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AP World Unit 6
6.1:
IDEAS that Justified IMPERIALISM [AP World History Review—Unit 6 Topic 1]
New Imperialism: Context
During the last period, several Western European countries set their sights on building maritime empires
They focused on colonizing the Americas and controlling Indian Ocean trade
In this period, European power went ahead and embarked on a new wave of imperialism
While God Gold and Glory were still key motivations for imperial expansion, there were definitely other nuance motivations for imperialism
Reasons for imperialism came out of 4 new ideologies that arose out of the Industrial Revolution
Ideology #1: Nationalism
Definition: a sense of commonality among a people based on shared language, religion, social customs, and that is often linked with a desire for self-rule within a territory
Prior to this period, generally speaking, people across the world understood themselves as the subjects to a sovereign(king, ruler, sultan, etc)
But in this period, thanks to the spread of Enlightenment ideas and industrialization, people’s loyalties were becoming more and more linked to their own people(nation), not the ruler
Within Europe, unification of Italy and Germany were the results of nationalistic desires of people who wanted to live in a consolidated state of their own
Nationalism took hold of various states that threw a metric buttload of fuel into imperial ventures during this period
Nationalistic impulses led imperial states into a bitter rivalry to achieve larger and larger empires across the world
Did this to prove that their nation was better than the rest
Ideology #2: Scientific Racism
Definition: The idea that humans can be hierarchically ranked in distinct biological classes based on race
Using racism to justify colonization isn’t anything new, but the science part of it is
Prior to this period, Europeans still divided the world into “us” and “them”, but the division was more religious in nature
Europeans were the Christians, and “they” were the non-Christian heathens
But scientific racism took this division into the secular realm and attempted to classify humanity according to race
Classification that they just made up
Scientific racists developed various practices to justify the superiority of the white race over the other
Ex: Phenology was the study of the shape and size of human skulls
Phrenologists were definitely scientifically rigorous about their studies, but their conclusions were questionable
They decided that since the average size of skulls of white people were larger than the skulls of other races, then that proved the superiority of the white race
That means the imperial projects of white Europeans into the lands of what they called the child races were justified
Ideology #3: Social Darwinism
Darwin argued that the species currently in existence developed and evolved from lower level life forms over a long period of time through a process called natural selection
Darwin’s theory emphasized that certain species and grew more populous because they were better adapted to their environment
Only the fittest can survive
Social Darwinists looked at this biological theory and wondered if this explains how human societies evolved
Their answer was a “big, fat, heck, yes”
Reasoning
If only the fittest survive and thrived in nature, then, applied to human society, that must mean that western industrial societies have proven that their ways are the best suited for the current global environment
After all, industrial imperial states were getting stupid rich and all kinds of powerful on the world stage
In their minds, whatever they were doing must be the fittest way to survive
“If strong eat the weak in nature, then why shouldn’t strong nations eats weak nations” was their justification
Ideology #4: Civilizing Mission
Definition: A sense of duty western(industrial) societies possessed to bring the glories of their civilizations to “lower” societies
Since they understood themselves as having won the Darwinistic lottery, they also believed that they had a duty to all those “child races” under their imperial care
Sending Christian Missionaries
Sent to colonized lands to convert people to Christianity
Reorganization of colonial governments into western models
Imposition of Western-style education
Goal: suppress indigenous language and culture
6.2:
How IMPERIAL States EXPANDED, 1750-1900 [AP World History Review—Unit 6 Topic 2]
Setting the Stage
Shifting Geographical Focus
1450-1750
European expansion was focused on the Americas, Asia, and SE Asia
Africa was also important, but the main goal in Africa in the first wave of imperialism was to set up trading post along the coast and use them to trade for natural resources and enslaved laborers
1750 - 1900
Imperial expansion is going to focus heavily on Africa and Asia and SE Asia, not so much in the Americas
Change in Imperial States
1450-1700
Spain and Portugal were the first states in building maritime empires
1750 - 1900
Spain and Portugal
Declining in importance and losing power on colonial holdings
Great Britain, France, Dutch will also continue to play important roles during this period even while Spain and Portugal are declining
New players will also participate, namely Germany, Italy, Belgium, the U.S, and Japan
Private to State Control
There were some colonies that weren’t controlled by governments, but by individuals or businesses
State takeovers occurred to takeover theses private colonies
Ex: Belgian Congo in Africa
Private colony held by King Leopold II of Belgium
Belgium was a new state that had just gained independence when the second wave of independence began
Belgian Parliament decided that it would be foolish to go out claiming colonies while they were still a minor state
However, Leopold didn’t listen made arrangements to gain control of what became known as the Congo free state for himself
By his own reckoning, he was a “humanitarian”
He made it known that he was going to convert the indigenous people to Christianity and bring them the glories of western education
However, this was also a lie and a cover for Leopold’s brutal exploitation of the colony for raw materials
The exploitation of rubber led to the loss of millions of lives
Once all of this was discovered, public outrage ensued
Eventually, the Belgian government took control of the Congo in 1908 and administered it themselves
Ex: Dutch takeover of Indonesia from the Dutch East India Company
Ex: British takeover of India from the British East India Company
Diplomacy & Warfare in Africa
How did states expand their power in Africa through diplomacy?
