Muhammad Ali
Leader of Egyptian modernization in the early nineteenth century. He ruled Egypt as an Ottoman governor, but had imperial ambitions. His descendants ruled Egypt until overthrown in 1952.
Commodore Matthew Perry
The commodore of the u.s. navy who compelled the opening of Japan to the west.
Meiji Restoration
The modernization and industrialization of Japan in the 1800's, specifically with the military.
Trans-Siberian Railroad
A network of railways connecting Western Russia to the Russian Far East.
Trans-Continental Railroad
Completed in 1869, it linked the eastern railroad system with California's railroad system, revolutionizing transportation in the west.
Unilever Corporation
A British and Dutch transnational business focused on household goods.
Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC)
The largest bank in Hong Kong and a transnational bank.
Empress Dowager Cixi
A Chinese noblewoman who effectively controlled the Chinese government in the late Qing dynasty
Social Darwinism
The application of ideas about evolution and "survival of the fittest" to human societies - particularly as a justification for imperialist expansion.
Nationalism
A strong feeling of pride in and devotion to one's country.
White Man's Burden
A book by Rudyard Kipling that spread the belief that white people were more advanced/evolved and therefore had a duty to conquer people of color and "help" them become civilized like white people.
Industrialization
The development of industries in a country or region on a wide scale.
Dr. David Livingstone
The Scottish missionary who was sent to the Congo and believed to be dead, found by Stanley.
King Leopold II
The King of Belgium who conquered the Congo and helped set off a scramble among European powers for African colonies in the late 1800s.
Congo Free State
A large area in Central Africa that was privately controlled by Leopold II of Belgium.
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.
Rubber
A tough elastic polymeric substance made from the latex of a tropical plant or synthetically, major export from Africa to Europe and elsewhere.
Guano
Bird droppings used as fertilizer; a major trade item of Peru in the late nineteenth century. America's bestie.
Quinine
An agent that proved effective in controlling attacks of malaria, which had previously decimated Europeans in the tropics, leading to the possibility of more exploration and, thus, colonization.
Scramble for Africa
Sudden wave of conquests in Africa by European powers in the 1880s and 1890s. Britain obtained most of eastern Africa, France most of northwestern Africa. Other countries (Germany, Belgium, Portugal, Italy, and Spain) acquired lesser amounts.
Berlin Conference
A meeting from 1884-1885 at which representatives of European nations agreed on rules and territories for the colonization of Africa.
Otto von Bismarck
Chancellor of Prussia from 1862 until 1871, when he became chancellor of Germany. Helped lead the scramble for Africa and offered to hold the Berlin conference.
Gold Coast
Region of the Atlantic coast of West Africa occupied by modern Ghana; named for its gold exports to Europe from the 1470s onward.
Spheres of Influence
Areas in which countries have some political and economic control but do not govern directly (ex. Europe and U.S. in China).
Cape Colony
Dutch colony established at Cape of Good Hope in Southern Africa which was taken over by the British, resulting in the Boer wars.
Afrikaners/Boers
Descendants of the Dutch settlers in the Cape Colony in southern Africa.
Boer Wars
Wars between the Dutch settlers and British in Southern Africa.
British Raj
The name for the British government's military rule of India between 1858 and 1947.
Suez Canal
A ship canal in northeastern Egypt linking the Red Sea with the Mediterranean Sea; first built by the French but quickly taken over by the British.
East India Company
British joint-stock company that grew to power in India; it possessed its own armed forces.
Open Door Policy
A policy proposed by the US in 1899, under which ALL nations would have equal opportunities to trade in China.
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.
Roosevelt Corollary
Roosevelt's 1904 extension of the Monroe Doctrine, stating that the United States has the right to protect its economic interests in South and Central America by using military force.
Neocolonialism
Also called economic imperialism, this is the domination of newly independent countries by foreign business interests that causes colonial-style economies to continue, which often caused monoculture (a country only producing one main export like sugar, oil, etc).
United Fruit Company
The United Fruit Company was an American corporation that traded tropical fruit. They grew on Central and South American plantations, and sold in Europe and the United States.
Banana republics
Term given to governments supported or created by the United States in Central America; believed to be either corrupt or subservient to U.S. interests.
Indochina
A French colony comprised of Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam; it won independence from France in 1954.
Cecil Rhodes
Former British prime minister of the Cape Colony.
Telegraph
A device for rapid, long-distance transmission of information over an electric wire. It was introduced in England and North America in the 1830s and 1840s.
Steamships
Ships powered by steam engines used to replaced sailing ships in the mid-19th century when refined high-efficiency engines were invented.
Tupac Amaru II
Mestizo leader of native revolt in Peru; supported by many in the lower social classes; revolt failed because of creole fears of real social revolution.
Samory Toure
Founder and emperor of the Wassoulou Empire in West Africa who formed an army that fought against French for 15 years (but was defeated).
Yaa Asantewaa War
Was the final war in a series of conflicts between the British imperial government and the nation of Gold Coast and the Ashanti Empire.
Sepoy Rebellion
The revolt of Indian soldiers in 1857 against Britain and certain practices that violated religious customs; also known as the Sepoy Mutiny.
Indian National Congress
Indian nationalist group formed to work for rights and power for Indians under British rule.
Sokoto Caliphate
Founded in 1809 by Uthman dan Fodio, this African state was based on Islamic history and law.
Usman dan Fodio
Scholar who inspired resistance against corruption and European control; began an Islamic revival in northern Nigeria.
Cherokee Nation
Native American tribe that firstly assimilated to white culture but was forced to leave their land because of the Indian Removal Act.
Trail of Tears
The forced removal of Cherokees and their transportation to Oklahoma.
Anglo-Zulu War
War between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom (South Africa).
Ghost Dance
A ritual the Sioux performed to bring back the buffalo and return the Native American tribes to their land.
Xhosa Cattle-Killing Movement
Pivotal movement that broke the back of the Xhosa and ushered in a new era of colonial expansion and domination of South Africa by the British. The prophecy was that killing all cattle would bring back ancient chiefs and ancestors.
Pan Africanism
The principle or advocacy of the political union of all the indigenous inhabitants of Africa.
Mahdist Wars
A series of revolts against Egyptian and British rule in Sudan led by Muhhammad Ahmad, an Islamic Cleric. He declared himself Mahdi (guided one) who would restore the glory of Islam.
Taiping Rebellion
A mid-19th century rebellion against the Qing Dynasty in China, led by Hong Xiuquan.
Boxer Rebellion
A 1900 revolt in China, aimed at ending foreign influence in the country.
Opium Wars
Wars between Britain and the Qing Empire (mind 1800s), caused by the Qing government's refusal to let Britain import Opium. China lost and Britain and most other European powers were able to develop a strong trade presence throughout China against their wishes.
Push factors
Factors that induce people to leave old residences.
Pull factors
Factors that induce people to move to a new location.
Ethnic enclaves
Neighborhoods where people from similar cultures live together and assert cultural distinction from the dominant group.
Chinatowns
A district of any non-Chinese town, especially a city or seaport, in which the population is predominantly of Chinese origin.
Penal Colony
A colony to which convicts are sent as an alternative to prison.
Great Famine
The result of four years of potato crop failure in the late 1840s in Ireland, a country that had grown dependent on potatoes as a dietary staple.
Chinese Exclusion Act
(1882) Denied any additional Chinese laborers to enter the country while allowing students and merchants to immigrate.
White Australia Policy
A policy that intentionally restricted non-white immigration to Australia.