6.5 - Economic Imperialism

slavery was outlawed in British colonies but it elsewhere in Africa.

-the french army often paid its african soldiers in slaves, and french colonial administrators relied on slaves for many of their staff. -it was not until 1912 that slave raiding and trading was su[[ressed in most of Africa. Slavery was not abolished by law throughout Africa until the first quarter of the 20th century

britain had invested more in argentina than in its own colony of INdia

British investors, entrepreneurs, and business leaders helped turn Argentina into the richest country in Latin America and one of the dozen richest in the world by the outbreak of the world war 1 -they improved breeding stock and developed large-scale farming throughout the grassy plains, known as the Pampas -they also financed infrastructure and building projects, such as the railroad and telegraph systems -because of its location on the shallow Rio de la Plata, Buenos Aires needed to build a new port to facilitate passenger service and the massive import and export of goods and services. the British fianced and designed the new port, Puerto Madera

the U.S. was not yet as established a world power as britian or France -however the second instrual revolution brought newfound prosperity to the young republic

US corporate investments came later and were concentrated at first in Mexico and Cuba -these investments supported infrastructure and industry, especially railways, shipping, and the emerging banking and finical sectors -they also financed mining, gunao, and meat processing and packing plants -the Monroe doctrine, the US policy of opposing European colonialism in the Americas, told the world that latin america was in the US sphere of influence

the power of investments to transform and dominate small or weak states could also be seen in the pacific islands

a group of American businesses and sugar planters in Hawaii went too far as to overthrow the constitutional monarchy in 1893, hoping that the islands would be annexed by the US -1898- Hawaii became a territory of the US

the agricultural influence and power of raw materials shifted away from Asia and Latin America to industrialized states such as Britain, the US, France, Japan, and Germany. -economic imperialism

a situation in which foreign business interests have great economic power or influence, developed as businesses took advantage of natural resources beyond their borders -people, raw materials, and refined materials were the main reosurces exploited. .

england's defeat of the Spanish Armada created an opening for the

british and dutch to take over the spice trade in asia from the spanish and portuguese, who formerly had a monopoly on it

for centuries, India was the world's leading supplier of finished cotton textiles. -by late 18th century, the industrial revolution and a new source of cotton from america had allowed Britian to flood the market with inexpensive textiles, pushing independent indian textile artisans out of business

by late 19th century, India was producing only raw cotton for Britain, not cotton textiles -after Britain's textile factories processed India's cotton, the colonial government sold some of its factory-made or "finished" textiles back to the Indian subcontinent at inflated prices

The English East India Company formed to engage in the lucrative price trade. -but the company soon ran into opposition from the dutch

by mid-1600s cotton and silk textiles from India had replaced spices as the East India company's major import, and by 1700s the company dominated the world textile trade -Indian weaves learned to create fabrics with patterns that would appeal to European tastes. -with the industrial revolution, India began supplying raw cotton to the textile mills of Britain, and the demand for finished Indian textiles decreased.

some companies felt a moral responsibility to oppose the use of enslaved people in the production of the raw materials they used

cash crop production in french-ruled colonies in Africa came about as a result of the end of the slave trade in the french empire in 1848, along with the economic transformation brought about in France by the industrial revolution -quaker owned Cadbury's, for example, stopped buying slave-grown coca from Portuguese African colonies after the slave trade was exposed

the conflict between britian and china ( opium war) revealed the fate of nonindsurlized nations

china had not anticipated the power that industrialized nations were gaining or the shift in the balance of power that was taking place -industrialized nations in europe would begin to dominate and defeat states that lacked the military technology needed to stand against british steamships and weaponry

britain replaced spain as latin america's major trading partner

companies based in Britain became the largest investors in latin america, followed by ones from france and germany. -Europeans invested over $10 billion in latin america, primarily in argentina, mexico, and brazil

patterns of imperial control over territories and transportation networks in central America, the Carribean coast of Columbia, Ecuador, and the west indies continued as

companies sought political domaince to gain monopolies over natural resources

Egypt had embraced cotton as a cash crop before the American Civil War and more than doubled production.

cotton accounted for 93% of Egypt's exports -it was also the leading cash crop in Sudan, where the Plantation Syndicate, a group of British weaving companies, dictated land use to farmers. -while the British colonized Uganda, they encouraged cotton as a cash crop there as well, and it soon replaced enslaved people and ivory as the chief

slavery in africa: slave labor was used to produce many of the cash crops,

especially oil palms ( which produced palm kernels as well as palm oil) , coffee, and cocoa

reliance on a single cash crop, one grown to be sold, in a country or region left many Africans vulnerable during periods of drought, economic decline, or failing world prices

food production declined as farmers chose to plant cash crops such as cotton, which would increase the value of their land. -food shortages, even amines, could arise because the most arable land was devoted to growing crops for export

before colonization, most farming in Africa was to raise food crops -after colonization, land that had been devoted to growing food was converted to cash crop production to provide raw materials for European industries and goods for european markets

in exchange, the Africans received cotton textiles, canned food, and alcoholic beverages -this unequal trade structure made the colonies economically dependent on the imperial powers

In Kenya, most native peoples were herders.