Diplomacy: the act of making political agreements by means of dialogue and negotiation,not warfare
Ex: Berlin Conference
Ran from 1884 - 1885
Because some European countries were already beginning to claim some parts of Africa, a fierce competition for African Territory exploded
Became known as the Scramble for Africa
This state competition fueled imperialism heavily
Everyone just sort of agreed that the way to become a great power in this period was to hold the most territory throughout the world
Now that Europeans had the technology and the medicine to expand into the interior of Africa, that competition escalate quick, fast, and in a hurry
Seeing that this competition over Africa would probably lead to war far, Otto Von Bismarck of Germany called the major European imperial powers to the Berlin Conference
Discussed/negotiated until almost the entire African continent was divided up into European colonial holdings
Goes without saying that no African leaders to the conference to gain their input
The conference led to the drawing of borders in Africa
Divided previously united ethnic groups
Brought together rival ethnic groups
Some states, however, used warfare to expand into Africa
Ex: French in Algeria
In the first part of the 19th century, France was in serious debt to Algeria, who supplied France with much of its wheat
France sent a diplomat to negotiate some more time on the payments
The ALgerian ruler wasn’t going to have this, so he hit the French diplomate three times with a king of fly swatter
The French responded by sending 35,000 troops to invade and claim the capital city, Algiers
Continued to take parts North Africa
Despite much resistance in the 19th century from successive Muslim rulers in Algeria, the French ultimately prevailed and expanded their power into Africa through warfare
Settler Colonies
Definition: A colony in which an imperial power claims an already inhabited territory and sends its own people to set up an outpost of their own society
Settler colonies used to be big in the previous period
Ex: 13 British colonies in North America
In this period, the British set up settler colonies in the South Pacific territories like Australia and New Zealand
Once Britain had control, people started flooding into the regions, establishing a kind of neo-European society
Also introduced new diseases that killed huge swaths of the indigenous population
Aborigines in Australia
Maori in New Zealand
Conquering Neighboring Territories
U.S
The desire for westward expansion had been the desire of Americans ever since their rule under Britain
With the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 and further wars with Mexico and Spain in the 19th century, the desire for westward expansion into neighboring territories became so fervent that it became known as Manifest Destiny
Calling from god to possess all the territory from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans
The more Americans moved westward to claim that destiny, the more they displaced indigenous people
In order to complete the conquest, the U.S government forcibly moved indigenous peoples onto reservations
Practiced policies of forcible assimilation with some groups
Especially occurred in the children
Forced them into American-style boarding schools where they would be stripped of their culture and Americanized
Russia
In the second half of the 19th century after Russia’s humiliating defeat in the Crimean War, a militant political doctrine known as pan slavism spread among the Russian elite
Pan-slavism - Unite all slavic peoples under Russian authority, including all who currently lived under Ottoman and Austrian rule
That ideology, along with the desire to achieve great power status on the world stage led to numerous campaigns to claim neighboring territories
Ex: Established trading post in Vladivostok in 1860
By the middle of the 1860s, they had claimed the steplands of the kossack nomads and then expanded into three Uzbek states to the South
Japan
Only major non-western power joining in the imperial expansion
Due to its rapid industrialization during the Meiji restoration, Japan had laid thousands of miles of railroads and quickly modernized its military
Now that Japan had joined the imperial elite, Japanese authorities decided to do what industrialized nations did and start building an empire
As a result, Japan expanded its sphere of influence over Korea, Manchuria, and part of China
6.3:
How Indigenous People RESISTED Imperial Expansion [AP World History Review—Unit 6 Topic 3]
Causes of Resistance
Increasing questions about political authority around the world
Once European imperial powers went ahead and used their pseudo scientific methods to put white people on top of the social hierarchy, this led some of them to believe that they had a duty to help improve the “child races” that they were colonizing
Many imperial powers introduced western style education to some folks under their imperial control
At this point in time, a main influencer of Western education was Enlightenment thought, especially popular sovereignty and the social contract
