as an unintelligent and lazy, Asians as smart but docile, and the native peoples of the Americas as dull and arrogant - Ram Mohan Roy: He argued for the construction of a society based on both modern European science and Indian devotional Hinduism - Charles Darwin: He believed that all living species evolved over thousands of years. He wrote the Origin of the Species. Reflection Imperialism greatly impacted the world. With imperialism came connections between nations and divisions between peoples.
Differing perspectives exist on the topic of imperialism. Some of the main causes of imperialism were the need for resources to supply the industrial revolution with raw materials, and maintain a supply of cheap labor. There was also the desire to sustain a steady market for exported manufactured goods.
Imperialism has become a driving force among European nations in the growth of power and wealth. European countries placed large values on controlling colonies, similar to how members of the aristocratic society today would put emphasis on owning an immaculate mansion or an expensive car. Colonies formed in Latin America, Africa, and Asia were seen as status symbols for the overarching European countries; colonies represented economic strength and political power, which was fueled by intense nationalistic spirits. Competition for colonies became the biggest aspect of imperialism, leading several European powers to bicker over controlling colonial trade. The voices of the Colonists were oppressed and ignored as their land and resources were encroached upon by the Europeans.
During the late 1800s and 1900s in various societies, imperialism played a major role. Imperialism consists of a country's domination of an economic and cultural life in another country. Within the 1800s and 1900s, Europe became a large-scale global leader. Europeans set up colonies all over the world, specifically Africa, India, China, and Japan. Imperialism is viewed through two different major points such as the imperialist and colonialist.
The 19th century set the stage for different policies that lead to the extending of America’s power, which is defined as imperialism. Imperialism started for different reasons like the Americans wanting the U.S. to expand or explore the unknown land, or even some feared existing resources in U.S. might eventually dry up. The reason imperialism started doesn’t really matter, but more of what it caused. Imperialism lead to Cuban assistance, the addition of Hawaii and Alaska to America, and Yellow Journalism.
Modern imperialism can be described that is was never good. When a nation took over a smaller nation for economic, political, or social reason, they were imperialistic, creating the oppressors and oppressed system of the mother and colonized nations. As expected they changed the modern world plenty and pretty much made it a harder world to live during that time. It depends on a person’s point of view. Some may think it was positive overall, but it only led to things in this world that were negative. Even though modern imperialism occurred more than 100 years ago, it still affects us on how our nations were broken down.
The first Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain. It led to a dramatic increase in factories, therefore a vast amount of manufactured goods. The demand for goods created by the Industrial Revolution helped clear the way for the Age of Imperialism because Great Britain and eventually all of Europe sought after more natural resources and raw materials. Imperialism is the policy in which a stronger country seeks to dominate a less developed country both politically and economically. Although the European imperialism of Africa was exploitive and self seeking, it was justified because it ultimately enhanced the growth and development of the African nations through new laws, government, well ordered finance and freedom form oppression.
Imperialism is the practice by which powerful nations or peoples seek to extend and maintain control or influence over weaker nations or peoples. By the 1800’s, the Western powers had advantages in this process. They led the world in technological advances, giving them a dominance when conquering other countries. The European Imperialists made attempts to conquer China and Japan. In this process, they succeeded by influencing Japan greatly. However, they were not as successful with China.
Another aspect of imperialism is the takeover of land.
Imperialism was one of the four contributing factors to the cause of World War One, along with secret alliances, militarism, and nationalism. It is the most important cause of WW1, because it created a build-up of tension in Europe and outside of Europe, and through imperialism, the three other causes were able to affect the beginnings of the war. Imperialism is defined as the governing of one people by another country, which was a recurring dilemma prior to WW1 due to the industrialist movement. Although not all events that fall into the imperialistic category were about controlling another country, they contributed to the war, and imperialistic events were the foundation of the cause of WW1.
