6.3 Resistance to Imperialism

Causes of Resistance Movements

  • Powerful foreigners arrived with advanced weaponry and sought to take over resources and exert political control.
  • Two specific reasons for anti-colonial resistance:
    • Increasing questions about political authority.
      • Imperial powers implemented 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 necessarily need Western education to question foreign domination.
    • Growing sense of nationalism.
      • Imperial powers imposed their will, language, and culture on colonized peoples.
      • Induced nationalism in conquered peoples, leading to resistance and the fight for independent states.

Examples of Resistance

  • Direct Resistance Against Imperial States

    • Armed conflict and violence against imperial powers.
    • Examples:
      • 1857 Rebellion in India against British domination.
      • Tupac Amaru's Rebellion in Peru.
    • 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 for its gold deposits.
      • The Asante possessed a golden stool representing their cultural unity and authority to rule.
      • The British attempted to find and occupy the stool to claim authority.
      • Queen Mother Ya Asantewa led the Asante people in rebellion against the British intrusion.
      • Ya Asantewa shamed the men into fighting, saying if they didn't fight, the women would fight in their place.
      • Despite fierce resistance, 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: Creation of the Cherokee Nation at the edge of the United States territory.
      • The United States rebelled against British imperial power and gained independence, doubling its territory.
      • Westward expansion led to clashes with indigenous peoples.
      • The U.S. armies expelled indigenous nations from their ancestral lands.
      • The Cherokee attempted to assimilate into American culture, which did not prevent them from being forcibly removed.
      • The Indian Removal Act of 1835 led to the forced removal of the Cherokee and other indigenous groups to the Oklahoma territory.
      • The Cherokee established a new state with a semi-autonomous government and judicial system.
      • Westward expansion resulted in the incorporation of much of the Oklahoma Territory into the state of Oklahoma, marginalizing Cherokee authorities.

  • Indigenous Rebellions Inspired by Religion

    • Example: The Xhosa cattle killing movement in Southern Africa.
      • British sought to take over the territory of the Xhosa people.
      • Superior weaponry and communication technology enabled the British to claim Xhosa territory.
      • A religious movement emerged, driven by a prophecy.
      • The prophecy stated that if the Xhosa slaughtered their cattle, new cattle would arise to replace them.
      • The ancestral dead would rise up and drive the European intruders from their land.
      • The Xhosa killed hundreds of thousands of their own cattle.
      • The outcome was starvation, making it easier for the British to claim their territory.