Motives of Imperialization Sources

Use this organizer to guide your notes from the lecture and your analysis of the sources.

Topic

Terms/Documents

Context
What was going on
in Europe before
and during the age
of imperialism?
How did changes
in Europe set the
stage for
imperialism?

Revolutions of 1848

series of political upheavals in Europe

democratic
focused on getting rid of feudal system

Industrial Revolution

steam engine
medical advances
productivity
advanced weaponry
markets and raw materials

Unification of Italy 1860

political and social movement

consolidated different Italian states into one kingdom

Unification of Germany 1872

unification of Germany into a politically and administratively integrated

state

Imperialism

the deliberate process of one state, with superior strength, imposing its
control over the land, resources and population of another state or people
in order to aggrandize itself at the political economic, social and cultural
expense of the subjugated people

Direct Rule

ruled by individuals from the colonizing country

Indirect Rule

ruled by native rulers who are controlled by the colonizing country

Invisible Empire

Definitions

Old Colonialism
VS. Neo
Imperialism

Motivations
Describe each of
the following
factors and explain
how they lead

YOUR NOTES

Old Pattern:
existing trade patters used
raw materials sought after
financial investment made
skilled workers immigrate
militray force used to opem up trade
colonization

New Pattern:
direct control of finances and trade
finished products exported
expansion of territorial control
military occupation
direct administrative control
little colonization

Economic
a.

YOUR NOTES FROM THE LECTURE GO HERE:

Lipton Tea
Ad from 1890s

Economic = need for new markets and raw materials

Ex. rubber boom

How does the image show resources?

Many rows a crops
Mountains in the back
Many native workers
A port in the left of the image
Factories in the back

Europeans to
imperialize

What does it show you about the use of indigenous labor?

In imperialism, many countries practiced the act of using
indigenous labor in order to profit more from the land. They
used them to do all sorts of work that they felt was too hard
for them to do.

b. American Senator AJ Beveridge in 1898

American factories are making more than
the American people can use; American
soil is producing more than they can
consume. Fate has written our policy for
use; the trade of the world must and shall
be ours...We will establish trading posts
throughout the world as distributing points
for American products. We will cover the
ocean with our merchant marines. We will
build a navy to the measure of our
greatness

Who is controlling trade in this image?

The Queen of England is controlling change.

According to Senator Beveridge, why should America become

imperialistic?
America should become imperialistic because America is
producing more goods than they could use, so they should
take over land as trading posts in order to distribute extra
goods and build up more wealth.
What types of laws would Senator Beveridge advocate the U.S.
Senate support?
Laws that
Support taking over other peoples land
Give funding to the American military
Allow Americans to set up trading posts anywhere
Give merchants added benefits if they trade
somewhere imperialised
Using both sources, how did economic motives lead to
imperialism?
Economic motives led to imperialism because the countries
were greedy for the free labor the indigenous people provided
them and the thought of distributing merchants products all

over the world.

YOUR NOTES FROM THE LECTURE GO HERE
Nationalism
a. French capture of the citadel of Saigon, Vietnam

Nationalism = demonstration of power and prestige

Ex. German East Africa 1884

What is happening in the image?

In this image many European soldiers are marching and
swarming around the buildings and land of other territories.
What advantage(s) do the imperialist forces appear to
possess?
They have many weapons, such as muskets and cannons.
They are also in great number, and each person is greatly
armed.

b. Cecil Rhodes, a successful British imperialists in

Africa, expresses his position in Confessions of
Faith, written in 1877
I contend that we [Britons] are the finest race in
the world, and the more of the world we
inhabit, the better it is for the human race...It is
our duty to seize every opportunity of acquiring
territory and we should keep this one idea
steadily before our eyes that more territory
simply means . . . more of the best, the most
human, most honourable race the world
possesses.

How do think French people would have reacted to seeing

this image? Explain.
I think that the French people wouldve been very proud of
their country and the strength they seem to possess. Not
everyone is powerful enough to take over an entire country.
Why does Rhodes believe that Britons have a duty to seize
every opportunity of acquiring territory? Summarize his
argument.
Britons have a duty to seize every opportunity of acquiring
territory because they are the best race in the world, and it
would be better for the world if they try to take over every
place in the world and multiply so that there are more of
them.
Using both sources, how did nationalism motivate
imperialism?
Many people considered themselves and their countries to be
the best in the world and wanted to show that by spreading

their influence to other countries.

YOUR NOTES FROM THE LECTURE GO HERE
Geopolitics
a. The image below is a political cartoon
representing the Berlin Conference.

Geopolitics = balance of power

Scramble for Africa

What does this image represent? How does it relate to the

concept of balance of power?
This image shows a cake that represents the continent of
Africa and various world leaders cutting it up and deciding
which countries get which pieces. This shows that the world
leaders are balancing the power that Africa has and dividing it
amongst themselves in a way that each individual country
could handle.

b. Title X of the Treaty of Berlin, 1885

In order to give a new guarantee of security
to trade and industry, and to encourage, by
the maintenance of peace, the development
of civilization in Africa, European Nations
promise to respect the neutrality of the
territories (not invade others colonies)
belonging to the other European countries.