Many inventors and inventions affected the world politically, economically, and socially. Scientific advances, navigational advances, and technological advances affected the world in many ways. These inventions were especially useful for European nations in battles, in exploration, and in imperialism. The characteristics of European imperialism affected many countries in the world and changed history. Also, European imperialism had a huge effect on Asian and African nations in many ways. They took over many countries, enslaved people, and imperialized.
These western nations needed access to vital natural resources and control of strategic trade zones to promote further industrialization within their empires. This industrialization came with it profound wealth of the nation and its expansion of power abroad. Numerous natural resources, important to industrialization, were located in these conquered regions. Cotton for example, necessary for textile production, was found in India and Egypt, both British territories. [11] Further natural resources like rubber in Congo, oil in Iran, and gold in South Africa encouraged imperialists to expand their spheres of influence past their natural border. [11] Access to these regions also provided western states a market for their finished goods, textiles primarily. Senator Beveridge explains the need of foreign markets by stating “Where shall we turn for consumers of our surplus? Geography answers the question. China is our natural customer.”[12] French imperialist Jules Ferry also highlights the need for a foreign consumer “...felt more and more urgently by industrialized population of Europe and especially the people of our rich and hardworking country of France: the need for outlets [for exports].”[13] In cases where westerners were buying rather than selling to foreign markets, military intervention was utilized. A classic example are the Opium Wars in which Great Britain invaded China thus forcing the Qing Dynasty into buying British exports of opium.[14] Through this integrated system of extracting resources out of the colonies, using those resources to produce a final good, and selling it back to the colonies, the western states establish a trade surplus. The trade surplus brings in wealth back to homeland thus allowing the nations to expand industrialization, which in turn expands the wealth and power of the nation.
Although there are many other important factors, the main cause of the rise of imperialism was most certainly economic. The Age of Empire, by Eric J. Hobsbawn, provides an interpretation of New Imperialism. Hobsbawn calls imperialism “a natural by-product of the international economy” (Sherman pg 177). He is basically saying that imperialism is dependent on the rivalries of competing industries, which continually drive the international economy. Hobsbawn also dictates the need for external markets. The Industrial Revolution created many products that needed markets, thus creating a need of colonies. Hobsbawn believed that the overproduction of the Industrial Revolution and the Great Depression could be solved. He also realized that many businessmen knew that they could make a large profit off of China’s large population. For example, if every one of the three hundred million Chinese purchased one box of tin-tacks the businessmen knew that there would be a huge profit, consequently increasing the desire for colonization of weaker countries.
The concept of imperialism is one that has pervaded nearly every major society or empire throughout human history. It seems to be a natural consequence of societies growing in size, power, and knowledge. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries vast changes occurred in Western Europe (and soon spread elsewhere) that spurred a new round of imperialism the likes of which had not been seen before. The changes were the industrial revolution that was taking place. Countries were rapidly advancing to industrial societies producing much greater quantities of goods at much lower costs. The goods produced ranged everywhere from cotton textiles to military machinery, all of which would play important roles in rounds of imperialistic expansion that would follow. The imperialistic displays by Western European nations also brought about several other industrial revolutions in other regions including the Ottoman Empire, Russia, and Japan. I will take a look at how the industrial revolution encouraged imperialistic expansion, as well as some of the results of that expansion in other regions.
Beginning in the sixteenth century and lasting until the early seventeenth century, several European countries colonialized by formally exerting the control of their political entity over another political entity in a different geographical location. Spain, Portugal, England, France, and Holland were the primary “exerters of control,” while the Americas and its neighboring islands, along with small colonies in Africa and Asia, were the “exerted upon.” The main force compelling these expansions was the doctrine of mercantilism.
Imperialism had a lot of short and long term effects. One of the main examples is in politics. Some short term effects in politics was conflict. There was a lot of conflict between the British and the Filipino. But a long term effect of conflict in politics was many changes in the forms of the government. So the effects were negative and positive.