WHAP - Unit 6 Vocab

Economic Imperialism

Independent but less developed nations controlled by private business interests rather than by other governments; examples include British East India Company influence in India, Banana Republics in Honduras

Social Darwinism

The application of ideas about evolution and "survival of the fittest" to human societies - particularly as a justification for their racism and imperialist expansion

Civilizing Mission

The concept that Western nations could bring "advanced" science and economic development to non-Western parts of the world that justified imperial administration; included notion that colonialism was a duty for Europeans and a benefit for the colonized.

White Man's Burden

Idea that Europeans had a duty to spread their religion and culture to those "less civilized;" originally coined by a British poet and writer named Rudyard Kipling in his poem of the same name

Belgian Congo

Exploited by King Leopold II of Belgium under the Berlin Act, Leopold was supposed to act as a trustee. He violated the agreement and stripped the country of its resources (namely rubber and ivory) while mutilating and enslaving the people of the Congo

Settler Colony

Type of colonialism in which foreign settlers move to and permanently reside in their non-native land in order to strengthen the dominance of a colonial power; used to replace existing population of a region in cases when the land is already inhabited; Britain utilized this method including Jamestown in N. America, Australia, and New Zealand

Indian Revolt of 1857

Began in 1857 as a revolt of Sepoys (native Indian soldiers) of the British East India Company army; was ended by British military and resulted in full British control of India and loss of British East India Company's power

Opium Wars

Wars between Great Britain and China (two separate wars: 1839-1842 and 1856-1860), began as a conflict over the opium trade as GB illegally imported opium to China in hopes of forcing trade; ended with the Treaty of Nanjing which opened 5 Chinese ports to foreign merchants and created European "spheres of influence" in China

Boxer Rebellion

1899 rebellion in Beijing, China started by a secret society of Chinese who opposed the "foreign devils" and all foreign influence in China. The rebellion was ended by British troops; led to decreased power and influence of the Qing Dynasty

Taiping Rebellion

(1850-1864) An incredibly violent and destructive 14 year revolt by the people of China against the ruling Manchu Dynasty due to their failure to deal effectively with the opium problems, the interference of foreigners, as well as the rulers' Manchurian origins. Ultimately it was a failure; 20-30 million soldiers and civilians died and it greatly weakened China and the Qing Dynasty

Spheres of Influence

Areas in China where a foreign nations controlled economic developments such as trade, railroad construction, and mining; established after China lost the Opium Wars

Ethnic Enclave

A place with a high concentration of an ethnic group that is distinct from those in the surrounding area; a result of migration movements driven by industrialization (ex: Little Italy, China Town, etc)

Chinese Exclusion Act

(1882) The US denied any Chinese laborers to enter the country while allowing students and merchants to immigrate; reaction to migrations driven by industrialization in the 19th and 20th centuries

White Australia Policy

Before 1973, a set of strict Australian limitations on non-white immigration to the country; reaction to migrations driven by industrialization in the 19th and 20th centuries

Treaty of Nanjing

1842, ended Opium Wars in China and led to diminished Chinese political and economic power; set up 5 treaty ports where westerners could live, work, and be treated under their own laws; one of these was Hong Kong.

British East India Company

A joint stock company that controlled most of India during the period of imperialism. It controlled the political, social, and economic life in India for more than 200 years until 1857 when the British gov't took full control of India

Berlin Conference

A meeting from 1884-1885 at which representatives of European nations agreed on rules to colonize Africa

Imperialism

Domination by one country of the political, economic, or cultural life of another country or region

Boer War

Lasting from 1899 to 1902, Dutch colonists and the British competed for control of territory in South Africa.

Afrikaners

Descendants of the Dutch settlers in the Cape Colony in southern Africa

Penal Colony

A colony to which convicts are sent as an alternative to prison

Treaty of Waitangi

A constitutional document that establishes and guides the relationship between the British Crown and Māori in New Zealand

Monroe Doctrine

An American foreign policy opposing interference in the Western hemisphere from outside powers

Spanish-American War

In 1898, a conflict between the United States and Spain, in which the U.S. supported the Cubans' fight for independence

Manifest Destiny

A notion held by a nineteenth-century Americans that the United States was destined to rule the continent, from the Atlantic the Pacific.

Corvee Labor

Unpaid labor required by a governing authority

British Raj

The name given to the period and territory of direct British colonial rule in South Asia between 1858 and 1947--from the time of the attempted Indian Revolt (Sepoy Mutiny) to the Independence of India.

Indian National Congress

A movement and political party founded in 1885 to demand greater Indian participation in government. Its membership was middle class, and its demands were modest until World War I. Led after 1920 by Mohandas K. Gandhi, appealing to the poor.

Cecil Rhodes

British entrepreneur and politician involved in the expansion of the British Empire from South Africa into Central Africa. The colonies of Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) were named after him.

Kangani System

Entire families were recruited to work on tea, coffee, and rubber plantations in Ceylon, Burma, and Malaya. Replaced indentured servitude.