10.4 State Standards

CALIFORNIA CONTENT STANDARD 10.4.1

Industrial Economies and the Rise of Imperialism

Specific Objective: Describe the rise of industrial economies and their link to imperialism and colonialism.

Read the summary to answer the questions on the next page.

Beginning around 1850, European nations took control of much of Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The policy of a powerful nation dominating the politics, economy, and society of another nation is known as imperialism.

European imperialism went hand-in-hand with industrialization; European nations sought raw materials and new markets for industry and used new forms of transportation and weaponry to seize foreign lands.
European leaders often justified their imperialism partly through the theory of Social Darwinism—the application of Darwin’s ideas about the “survival of the fittest” to social change. Social Darwinists believe that wealth, technology, success, and strength make some groups superior to others, thus giving Europeans the right to invade some non-European lands.

Directions: Choose the letter of the best answer.

Which event would be an example of imperialism?
1. A powerful nation seizes control of a poor nation and its resources.
2. Laborers in a poor nation are employed seasonally by a powerful nation.
3. Powerful nations join together to form a trade network.
4. A poor nation receives economic aid from a powerful nation.
Nineteenth-century European imperialism was spurred in part by success in
1. cartography (map-making).
2. technology and industry.
3. the teaching of foreign languages.
4. agriculture.
What geography-related goal most motivated 19th-century European imperialists?
1. exploration of major waterways
2. exploration of inland areas
3. discovery of shorter trade routes
4. control of trade routes
The resource of central Africa that would have been most attractive to 19th-century European imperialists was its
1. workforce.
2. waterways.
3. copper mines.
4. wildlife.
Christian missionaries in colonized lands, in the 1800s,
1. wanted people in other lands to become Christians.
2. traveled to learn about religion in other lands.
3. fought to stop the spread of imperialism.
4. worked to help people forget about imperialism.
19th-century English Social Darwinist would say that his or her nation’s power was proof of
1. the success of democracy.
2. the scientific revolution.
3. its superiority.
4. its religious faith.

CALIFORNIA CONTENT STANDARD 10.4.2

Locations of Colonial Rule

Specific Objective: Discuss the locations of the colonial rule of such nations as England, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Russia, Spain, Portugal, and the United States.

Read the chart and summary to answer the questions on the next page.

Locations of 19th-Century Colonial Rule
Colonizing Nation	In Africa?	In Asia?	In South America?
Great Britain	X	X	X
France	X	X	X
Germany	X	X
Italy	X
Japan		X
The Netherlands		X	X
Belgium	X
Spain	X		X
Portugal	X		X
The United States		X

Great Britain colonized more land than any other nation, controlling parts of Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, and South America and all of Australia
In 1800, South America was controlled mainly by the Spanish and the Portuguese. Most of that continent achieved independence by 1830.
At the Berlin Conference of 1884–1885, 14 European countries met to divide up the continent of Africa. Great Britain and France claimed most of it. The remainder was divided among Germany, Italy, Belgium, Spain, and Portugal, with only 3.4 percent left independent. The Netherlands had no African colony.
The United States acquired the Asian island nation of the Philippines in 1898 and used it mainly for sugar crops. (The Philippines achieved independence in 1946.)

Directions: Choose the letter of the best answer.

What two European nations colonized most of South America?
1. England and Spain
2. England and France
3. Spain and France
4. Spain and Portugal
What two European nations colonized most of Africa?
1. England and Spain
2. England and France
3. Spain and France
4. Spain and Portugal
During the late 1800s, which European nation had no colony in Africa?
1. Belgium
2. Germany
3. Italy
4. The Netherlands
Which European nation colonized the most land around the world during the 19th century?
1. France
2. Germany
3. Great Britain
4. Spain
The purpose of the Berlin Conference was to plan for the
1. independence of South America.
2. conquest of China.
3. division of Africa.
4. control of international trade routes.
Where did the United States acquire a colony in 1898?
1. Africa
2. Asia
3. South America
4. The Caribbean

CALIFORNIA CONTENT STANDARD 10.4.3

Responses to Colonialism

Specific Objective: Explain imperialism from the perspectives of colonizers and colonized; explain immediate and long-term responses by people under colonial rule.

Read the case-study chart and summary to answer the questions on the next page.
During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, European imperialists claimed and colonized lands throughout Africa and Asia. They brought with them beliefs that profoundly affected the people whose lands they colonized.

European Colonization in Africa: A Case-Study of Colonialism
European colonists in Africa believed . . .	As a result, Africans . . .
. . .wealth and power gave them the right to claim foreign lands.	. . .lost their lands and their independence.
. . .European economies and technology would benefit colonized people.	. . .had traditional economies replaced by capitalism; lost control of trade networks.
. . .European medicine and education would benefit colonized people.	. . .had longer life spans and higher literacy rates in some areas.
. . .European culture would benefit colonized people.	. . .had their traditional cultures and leaders repressed.
. . .Europeans were racially superior	. . .were treated as inferior.