So in many colonies, these ideas caused the educated to question the legitimacy of imperial powers
While this was the case in some places, the colonized people didn’t need a western education to question foreign domination
Growing sense of Nationalism
When imperial powers impose their will and their language and their culture on various colonized peoples, that had a way of introducing a sense of nationalism in the conquered peoples
This led many of the people to resist colonization and fight for independence
Direct Resistance
People fought back with weapons and violence
Yaa AsanteWaa War in West Africa
In the first half of the 19th century, Great Britain was greedy to get its hand on more territory in West Africa to expand their Gold Coast colony
They made no less than 4 attempts to conquer the Asante Kingdom in order to access the rich deposits of gold in their territory
It was the gift and final conflict that proved decisive, often known as the Yaa AsanteWaa’s War, or the War of the Golden Stool
The Asante held a golden stool, which for them represented their cultural unity
Whomever sat upon that stool possessed the authority to rule their people
The British thought that if they could find that stool and have someone sit on it, then the Asante would have to surrender
Regardless, the Queen Mother of the Asante, namely Yaa Asantewaa led her people in rebellion against such blatant British intrusion and do so with violence
Rallied the men to fight by shaming them
Said that if the men don’t go fight, then the women would go fight in their place
So, the men fought tirelessly against the British
Even so, the superior weaponry of the industrial British proved mightier than the weaponry of the Asante
After severe casualties on both sides, the British claimed the Asante territory
Creation of New States
Cherokee Nation
During this period, the U.S itself rebelled against the British imperial power and won independence, and in doing so basically doubled their territory
As the U.S started expanded westward, they often clashed with indigenous people who had claims on that land
Ultimately, the superior weaponry of the US armies expelled various indigenous nations from their ancestral lands
There were some groups like the Cherokee who responded to the situation by assimilating to American culture
Even that wasn’t enough to stop Congress from passing the Indian Removal Act of 1835 which forcibly removed the Cherokee and other indigenous people groups from their Eastern territory and resettles them in the Oklahoma territory in the West
There, the Cherokee established a new state on the periphery of the U.S, including a semi-autonomous government, a judicial system, etc
However, by the end of the century, the Westward expansion of the Americans led to the incorporation of much of the Oklahoma territory into the new state of Oklahoma and the marginalization of the Cherokee authorities
Religious Rebellions
Ghost Dance Movement in North America
Xhosa Cattle Killing Movement in Southern Africa
Imperial British overlord were trying to take over the territory of the Xhosa people
The British had better gunpowder and communication technology, so they easily overpowered the Xhosa people
All of this led to the British claiming more and more of the Xhosa land until their wasn’t enough land for the Xhosa to survive
Additionally many Xhosa cattle were dying off because of diseases from Europeans
So, around in the middle of the century, Xhosa prophet Nongqawuse said that if the Xhosa people slaughtered their cattle, then new healthy cattle would rise up to replace them
Additionally, after the slaughter, the ancestral dead of the Xhosa would rise up and drive the European intruders from their land
As a result, the Xhosa killed hundreds of thousands of their own cattle
Unfortunately the only outcome was their own starvation, which made it easier for the British to come in and fly claim their territory
6.3
How Indigenous People RESISTED Imperial Expansion [AP World History Review—Unit 6 Topic 3]
Causes of Resistance
Increasing questions about political authority around the world
Once European imperial powers went ahead and used their pseudo scientific methods to put white people on top of the social hierarchy, this led some of them to believe that they had a duty to help improve the “child races” that they were colonizing
Many imperial powers introduced western style education to some folks under their imperial control
At this point in time, a main influencer of Western education was Enlightenment thought, especially popular sovereignty and the social contract
So in many colonies, these ideas caused the educated to question the legitimacy of imperial powers
While this was the case in some places, the colonized people didn’t need a western education to question foreign domination
Growing sense of Nationalism
When imperial powers impose their will and their language and their culture on various colonized peoples, that had a way of introducing a sense of nationalism in the conquered peoples
This led many of the people to resist colonization and fight for independence
Direct Resistance
People fought back with weapons and violence