Given the context, why do you think the Europeans made this
agreement?
Europeans made this agreement because they didnt want to
fight over all the territory in Africa and engage in wars, so they
promised to respect each others lands and neutrality.
Based on both documents, how did geopolitics motivate
imperialism?
Each country wanted the power that came with more
resources and land, but they didnt want to fight over it and
lose all their power and waste money. To promote peace, they
divided the territories amongst themselves and promised not
to fight over other peoples land.

YOUR NOTES FROM THE LECTURE GO HERE

Exploration
a. The British explorer David Livingstone was the first

Exploration = desire to discover new lands and resources

David Livingstone

European to travel through Africa. Below is his account of

the uses of native plant life as well as an image of the map
he created during his travels, dating from 1857.

There are numbers of other medicines in use

among the natives, but I have never been able to
find out which were useful and which were of no
value. We find a medicine in use by a tribe in one
part of the country, and the same plant used by a
tribe a thousand miles away for the same medicine.
This surely must be a result of some natural virtue in
the plant. As we still have no cure for cholera and
some other diseases, it might be worth the
investigation of those who visit Africa to try and find
other remedies.

b. Sketch map of Central Africa, showing Dr.

Livingstones exploration

What discoveries does Livingstone describe? Why might

these discoveries be important?
Livingstone describes the medicines that the native people
made from the plant life there. Those discoveries could
potentially lead to other cures for cholera and other diseases
in Europe.
Look closely at the map (zoom in if you need to). Find the
territories labeled Unexplored. How do you think Europeans
might have reacted to seeing territory labeled unexplored?
If they saw the territory labeled Unexplored, the might think
that that meant that the land was unclaimed and that they
could take it for themselves. They would not have considered
the people living there and thought that it was free. They
would have been very curious as to what was there.

Based on both documents, how did exploratory factors drive

Imperialism?
People wanted to find cures for diseases and were curious as
to what was there in Africa. They wanted to see as much as
the world as possible and take over as much as possible.

YOUR NOTES FROM THE LECTURE GO HERE

Ideology
a. A Methodist Sunday School at Guiongua,
Angola, in 1925

Ideology of Empire = feeling of superiority and obligation to civilize

empire building
social darwinian and paternalism
Christianity
Paternalism
an attitude or action where someone thinks they know what is
best for a subordinate regardless of what that subordinate wnats

Describe what is happening in this picture. W

hat do you
think was likely taught in this school? What would it have
been like to be a student here?
Make educated guesses based
on what you see.
I think that this school likely taught about Christianity and
about the country that took over the territory. I think the
students might have been in awe of this because it was totally
new to them and they had never heard of these ideas and
religions before. They probably had to wear new clothes, learn

a completely new language, and had their culture taken away

from them in favor of the God in Christianity.
b. Excerpt from Rudyard Kiplings poem, White Mans
Burden: The United States and The Philippine Islands.,
written in 1899. It was written as advice to Americans to
continue their imperialism in the Philippines. In this
poem, Kipling urged the U.S. to take up the burden of
empire, as had Britain and other European nations.

Take up the White Mans burden

Send forth the best ye breed
Go send 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

What is White Mans burden. What specific words or

phrases describe what White Men should do according to
Kiplings poem?
The White Mans burden is to send the people of the country
to serve the indigenous people and imperialize them for the
greater good because the indigenous people could be
compared to demons and were bad. The Europeans came in
and colonized the people with the responsibility to help them
They should civilize the native people.
Specific words or phrases
Send forth the best ye breed
Send your sons to exile
Serve your captives needs
Wait in heavy harness
How does the poem describe colonized peoples? Refer to
specific words or phrases.
The poem describes the colonized peoples as uncivilized and
lesser than white men. They are described as new-caught,
sullen peoples and half devil and half child, which shows
that they were thought of as bad tempered and
uncontrollable.
How do both sources show how ideological factors motivated
imperialism?
These sources shows that the countries thought that it was
their duty to colonize the indigenous people because they
were not Christian and uncivilized. They wanted to change
them so that they were more European and better.

Scramble for
Africa

Livingstones The Three Cs

1.
2.
3.

Christianity
Commerce
Civilization

Scramble for Africa

the competitive process of invasion and colonization of African territories

by European powers
Brussels Geographic Conference created the International African
Association in 1876
goal of stopping slave trade

Berlin Conference

bring Christianity to natives

Stanley hired to lead expeditions
stations set up in the Congo and treaties made with natives

An international conference of 14 European nations in

1884
rules for colonizing Africa were set up
General Act of Berlin
could only own a colony if they
possessed it
need to make economic use of the
colony
must notify other nations
no Africans attended