Unit 2 - Imperialism

What is the "White Man's Burden"?

A poem written by Rudyard Kipling after America's colonization of the Philippines was won c. 1899. The poem not only glamorized the colonizing European culture and represented an internal justification to their imperialism, but in modern day views can be seen as suggesting the extremely racist ideology that it was the "manifest destiny" of caucasian Europeans to conquer the world to civilize into European culture during the time.

Why did the Europeans want to colonize Africa?

African colonization offered Europeans with a "safety value" to accommodate their growing populations and industrialization. The Europeans could no longer expand their countries without facing major conflict in Europe, while African lands were considered unclaimed

Classification

All cultures have categories to distinguish people into "us and them" by ethnicity, race, religion, or nationality

Dehumanization

At this point, genocide is prevalent. One group denies the humanity of the other group with hateful propaganda

A

Audience - What person or group does the author intend to inform or influence? Explain HOW the intended audience impacts what is written. "The author's intended audience is ______." This is shown by________"

What did Cecil Rhodes do, and how did that impact Africa?

Cecil Rhodes had a major impact on the African economy. Cecil's position in the diamond industry is responsible for the general conditions of how the industries function today. Cecil's instatement of communication systems and transportation systems increased communication and trade efficiency, allowing Africa to become more unified.

Who is Cecil Rhodes?

Cecil Rhodes was a British entrepreneur. In the late 1800's, Cecil Rhodes saw in African land, while at the time considered "vacant" and full of "uncivilized, underdeveloped societies", a vast potential for the expansion of the "great European Empire". Cecil Rhodes is accredited to European railroads and electrical telegraph systems in Africa, as well as monopolization on Africa's diamond industry.

C

Connections - How does this document connect with OTHER documents in this packet?

How did Europeans face the tropics of Africa?

Europeans were defenseless against the deadly African disease, Malaria. Carried by mosquitoes that breed by water, the contagious disease spread quickly amongst the waterside colonies of the Europeans who had never encountered the disease before. The Europeans put themselves in a position to be quickly picked off by the disease they had no remedy to, similarly to what the natives were facing to European diseases, basically the tables had turned. Recognizing that the native Africans were not affected by this predicament, they enslaved the Africans into doing the work they could not under their order?

Polarization

Extremists drive groups apart, may be reinforced with specific laws. Hate propaganda is amplified. Moderates are the first to be targeted.

Organization

Genocide is always organized, usually by the state. often using planned militias for killings to provide deniability of state responsibility.

What is the concept of "Guns, Germs, and Steel" and what makes them so important

Guns, Germs, and Steel is the leverage which has allowed certain countries to surpass others in development. The use of guns and steel for weaponry, the use of germs in terms of disease, and the monetary value of steel, allows countries

H

Historical Context/Background

Would you consider what is happening in the C.A.R. a genocide? Why or why not?

I believe that what is currently occurring in the Central African Republic is a genocide. A genocide is defined as "the deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular ethnic group or nation.". In the current conflict in the Central African Republic, there are two sides: The sékéla and the anti-bakala. They are both committing war crimes against the other side and innocent civilians, such as mass murder and rape. The fighting has occurred in the destruction of many of the Central African Republic's infrastructure, such as schools, medical facilities, and even entire villages. Because they are indiscriminately killing the other side and innocent civilians in such a grand scale, what is happening right now in the Central African Republic is a genocide. - Eric L.

How did the Belgians feel about the Congo?

It is important to consider the fact that the Belgian government did not originally desire to claim the Congo as a Belgian colony. The Belgians did not try to resist the Congolese because they saw no reason to. They'd already found reasonable success in what they'd already taken out of the country. There were Belgians who believed that they had done a great favour of "taking on the white man's burden" for the people of the Congo to bring them to civilization. The Belgians had no form of acknowledgement for any form of oppression or brutal abuse of their powers upon the people of the Congo. Despite the fact they promised to help the Congo adjust to its newly formed independent state, they did little to prepare the Congo as a country under European infrastructures.

How were the Congolese treated as a result of colonization?

Life in the Congo was filled with unrest and abusive oppression. Segregation between the 110,000 Europeans, who had claimed nearly half of the colony's income, and the 13.5 million Congolese, was extremely prominent, especially in the cases of living areas, medical access, government representation, and most importantly, education. While the Congo Free State was larger and more diverse than Belgium itself, the borders cut through native African states which were illegal to pass freely, as well as practice their native cultural religions. Africans were forced either into aiding the purge of the Congo's natural resources in terrible conditions, or into the Force Publique to intimidate and abuse their own people under terrible living conditions and abuse of their Belgian officers.

Extension

Limitations & Connection

L

Limitations - How is this document limited? What information is missing? Why? What is the "silent voice" that is ignored by this document? What is the effect of the limitation?

What precautions did other nations, who were at the same risk, take to prevent coming to the same position as Africa today?

Malaysia and Singapore studied their geography and the germs that posed a danger to them once they realized they risked the same fate as Africa if they didn't do so. As a result developed ways of nearly completely eradicating natural issues in their countries, as well as taking measures to prevent their occurrence, such as Malaria. While Africa suffers from a major population loss over Malaria, Malaysia and Singapore's lack of this deadly disease and other issues has allowed more people of their country to prosper as well as allowed the country to spend less on health treatments.

Extermination

Mass killings of "nonhuman" victims from certain groups.

P #2

Point of View - Identify who the author is. What perspective does this represent? Explain HOW the author's perspective might have impacted what he/she wrote. "The author's point of view is ______." This is shown by______."

P #1

Purpose - What was the author trying to accomplish by creating this document? How does he/she achieve this goal? "The author's intended purpose in writing was to _______." This is shown by ___________."