Yaa AsanteWaa War in West Africa
In the first half of the 19th century, Great Britain was greedy to get its hand on more territory in West Africa to expand their Gold Coast colony
They made no less than 4 attempts to conquer the Asante Kingdom in order to access the rich deposits of gold in their territory
It was the gift and final conflict that proved decisive, often known as the Yaa AsanteWaa’s War, or the War of the Golden Stool
The Asante held a golden stool, which for them represented their cultural unity
Whomever sat upon that stool possessed the authority to rule their people
The British thought that if they could find that stool and have someone sit on it, then the Asante would have to surrender
Regardless, the Queen Mother of the Asante, namely Yaa Asantewaa led her people in rebellion against such blatant British intrusion and do so with violence
Rallied the men to fight by shaming them
Said that if the men don’t go fight, then the women would go fight in their place
So, the men fought tirelessly against the British
Even so, the superior weaponry of the industrial British proved mightier than the weaponry of the Asante
After severe casualties on both sides, the British claimed the Asante territory
Creation of New States
Cherokee Nation
During this period, the U.S itself rebelled against the British imperial power and won independence, and in doing so basically doubled their territory
As the U.S started expanded westward, they often clashed with indigenous people who had claims on that land
Ultimately, the superior weaponry of the US armies expelled various indigenous nations from their ancestral lands
There were some groups like the Cherokee who responded to the situation by assimilating to American culture
Even that wasn’t enough to stop Congress from passing the Indian Removal Act of 1835 which forcibly removed the Cherokee and other indigenous people groups from their Eastern territory and resettles them in the Oklahoma territory in the West
There, the Cherokee established a new state on the periphery of the U.S, including a semi-autonomous government, a judicial system, etc
However, by the end of the century, the Westward expansion of the Americans led to the incorporation of much of the Oklahoma territory into the new state of Oklahoma and the marginalization of the Cherokee authorities
Religious Rebellions
Ghost Dance Movement in North America
Xhosa Cattle Killing Movement in Southern Africa
Imperial British overlord were trying to take over the territory of the Xhosa people
The British had better gunpowder and communication technology, so they easily overpowered the Xhosa people
All of this led to the British claiming more and more of the Xhosa land until their wasn’t enough land for the Xhosa to survive
Additionally many Xhosa cattle were dying off because of diseases from Europeans
So, around in the middle of the century, Xhosa prophet Nongqawuse said that if the Xhosa people slaughtered their cattle, then new healthy cattle would rise up to replace them
Additionally, after the slaughter, the ancestral dead of the Xhosa would rise up and drive the European intruders from their land
As a result, the Xhosa killed hundreds of thousands of their own cattle
Unfortunately the only outcome was their own starvation, which made it easier for the British to come in and fly claim their territory
6.4
Global ECONOMIC Changes from 1750-1900 [AP World History Review—Unit 6 Topic 4]
Development of Export Economies
One of the main motivations for imperialism the need for raw materials(copper, cotton, rubber, gold, diamonds) for the factories to turn out manufactured goods
So, as Imperial Powers gained more and more colonies, many of them transformed those colonial economies into export economies
Definition: Economies primarily focused on the export of raw materials or goods for distant markets
Before a lot of these places were colonized, most people in the Americas, Africa, or Asia were subsistence farmers
That just means the farmers grew a variety of foods that they and their families consumed to survive
Once colonization happened, imperial powers reorganized colonial economies around the export of one or two cash crops/natural resources
Imperial powers fundamentally transformed colonial economies to serve their own interests, namely, the extraction of natural resources or the production of industrial crops
Causes of Economic Development
Imperial powers needed raw materials for industrial factories
Industrial production is the means by which states gained and maintained power in this period
Since those machines needed raw materials, then exploiting their colonies to get those raw materials was fine with the states
Ex:Economies of Egypt and India were highly dependent on exporting cotton to Britain
Previously, Britain got most of its cotton supply from the U.S, but after the U.S got into a civil war, the cotton supply dried up
So, Britain cranked up their Egyptian and Indian holdings to produce cotton like mad
By the end of the 19th century, almost the entire Egyptian economy was dedicated to exporting cotton to Britain
Ex: Extraction of palm oil in West Africa
