HIS 121Chapter 2

High Tide of Imperialism:Africa and Asia

Industrialists and governments found:they needed more and more marketplaces for

all the goods they were producing

they needed sources of raw materials for their factories

As a result, many European countries and the United States set out to find both

By the end of the 19th century, most traditional societies in Asia and Africa had been taken as colonies by European nations like Great Britain, France, Italy, Belgium, Germany, and Portugal, plus the United States

** Why did they feel they could do this?

The Myth of Western SuperiorityWestern societies believed they were direct

descendants of the magnificent civilizations of Greece and Rome

Didn’t the Enlightenment take place in Europe?

Didn’t the Industrial Revolution take place in Europe?

Didn’t Europe invent the “tools” necessary to easily take over more primitive people?

Doesn’t that prove Europe’s innate superiority?

Not exactly, if you look at the whole pictureEurope did not invent or discover everythingEurope did not start the world trade network;

they began some parts of itAsia and Africa already had an established

trade network

Mongols controlled the land-based trade routes in Eurasia in the 13th and 14th centuries

Muslims controlled many of the sea lanes in the East

These trade routes carried not only commercial goods like silk and spices, but also inventions and ideas like Arabic numerals and gunpowderMany of these, including what we call Arabic

numerals, originated in China or India

Europeans had become familiar with these goods and ideas and wanted more, especially the spices

To get them, they needed to reach IndiaIn 1498 Vasco da Gama representing the

Portuguese reached IndiaThey found trading difficult there because the

Indians were not interested in European trade goods like wool and cast iron pots, and they didn’t wish to convert to Christianity

Asians would, however, trade their goods for European silver bullion

Vasco da Gama also discovered that there was an already established trading network, and European countries would have to find a way to fit into it

The Trading NetworkStretched from the Middle East and Africa to

East Asia and was divided into 3 main zones: an Arab region, an Indian region, and a Chinese region

There were peripheral regions in Japan, S.E. Asia, and East Africa

The spices bearing the highest prices came from Sri Lanka and Indonesia

The Portuguese realized they couldn’t keep paying silver bullion for Asian goods, so they decided to force their way into the network

They had superior ships and weapons

They took advantage of divisions or factions among the Asians in order to break into the trade network

From 1507 onward, the Portuguese took towns and built forts in a number of places like Ormuz (1507), Goa (1510), and Malacca (1511)

Goa

Malacca

Asians tried to fight back but were defeatedThe Portuguese goal was to establish a

monopoly over the spice trade and to license all vessels trading in their area

The Portuguese had limited successIn the 17th century, the Dutch and the English

entered the trade network challenging Portugal

The Dutch took over Malacca and Batavia (today’s Jakarta, Indonesia)

The English took India after failing to take the “Spice Islands”

India was the first major Asian civilization to fall to a European power

The Rise of IndiaAryansHarappans, 1500 BCE (had agriculture)Mauryas, 3rd century BCE (laid the foundation for technology)Guptas, 300 CE (Hinduism enters)Turks in the north, 11th century CE (Islamic) Mughal, 15th century CE

Islamic Had organized politics and culture Peaked under Akbar in 17th century Hindus began to challenge them Mughals were severely weakened by the end of 18th century

Into this weakened area came the British who took over because they had better firepower and guile

By 1900, European nations had taken most of S.E. Asia as colonies

European nations weren’t the only ones taking new territory; the United States began taking colonies as well but called them territories1898 – U.S. Naval Forces under Commodore

George Dewey took the Philippines

So European powers practiced ImperialismWhy?

to control certain goodsto spread Christianityto make a profitto bring prestige to their nationsto get raw materials for industry and new

marketplaces

Some call it God, Gold, & Glory -- the 3 Gs

It is sometimes explained in higher terms:Moral obligationMight makes rightSurvival of the fittestTo bring stability and organizationTo bring God to the heathen masses

AfricaAlthough Europeans didn’t really take

territory in Africa until the 19th century, they had traded with Africans since the 15th century

