Imperialism and Migration are the most important aspects of Unit 6.
Industrialization is a key contextual element.
Industrialization profoundly altered global economy, social structures, and culture through changes in production and consumption.
Imperialism: Industrial states expanded or created overseas empires, establishing new colonies and transoceanic relationships.
Revolutions: A period of intense revolutions and rebellions against existing authorities began in the mid-1700s, leading to the formation of new nation-states.
Migration: Global migration patterns changed dramatically as more people migrated across larger distances.
Contextualizing the Unit
Britain, France, the British and Dutch East India Companies, Portugal, and Spain began the period with colonial possessions in the Americas, Africa, and Asia.
Industrial advancements, like mass-produced goods, steamships, railroads, and effective firearms, enabled states to expand their power.
The British abolition of the slave trade in 1807 led to a resurgence in indentured servitude.
Charles Darwin's Origin of Species (1859) contributed to later justifications for imperialism.
Rationales for Imperialism
From the 16th to 18th centuries, European powers primarily established trading posts in Africa and Asia rather than acquiring territory.
The Americas were an exception, with Spain and Portugal establishing colonies.
"Imperialism" typically refers to the colonization of the Americas from the 15th to 19th centuries.
Imperialism and colonialism both entail political and economic dominance over a land and its people, but scholars debate the nuances between them.
What's So New
The New Imperialism involved colonial expansion by European powers, the United States, and Japan in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
They colonized Africa and Asia using military force, driven by the search for new markets and raw materials.
Each targeted country experienced devastating effects.
European powers exploited local economies for raw materials to support Europe's industrial growth.
"The White Man’s Burden"
The concept that "superior" Westerners were obligated to bring their culture to "uncivilized" populations.
Imperialist interpretation: white people have a moral duty to rule non-white people, while advancing their economic, cultural, and social progress through colonialism.
"The White Man's Burden: The United States and the Philippine Islands" (1899) – Rudyard Kipling
Victorian Era Imperialism
Britain expanded its empire, doubling in size to include Canada, Australia, India, and various possessions in Africa and the South Pacific.
Queen Victoria's children's marriages (direct or indirect) to royal houses of major European powers (except France and Spain) helped Britain avoid European conflicts.
1877: Queen Victoria was declared Empress of India, marking the peak of British imperialism.
Charles Darwin
Naturalist and biologist known for his theory of evolution by natural selection.
Born in Shrewsbury, England. He embarked on a five-year survey voyage around the world on the HMS Beagle in 1831. Specimen studies led him to formulate his theories.
Darwin was a passionate amateur naturalist.
Originally religious, he questioned God's allowance of inhumane conditions after witnessing slavery and the natives' living conditions in Tierra del Fuego.
On the Origin of Species
Introduced the theory that populations evolve through natural selection over generations.
Themes: Natural selection, the struggle for existence, variation and adaptation, heredity, species formation.
Scientific methodology: Darwin’s dedication to scientific methodology is apparent in his explication of his theories of natural selection and descent with modification. Darwin credits his experiments and observations with allowing him to develop his theory in the first place.
Progress: Darwin argued that species evolve to higher levels of perfection over time, resulting in "wondrously adapted" species.
Progression is gradual and incremental due to the random nature of variation.
Nature, not God, controls human development by blurring the distinction between humans and animals, thus questioning the uniqueness of human beings in the natural world.
Social Darwinism
Similarities: Both favor natural selection.
Differences: Social Darwinism promotes "survival of the fittest," while Darwin focused on the evolution of the human race, not its destruction.
Social Darwinists believed that human society is a struggle for existence governed by "survival of the fittest" (coined by Herbert Spencer).
Social Darwinism justified the view that the poor were "unfit" and undeserving of aid, arguing that wealth was a sign of success in the struggle for existence.
Social Implications to "New Imperialism"
Social Darwinism became popular in Western Europe and the United States.