Palm oil was used to manufacture good slike soap and was a critical lubricant for factory machines
Therefore, using enslaved labor, palm oil plantations were established throughout West Africa and their colonial economies were dominated by its export
Ex: Guano Extraction in the Pacific and Atlantic Islands
The mountains of bird poop made real good fertilizer for industrial crop operations
The need to supply food to growing urban centers
As urban cities grew more populous through urbanization, there were more and more people to feed, and therefore they had to import food from elsewhere
Some colonial economies were shifted to meet that need by shifting to cash crop cultivation of popular foods(sugar, coffee)
The growing demand for mead among the middle class and industrial nations was satisfied by industrial ranching operations in Argentina and Brazil
Effects of Economic Development
Profits from exports were used to purchase finished manufactured goods
Britain’s colonial holdings more than doubled over the 19th century
But in most cases, they were less concerned about adding territory than they were about integrating those colonies into a growing network of trade
Colonies provided a closed market for manufactured goods
Because industrial states manufactured far more goods than their own populations could buy, they need other markets for their output
As colonial economies shifted to cash cropping, most of what they need to survive had to be purchased on the world market
Whatever profits they gained from the export of natural resources or mineral extraction went to purchasing finished manufactured goods exported by imperial states
A growing economic dependence of colonial people on their imperial parents
The reorganization of colonial economies only served the interest of the colonizing overlords, not the indigenous people
When imperial states organized colonial economies for their own benefit, that means that the colonial peoples became more dependent upon them for their own wellbeing
6.5
Economic Imperialism, Explained [AP World History Review—Unit 6 Topic 5]
Economic Imperialism
Full-blown colonization is pretty costly and when you’ve got a massive honking empire across the world, you might need to find another way to exploit non-industrial powers that’s a little easier on the wallet
Economic imperialism: The act of one state extending control over another state by economic means
Opium Wars
The influence of Britain and France in China led to a series of conflicts known as the Opium wars
During this period, China went from the center of world power to the edges
Chief among the reasons for this includes their failure to industrialize
Left them vulnerable to o the industrial powers
For a long time, China restricted British traders to a single trading port(Port of Canton)
Caused significant problems for Britain, not least of which was a major trade imbalance between the two states
Although Chinese goods like silk, porcelain, and tea were in high demand in Britain, there was very little demand in China for British-made goods
This means British silver was piling up in China, but no Chinese silver was making its way back to Britain
British increased colonial production of opium in India and illegally exported it to China
Opium is a highly addictive and destructive drug’
Because it was so addictive, more and more of the Chinese population was getting hooked on opium
Effect: Chinese silver started pouring into British coffers
Unsurprisingly, Qing officials weren’t fans of their people getting addicted to the substance
Banned further imports and seized and destroyed opium shipments in the British trading port of Canton
In retaliation, the British showed up in force and that began the first conflict of the Opium Wars
The British defeated and humiliated the Chinese
China was forced to sign a very unequal treaty known as the Treaty of Nanjing
Opened several new trading ports to the British
Gave Britain enormous economic influence over the Chinese
In the middle of the 19th century, the Qing Dynasty began to weaken and fracture for all kinds of reasons, but a major reason was the Taiping Rebellion in the middle of the 19th century
Religious movement among the ethnic Han people that sought to get rid of the foreign Manchu rulers of the Qing Dynasty
It was successful for 15 years, but eventually the Qing military crushed the rebellion
But didn’t succeed without spending metric buttloads of money and causing the death of 20-30 million people
With all this going on, Qing rulers didn’t really have the time or attention or money to think about industrialization
Qing rulers were technically in charge, but things were a little unstable, but they would have been fine as long as some outside industrial powers didn’t come in again to take advantage of that weakness
But they did, namely the British and the French, which leads to the second Opium War
The British and French allied to defeat the Chinese, which again would lead to further unequal treaties and even more trading ports open to Western powers
Ultimately seeing that China couldn’t withstand industrialized powers, several western European nations, as well as Russia and Japan, had carved China up into several spheres of influence