African colonial resistance was difficult to attempt. European colonizers typically refused to engage in diplomacy with African rulers, and European weaponry made them formidable opponents. However, when European power weakened after World War I, African nationalism rose. Ghana, proclaimed a British colony in 1874, struggled for independence for many years. In 1925 legislative council elections were held. Nationalist political parties formed in the 1940s. In 1952, when Kwame Nkrumah became prime minister, he was the first black African leader in the area in more than 50 years. Ghana achieved independence in 1957. Other African nations tried various forms of resistance.

Form of Resistance	Example
Conflict against colonial invaders	Ashanti battles against British invaders, 1800s; Libya battles against Italian invaders, 1911–1932
Conflict against colonial rulers	Maji Maji uprising in East Africa, 1905
Guerrilla warfare	Mau Mau uprising in Kenya, 1952–1956
Labor unions, strikes, boycotts	Nationalist political parties in Ghana, 1940s–1950s

Directions: Choose the letter of the best answer.

European colonists believed they had the right to colonize Africa because
1. Europeans had wealth and power.
2. Africa had no trade networks.
3. Africans did not resist.
4. Europeans had no colonies.
For Africans, European colonization resulted in
1. more wealth and power, less education.
2. expanded control of trade networks and emphasis on traditional economies.
3. loss of lands, loss of trade, some gains in health and literacy.
4. more local leadership and stronger traditional cultures.
What event closely preceded the rise of African nationalist movements?
1. The slave trade came to dominate the coast.
2. African kingdoms were destroyed.
3. Great Britain claimed West Africa as its colony.
4. World War I ended.
The African prime minister who first came to power in Ghana
1. was the area’s first African leader since the early 1900s.
2. was appointed by British colonialists.
3. showed that Ghana had achieved independence.
4. showed that African nationalism had no effect.
Ghana achieved independence
1. after a long and bloody revolution.
2. by quickly overthrowing the colonial government.
3. in a series of steps.
4. at the same time as many other African nations.

CALIFORNIA CONTENT STANDARD 10.4.4

Struggles for Independence from Colonialism

Specific Objective: Describe the independence struggles of the colonized regions of the world, including the roles of leaders, such as Sun Yat-sen in China, and the roles of ideology and religion.

Read the summary to answer the questions on the next page.

Haiti (then called Saint Domingue)
Achieved independence: from France, 1804
Key leader: Toussaint L’Ouverture, a formerly enslaved African, was a self-taught leader
Ideology: Enslaved Africans—the overwhelming majority of the population—should rebel to gain their own freedom and independence for their nation.

Haiti became the first black republic in the world, and the second nation—after the United States—to win independence from colonial rule.

South America
Achieved independence: from Spain by 14 nations, 1809–1825
Key leader: Simón Bolívar, a creole—a Spaniard born in South America; this highly educated class produced many revolutionary leaders
Ideology: Military power will liberate South America from unjust rule by Europe.

The military leadership of Bolívar and fellow general José de San Martín defeated Spanish troops in a series of decisive battles.

China
Achieved independence: from the Qing Dynasty (a military empire), 1911
Key leader: Sun-Yat Sen, attended school in Hawaii, where he learned about western government and economics and came to admire Abraham Lincoln.
Ideology: Three Principles of the People, which translate roughly to freedom from imperialism; a government based on a constitution by the people; and a healthy economy to provide for the people .

Sun-Yat Sen became the first president of the republic of China.

India
Achieved independence: from Great Britain, 1947
Key leader: Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, a Hindu like the majority of Indians, was greatly respected as a leader because of his deep religious faith.
Ideology: civil disobedience—the choice to disobey an unjust law, in public and in a spirit of nonviolence

India took back control from the British in a series of steps, beginning in 1919.

Directions: Choose the letter of the best answer.
“The British treat nations as the silk-worm farmer treats his worms; as long as they produce silk, he cares for them well; when they stop, he feeds them to the fish.”
—from The Vital Problem of China (1917), Sun Yat-sen

Which statement best summarizes the danger Sun Yat-sen describes in the quotation?
1. Revolution brings with it the possibility of total destruction.
2. European rulers are cruel and unpredictable.
3. Imperialists care not for their subjects, but only for their own gain.
4. Agricultural production cannot guarantee economic security.
What made the Haitian revolution a landmark in history?
1. At that time, no other nation had won independence from colonial rule.
2. Enslaved people won their freedom and established a republic.
3. Its leaders were highly educated.
4. It was achieved through civil disobedience.
Struggles for independence in Latin America were led mainly by
1. Toussaint L’Ouverture.
2. the Spanish.
3. enslaved people.
4. creoles.
What was the primary means through which Indians sought independence from Great Britain?
1. nonviolent civil disobedience
2. a quick and bloodless takeover
3. military strength in combat
4. secret resistance movements
From whom did the Chinese win independence in 1911?
1. the Ming dynasty
2. the Qing dynasty
3. Great Britain
4. Japan

World History and Geography: The Modern World

10.4 Students analyze patterns of global change in the era of New Imperialism in at least two of the following regions or countries: Africa, Southeast Asia, China, India, Latin America, and the Philippines.