The Portuguese were the first Europeans to have investigated the African coast; they established trade and set up forts

The Portuguese first traded in slavesOther Europeans later joined in this trade of

slaves

Europeans weren’t the only ones to deal in slavery; nearly every pre-modern society around the globe has depended on slavery to some extent

It is linked to warfare and the taking of captives

Since ancient times, slaves from Africa have been taken and used by those around the Mediterranean

Slaves were also taken from other areas: Eastern Europe and Central Asia

All slavery, however, involved the forceful exploitation and degradation of some humans for the profit of others, the denial of basic freedoms, and the break-up of families

Before the 15th century, Africans were taken as slaves into Islamic lands of the Mediterranean, S.W. Asia, and S. Asia; it was called the Oriental Trade

European slave trade was called the Occidental Tradefrom 1650-1850, the European slave trade

surpassed all others

European nations and the United States began to outlaw the importation of slaves in the early 19th century; demand dropped and prices dropped

The formal end to slavery by Europeans occurred over a long period beginning in 1874 in the Gold Coast and ending only in 1928 in Sierra Leone in West Africa

The Effects on AfricansMillions were takenTalent goneAfricans acted as middlemenAfricans had a different idea of what a slave

wasThey were captives who more or less became a

member of the family to be used as a sacrifice if needed

As Europeans began outlawing slavery, legitimate trade began – trade in raw materials like palm nuts, palm oil, peanuts, timber, and hides

Europeans sent in traders, explorers, and missionaries

To protect their interests, Europeans set up settlements and sent in government officials

This caused tension with the Africans

When Africans tried to protect and defend their territory, Europeans annexed their territory

Ex.: the Gold Coast was the first British colony taken in 1874

British had superiorsUsed direct and indirect ruleQuinine made exploration and capture of the

interior of Africa possible

White Settlement of South Africa17th century: Dutch East India Company set

up a station at the Cape of Good Hope1657: colonization was allowed; a Dutch-

speaking, slave-owning, agricultural community developed

They were called the Boers ( Dutch for peasant)

They felt entitled to 6,000 acres eachThe Boers moved in and pushed out the

Bantu tribeBantus moved into Zulu territory which

resulted in a conflict called the Mfecane or crushing

Zulus fought back in one of the most widely devastating upheavals of the 19th century

Zulus remained independent until the late 1870s

As a result of the Napoleonic Wars, the British were given control of the Cape of Good Hope in 1806

Boers resented the British presence1820s: British settlers arrived and

disapproved of the Boer lifestyle - slavery

1830s: some Boers began to move away from the Cape of Good Hope and founded a new colony called Natal

1830s: British gave the Cape of Good Hope a constitution and a parliamentary government; this included a non-racial franchise

Differences between the 2 groups gave rise to Afrikaner nationalism

1845: British annexed Natal

The Boers moved again and set up 2 new republics : the Orange Free State and the Transvaal

The British recognized them in 1852 and 1854

At this point South Africa had 2 British and 2 Dutch colonies

1867: diamonds were discovered near the junction of the Orange and Vaal Rivers on the western edge of the Orange Free State

Both the British and the Dutch wanted this diamond territory; British got it

1886: gold was discovered in the Transvaal at Witwatersrand near Johannesburg and a gold rush ensued

British built railroads to get to the gold; the Boers felt threatened

Many British entrepreneurs like Cecil Rhodes moved in

Cecil Rhodes became the Prime Minister of Cape Colony in the 1890s and tried to destabilize the Transvaal government; it didn’t work & ended Rhodes political career

War broke out between the British and the Boers, called the Boer War, 1899-1902

The British wonAfter the war, the British moved towards unificationNatal, Cape Colony, Transvaal, and Orange Free

State became the Union of South Africa, a dominion

Dutch and English were the official languagesVoting rights would remain as they had been before

the war, so there would be no voting by blacks in former Boer republics

ConnectionsIndustrial Revolution

A need for raw materials

A need for marketplaces

New inventions that made take-over easier

Colonies

New culture imposed

The old is destroyed