China was dominated economically by these various powers
The industrialized powers didn’t colonize China, but they still made the Chinese economy subservient to their own interests
Port of Buenos Aires
Occurred in Argentina in the Americas
Throughout the 19th century, British businesses and banks invested heavily in Argentina in order to improve its infrastructure, including the construction of thousands of miles of railroads
Several British businesses were interested in setting up operations to extract and export raw materials from Argentina
Construction of a modern trading port in Buenos Aires was completed
Since it was funded by British firms, it was located close to their factories
This lead to an increase in exports to Britain, and an increasing economic dependence on British investment
Trade in Commodities
One important thing to understand about economic imperialism was the reorganization of colonial economies in order to focus on trade and commodities
Commodity: Any good that can be bought and sold on the market
Imperial powers organized the economies of many of their colonial holdings in order to focus on or maybe a handful of exports that those imperial parents demanded
Commodity Trade
Cotton
Grown as cash crops in India and Egypt
Exported to Britain and other European countries
Made those colonial economies dependent on external demand for those raw materials
Palm Oil
Imperial powers that held colonies in Sub-Saharan Africa organized their economies for palm oil extraction
All in all, the trend of the age was to shape the world economy in order to give imperial powers in Europe and the US a distinct economic advantage to the detriment of the colonial populations themselves
6.6
CAUSES of MIGRATION from 1750-1900 [AP World History Review—Unit 6 Topic 6]
Migration: Environmental Causes
The more the world industrialized, the more people began to migrate
Causes of Migration
Demographic Change
Global population exploded
From 1850 to 1914, the population of Europe grew exceedingly fast because of new medicines and increasingly varied diets
Since populations were living longer and people didn’t stop having babies, this led to the population growth
This was especially true in rural areas
Thanks to industrialization and the mechanization of farming, more and more people were out of jobs
The increasing poverty rural people were experiencing pushed them to migrate to urban industrial cities, where they found industrial jobs in abundance
Famine
In some places that didn’t industrialize, they still practiced primitive agriculture
In some cases, the result was a massive and deadly famine
Irish Potato Famine in the 1840s
Devastating
Potato was the staple food of the Irish poor and made up a big portion of their diet
When a blight struck their potato crops in the mid 1840s, it led to widespread famine in which millions of the Irish poor died of starvation
Millions more fled the country and migrated elsewhere, not least the urban center in the U.S
Migration: Technological Causes
What’s different about this period is that when people experience those push factors to migrate, they now had many more options for traveling than ever before
New modes of cheap transportation like the railroad and steamship facilitated this wave of migration both for those who migrated within their own country and those that migrated internationally
Vast majority of these migrants settled in urban centers in both imperial states and in colonial territories where manufacturing jobs were abundant
This led to a massive growth in cities during this period(urbanization)
Many European cities experienced something like a 1000% growth
Many migrants left their homes and never returned from their destination societies, but some of them took advantage of the cheap transportation and returned home
In the part of the 19th century and the early part of the 20th century, hundreds of thousands of Lebanese merchants migrated to places like Argentina and Brazil
Did so for economic opportunities and to escape the religious persecution of the Ottoman Empire
Because the departure and arrival of steamships and sea ports throughout the Americas was kind of a daily reality, a large portion of them were able to return home
Migration: Economic Causes
Boils down to people moving for work
Voluntary migration
Relocated elsewhere freely based on their own decisions and desires
Considered their own joblessness and their economic suffering and voluntarily migrated to find a job
During this period, a lot of migrants to the U.S fit that particular category
Millions of Irish, Italian, and German immigrants left their home societies and relocated to urban centers of the east coast of America
Millions of Chinese immigrants relocated on the western coast, and found work in the booming railroad industry
Coerced & Semi-Coerced Labor
They migrated because they were forced to because the globalized economy still very much relied on coerced and semi-coerced labor
Coerced labor:
The Atlantic Slave trade was still booming at the beginning of this period