S

Summary of Document

How does this represent the "single story" i.e. who was not represented?

The Berlin Conference represented native African erasure, as seen in the DBQ document, "the Great African Hunt". The story of the Berlin Conference limits us to believe that the land of Africa was divided through the process of negotiations amongst fourteen other foreign countries, a process only affecting all countries outside of Africa, causing us to neglect to consider the concept of how the Africans were affected by this occurrence, as well as how they reacted to this unjust division and the impacts of imperialism.

Who did the Berlin Conference represent?

The Berlin Conferences represented the major political leaders of the greater European and U.S. powers. It was intended for countries who wanted to expand into Africa.

How did Congolese people gain independence?

The Conglo abruptly received independence from Belgium in the early 1960's. Openly rebellious African groups from various backgrounds unified together against the Belgians for their independence, as a result of various factors such as, including increasing unrest among the Congo's large working class, colonial reforms that allowed Africans to form political parties, and growing international criticism of colonialism. Unable to pacify the crowd, facing international criticism from the act of colonialism, as well as not wanting to have the colony in the first place, the Belgians left the Congolese, allowing them to instate their own prime ministers and presidents of their independent Congo.

Why did the Europeans believe in the "White Man's Burden"?

The Europeans considered themselves to be the "true humans" on earth, believing that their civilized societies gave them permission to enforce the same culture onto others. Those who went out to carry out this mission were therefore "heroes", and the people they oppressed were nothing but uncivilized, lower-human scum.

What are the consequences of European colonization in Africa due to disease?

The Europeans made an impact on African culture when they started colonizing by the waters; in modern Africa (which has been highly influenced by European culture), Malaria is spread at a terrifying rate throughout highly populated areas. Few measures are taken to prevent the spread of Malaria in Africa and Africans are losing the immunity to the disease they once had as a result of the disease mutating. African countries like Zambia face poverty as a result of a low population growth with so many people, children and adults alike, dying off quickly, this all meaning less minds, less workers, and less reproducers in the country. They also have to spend a significant amount of money and time on treatments and other issues that have arisen as a result of the disease.

Why were Europeans the first to develop forces necessary to conquer vast portions of the world?

The Europeans originated from a geographically bless region of the world. The main reason that societies become advanced is due to location which allows people to go from hunter-gather societies and instead cultivate agriculture and domesticate animals to the point where there is a surplus of food. Once people no longer need to worry about their basic needs, specialists are given the chance to focus on their skills and advance society based on their merits like so. This indirectly lead to the advancement of military technology since developing more potent technology would allow people to compete with their rivals.

How were Europeans able to conquer the South African Cape successfully?

The Europeans were able to settle in the South African cape successfully because the region was strikingly similar to the temperate zones of Europe that they knew, allowing them to continue to farm their crops. Europeans also had germs (like Smallpox) and guns which allowed them to kill off the native people who opposed them.

What is the Berlin Conference?

The conference comprised of the greater European powers (ex. Italy, UK, Denmark, etc.) and the U.S., which took place in 1884-1885 in Berlin, Germany, discussed how to fairly partition Africa for colonization. It inevitably resulted in the "Scramble for Africa" i.e. "the Great African Hunt".

What is the danger of a single story

The danger of a single story is that we get sucked into the idea that an event occurred a single way, as a result we are slow to regard the full story of what may have actually happened.

Denial

The perpetrators of genocide deny that they committed any crimes, and often blame what happened on the victims

What are the consequences of colonization on the Congo today?

The struggling country of the modern day Congo has only been independent for the last 55 years, while beforehand, they had been under European rule for more than 75 years. The impacts of European colonialism left the Congo has the country it is today.While the Congo soon instituted their own Prime Ministers and Presidents, unsure of how to operate the European infrastructures, they quickly continued to follow much of the oppressive cultures they were taught in order to keep their country in motion. As a result, modern day Congo still continues to face conflicts trying to balance European cultural society and African cultural society, they're still in the phase of rebuilding their country as a unified community with their newly earned independence.

Preparation

Victims are identified and separated, often forced into living situations where their basic needs are not fulfilled

Symbolization

We give names or other symbols to the classifications.

How was the Congo colonized?

When Congo land first was divided up by the Europeans who ruled there for more than seventy five years, King Leopold II of Belgium was the first to make claims in the region for his personal landholding, officially recognized at the Berlin Conference in 1889. However, King Leopold II brutally abused the people in the Congo in order to maximize the economy of export of rubber and ivory from the Congo to Europe. While having disparagingly terrible impacts on the people of the Congo and strain on resources, the money accumulated would be put towards public works and development in Belgium. As a result, the international community demanded that King Leopold II pull back his colonial system and in turn the Belgian government, despite not having initial interest to have such a such a colony, took power reluctantly.

Imperialism

When one country forces its culture and forms of government on another country while it colonizes it through diplomacy, economically or military force. Usually occurs between a larger country and a smaller one

What did the Europeans consider "Darkness" to be?

When the Europeans first colonized Africa during the Age of Exploration c. 1500 B.C., there was hesitation to settle the interior of Africa due to its "darkness". The literal meaning implied is due to the unknown, wild terrain of Africa, new forms of flora and fauna, challenging geography, and disease. The figurative meaning implied is the inherent, irrational fear of African people (racism), as seen in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, a book about a European journalist who makes himself a god of an African tribe.

How did people in the Congo resist colonialism?

While there were still regions of the Congo which were still trying to recover from the effects of the Atlantic slave trade, overall, it was the ordinary people in most cases who lead the resistance Some groups organized armed resistance to the colonial system while others formulated more common strategies through various forms of civil disobedience. such as desertion, migration, or withdrawing to remote regions that were not yet under colonial control.