IMPERIALISM

WHAT IS EMPIRE?

Remember the different types?

• Settler vs. Non-settler
• Land-based vs. Sea based
• Formal vs. Informal
• Coercion vs. Cooptation

COLONIALISM VS IMPERIALISM

• The Industrial Revolution allowed an increase in the SCALE of empire.
• The need for raw materials to feed factories.
• The need for markets for manufactured goods.
• Economic competition between rivals.
• Prestige of an empire
• Military competition and the need for strategic control of certain areas.

This is IMPERIALISM

COLONIALISM

• Smaller scale empire before c. 1830

OR

• A way of viewing the “other” through and as a result of the imperial connection.
• Race
• Class
• Gender
• A system of creating knowledge about the “other” and the way in which that knowledge creates power.

IMPERIALISM IMAGE ANALYSIS

1. What does each image reveal about the way empire functioned?
2. What does each image reveal about how colonizers and colonized thought of empire?

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PART II

HOW WERE SOCIETIES IN SETTLER AND NON-SETTLER COLONIES DIFFERENT?

• Settler Societies
• Increased division between the Europeans and the colonized people.
• Subtle forms of cultural control to increase “space” between them.
• More rigid legal systems to protect privilege.
• More indirect relationship with the imperial metropole.
• Non-Settler Societies
• Indirect or economic imperialism common.
• Stable local government that provides economic benefit.
• Less overt cultural power on a daily basis in colonized people’s lives…except…if part of a “civilizing mission.”

HOW DID ECONOMIC IMPERIALISM FUNCTION IN THE 19^TH CENTURY?

• Imperialism of “Free Trade”
• Desire to avoid formal empire is possible as it was cheaper and retained economic benefits.
• Raw Material Exploitation and Cash-crop agriculture trapped some colonies into a dependent role in the empire.
• Africa / Southeast Asia
• Diplomatic pressure and threats of military intervention often used.
• Egypt
• South America
• Spheres of Influence – China
• Unequal Treaties

WHAT ROLE DID MISSIONARIES PLAY IN EMPIRES?

• Christianity played an ideological role in the desire of many Europeans to establish colonies and empires. Part of the “Civilizing Mission”
• Christianity became a symbol tied to the West’s political, military, and technological strength.
• Missionaries represent cultural imperialism, the ideas served as a reinforcement of more tangible forms of western control.
• Sometimes sparked revolts as with the Indian Mutiny.
• Syncretism happens as it mixes with local customs and beliefs.
• Missionaries as unofficial imperial officials.

HOW DID SO MANY CONTROL SO FEW?

• Military supremacy was not enough to enforce imperial control.
• Relied on:
• Local elites who were co-opted by imperial authorities. Using local politics and disagreements to the benefit of the colonizer.
• Unbalanced benefits and costs placed on different parts of the colonized population. It was not bad for everybody.
• Technological and Economic strength.
• Intangible symbols of cultural power like clothing, beliefs, ideologies, science, racial attitudes, definitions of progress and civilization.
• Acceptance of local customs and traditions out of practicality.
• Promises of government reform.
• Enforcement of true despotism was impossible.

PRIMARY SOURCE ANALYSIS

In your pairs, read through the ABCs of British Patriotism Children's Book.

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1. Use HIPP to source the book
2. Count how many letters apply to Military power, Economic power, and Cultural power

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Be ready to discuss your thoughts, reasoning, and the source.