Many states that relied on slavery would later abolish in this period, but it was still a significant cause of the forced movement of people early on
Convict Labor
Both the British and the French established penal colonies in various places throughout their empires, including British Australia and French Giana
Instead of spending money to put convicts in jail, they sent them to do hard labor in colonial holdings across the world(railroad building)
Semi-coerced labor:
Indentured servitude
An arrangement in which a laborer would sign a contract to work for a certain number of years, usually between three and seven, in exchange for free passage to their destination
Outright slavery may have been largely abolished, but that doesn’t mean industrialized states didn’t need very cheap labor in order r to keep them on top of the world’s economic heat
Indentured servitude filled a lot of that gap
Because poverty was a growing concern in India, the British government facilitated the migration of indentured Indian to various parts of their empire, including the Caribbean, Africa, and SE Asia
The British also operated tin mines in Malaysia, where they made use of Chinese indentured servants who were suffering the effects of poverty at home
6.7
The EFFECTS of MIGRATION, Explained [AP World History Review—Unit 6 Topic 7]
Effect #1: Gender Imbalance
Occurred in the home societies of many migrants
Majority of migrants during this period were men seeking jobs in urban centers or cash cropping operations
Result: there were far more women than men in their home society
Led to the necessity of women taking on roles that were traditionally male roles
In areas where subsistence farming was the norm, men traditionally broke the ground for planting and tended the livestock
But now, with all those men gone, it was women who took up those traditionally masculine and physical duties
Family structures in those places began to change
In South Africa, where men were absent in larger numbers than they were in many other places, about 60% of the households were now led by women
Women in some places in Africa were able to sell excess food(cassava) on the market, and were thus able to gain financial independence
As women gained more and more independence in this region, a popular saying gained popularity
“What is man? I have my own money”
Effect #2: Ethnic Enclaves
Definition: A geographic area with a high concentration of people of the same ethnicity and culture within a foreign culture
Because migrants tended to move to cities, nearly every major urban area in the western hemisphere had a growing and diverse immigrant population that lived together in these enclaves
Effects of Enclaves
Outpost
Provided a small outpost of the migrants’ culture in the receiving society where they spoke their native language, practice their religion, and ate ethnically distinct foods from home
These were places of familiarity in the midst of very unfamiliar surroundings
Ex: Indians who migrated to Mauritius and Natal were both Hindu and Muslim, practiced these religions together in their ethnic enclaves
Cultural Diffusion
The presence of these communities also contributed to cultural diffusion of their home cultures into their receiving societies
Ex:Irish enclaves were present in cities in the Eastern U.S
The U.S considered itself Protestant, but the growth of the Irish population led to an unprecedented growth of Catholicism
Ex:Chinese migrants to SE Asia clustered together into ethnic enclaves
Over time became key players in the colonial economy
Effect #3: Nativism
Definition: Policy of protecting the interests of native born people over against the interests of immigrants
Even though immigrants filled the lower-paying jobs that the native born didn’t want, thus contributing significantly to the economies of those places, they were often met with a kind of nativist resistance
Nativism is root in ethnic and racial prejudice, or a fear of cultural difference
Ex: The Irish in the U.S were deemed a lower race and marginalized in cities in which they lived and worked
Because they were Irish, this justified their political and social marginalization for a long time
In response to those nativist reactions, some governments actually passed policies to restrict immigration to their state
Government policies to Restrict Immigrants
Chinese Exclusion Act
Passed in the U.S
Chinese immigrants were vital in the construction of railroads that connected the vast territory of the US
Even then, native born Americans began to resent the growing number of Chinese people, which led to several anti-Chinese riots in the 1870s and 1880s
Chinese immigrants were brutalized and lynched
As a result, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, which banned all Chinese immigration to the US
White Australia Policy
Passed by the British government
Australia also received large numbers of Chinese immigrants in the 19th century and there was a similar nativist backlash there
So, the British government was concerned to keep Australia British(White), so they introduced the White Australia Policy
Almost completely cut off the flow of Asian immigrants to Australia