in the fertile rift valley, the colonial government gave the land to white settlers, forcing most africans to relocate -those who remained were forced to provide cheap labor for white farmers. African farmers were to also forbidden to participate in export for any cash crops, and prohibited from growing some cash crops, such as coffee and tea

the treaty of Nanking required china to

open up four additional ports to foreigners, cede the island of hong kong to britian, and pay damages. -it also forced the Chinese to allow free trade, which the british took to include trade in opium

another critical raw material for Britian was the drug opium

selling it to chinese became very profitable for Britain -the chinese, as Lin Zexu expressed in the letter to Queen Victoria, objected to the export of opium to their country, and the conflict resulted in the first opium war. -the chinese paid a heavy price for their attempt to curtail the opium trade and ended up losing much trading independence

the industrial revolution developed the demand for raw materials and the technological abilities through

steamships, railroads,s and military weapons to control over territories -these set the stage for economic imperialism

neither biritan nor china was completed satisfied with the treaty of nanking

the British wants the use of opium legalized, while the Chinese were unhappy about the concessions they had been forced to make

the Chinese emperor criminalized the use of opium. However, the ban had little effect. -the Chinese objection to the importation of this drug led to the first opium war

the chinese government seized the british opium warehoused in the port of Canton ( Guangzhou) -war broke out when british warships destroyed a chinese blockade keepings ships from canton, the only port china allowed to train with foreigners -the british attacked and occupied canton and engaged in several other successful battles, finally capturing nanking ( nanjing)

the Dutch East India Company had a monopoly on trade with the dutch east indies ( Indonesia), where the spice islands were located. -it had switched its focus from shipping to agricultural production

the dutch government revoked the company's charter and took direct control of the dutch east indies -the dutch government introduced the culture system, which forced farmers to choose between growing cash crops for export or performing corvee labor, compulsory unpaid work. -under this system, villagers either had to set aside 1/5 of their rice fields for such export crops as sugar, coffee, or indigo or work in a government field for 66 days if they had no land. -the practice was finally abolished in 1870

hostilities erupted after Chinese officers board a British trading ship, searched it, lowered the flag, and arrested some Chinese sailors

the french joined the British in what came to be known as the second opium war. -the treaty of Tientsin ( Tianjin) following that war allowed foreign envoys to reside in Beijing, opened several new ports to western trade and residence and allowed freedom of movement for Christian missionaries -after additional negotiations, opium was legalized, and china ceded to britian the southern portion of Kowloon peninsula, which was adjacent to Hong KOng

Latin America was subjected to imperialist aggression from both Europe and the United States.

the new imperialism was concerned with a world capitalist economy as the industrialized nations of Europe and the United States sought raw materials,low-wage labor, and new markets for their goods -the emerging middle-classes of latin america were hungry for the latest european new and fashions

brazil once had a booming rubber industry. However, it declined after people began growing rubber in malaysia at a lower ost

the shift of rubber production demonstrated how trade was organized to the advantage of companies based in Europe and the United States -economic competition brought prosperity to some regions, but it was always fragile

foreign investors often used their government to act as "strong men" to help them achieve the needs they wanted -the united fruit company was an American corporation that traded in tropical fruit, primarily bananas, grown on latin american plantations and sold in the US and in Europe

the united fruit company allied itself with large landowners to pressure governments to maintain conditions that would be favorable for the US company

Spain colonized Chile. -chile's economic development was initially dependent on the export of agricultural produce

the wealth of these raw materials brought dependency on spain and tension among neighboring states -copper would come to dominate chile's exports -the mining sector in chile would come to be one of the pillars of the chilean economy, making up more than 1/3 of government income

Japan, France, Germany, Russia, and the united states sought the same trading privileges that britian attained after winning the opium wars

these nations began forcing china to give exclusive trading rights in areas known as spheres of influence -it was at this time that the open door policy, proposed by the US, allowed for a system of trade in china to be open to all countries equally in order to keep anyone power from total control of china

after missionaries introduced ( in kenya), coca became the major cash crop on the gold coast.

this region soon became the largest coca producer in the world -cocoa was also an important cocoa producer in the world -cocoa was also an important cash crop in the ivory coast, nigeria, and the portuguese colonies of Sao tome and angola -pail oil, palm kernels, and peanuts ( also called groundnuts) were already major exports from west africa before colonization. It was a valuable raw material because it was used as a lubricant for the machines of the industrial revolution in europe

O.Hnery cointed the term "Banana republics"

to describe small central American countries under the economic power of foreign-based corporations -the banana republics were politically unstable states with an economy dependent upon the exportation of a limited-resource product, such as bananas or minerals

Chinese goods such as porcelain silk and tea were in great demand in Great Britain. But the Chinese were not interested in British goods, and in this trade imbalance, British silver reserves became very low

to make up for this shortfall, the East India Company began forcing farmers in India to grow opium, an addictive hallucinogenic drug that also relieves pain and reduces stress. -the company then sold it for silver in China, where there were millions of people addicted to the illegal drug the company then used its profits to buy tea and other goods

Cash crops and mineral resources were produced on a large scale. As in the colonial era, colonial powers served their own economic interests by

turning colonies into export economies that produced goods not for domestic use but to be sent to colonial powers to sell for profit