Responses to Imperialism

Causes of Resistance Movements

• People resisted imperial intrusion due to powerful foreigners attempting to take over their resources and exert political control.

• Two main reasons for anti-colonial resistance:

  • Increasing questions about political authority:

    • Imperial powers introduced Western-style education, influenced by Enlightenment thought (popular sovereignty, social contract).

    • Educated individuals in colonial territories began to question the legitimacy of imperial power.

    • Colonized people did not need Western education to question foreign domination.

  • Growing sense of nationalism:

    • Nationalism motivated industrial states to pursue imperialism (as seen in video 6.1).

    • Imperial powers imposing their culture and language on colonized people induced nationalism, leading to resistance.

Examples of Resistance

• Direct resistance against imperial states (armed violence):

  • Examples include the 1857 rebellion in India and Tupac Amaru’s rebellion in Peru.

  • Featured example: Ya Asantewa War (War of the Golden Stool) in West Africa:

    • Great Britain sought to expand its gold coast colony by conquering the Asante Kingdom.

    • The Asante possessed a golden stool representing their cultural unity and authority to rule.

    • The British aimed to find and occupy the stool to assert control, but Ya Asantewa, the queen mother of the Asante, led a rebellion against British intrusion.

    • Ya Asantewa shamed the men into fighting, leading to fierce resistance against the British.

    • Despite their efforts, the superior weaponry of the British led to their victory and the claiming of Asante territory.

• Creation of new states on the periphery of colonial empires:

  • Example: The creation of the Cherokee Nation at the edge of the United States territory:

    • The United States gained independence and expanded its territory, clashing with indigenous peoples like the Cherokee.

    • The Cherokee attempted to assimilate into American culture, but the Indian Removal Act of 1835 forced their removal to the Oklahoma Territory.

    • In the Oklahoma Territory, the Cherokee Nation established a new state with a semi-autonomous government and judicial system.

    • However, westward expansion by Americans led to the incorporation of much of the Oklahoma Territory into the state of Oklahoma, marginalizing Cherokee authorities.

• Indigenous rebellions inspired by religion:

  • Example: Xhosa cattle killing movement in Southern Africa:

    • The British sought to take over the territory of the Xhosa people, leading to conflicts.

    • The Xhosa faced land scarcity and cattle diseases, possibly introduced by Europeans.

    • A religious movement emerged, prophesizing that slaughtering cattle would lead to the rise of new, healthy cattle and the return of ancestral dead to drive out the Europeans.

    • The Xhosa killed hundreds of thousands of their cattle, resulting in starvation and making it easier for the British to claim their territory.