CHAPTER 25: The West and the World

Les Introduction

New imperialism, or the drive for European powers to politically expand their empires abroad, caused many countries to be unhappy. These were the Third World countries which were not industrialized as the West was. One of the main ideas of Chapter 25 is that by having such a wide cultural gap between nations, the stronger, more powerful nations could come in and take over the weaker nations to a certain extent. Britain did this with several countries and it turned out well... for a little while. The more industrialized European nations like Britain wanted to expand their ability to import and export materials so they colonized in areas that had the resources they desired.

Objective: In this blog the goal is to thoroughly be able to tell what new imperialism was all about. It will tell what happened during the new imperialism phase.

EQ: Why were Europeans so eager to implement imperialism? The European powers wanted to be as powerful as possible. To do this they thought that they should have as much territory as possible; especially in the African regions that were rich with goods like gold and spices. By controlling and colonizing important land throughout the world, European powers could gain what they desired: wealth and power.




The Political Cartoons

This political cartoon represents John Bull, a general personification of England, reaching his octopus tentacles out to other nations. It represents the imperialistic desires England had and succeeded in acquiring. The artist's opinion of this cartoon seems to be that England is a bit power hungry in its quest for territorial acquisitions since Bull's face has a sort of evil grin. I enjoy the octopus aspect of the cartoon because it shows how much Britain really got all over the world and stuck there with its imperialistic tentacles.

Also featuring John Bull representing England, this cartoon depicts the grubby hands of England taking Africa for its gold fields and other resources. The author's opinion of this seems to be that rather than England's head getting too big, its hands are. Having the hands be large symbolizes the spread of land that the country got its hands on. The larger the hands, the larger the surface of the globe they cover. I like the fact that by having Bull's hands laid out the way they are, it makes it seem as though the author intentionally had Britain grubby for African gold.




Political Cartoon: US Imperialism Edition

This political cartoon depicts President Obama's ideas regarding spending. The donkey representing the Liberal party is smugly condoning Obama shoving money into the personified fat Uncle Sam as Debt. The elephant that represents the Conservative party is eyeing Obama as though he is unconvinced that this plan will work. The author is using this cartoon to sarcastically comment on the growing debt that is not being solved by Obama's methods. I like this cartoon since it comically depicts the circle of spending and increasing debt Obama seems to have put Uncle Sam into.




Is the United States Imperialistic? Is it??

Pro: The US was imperialistic

1.) The US colonized territories like Hawaii which was running on its own from the Dole fruit company. The group of Americans overthrew Queen Liliuokalani's rule. The Hawaiian islands were, after a few years, annexed into the United States.
2.) The idea of "manifest destiny" was used to promote western expansion of America. The Americans took the Native Americans' land during westward expansion and fought with them to obtain it.
3.) America's gunboat diplomacy with Japan was enacted because wanted to share ports with Japan in a civilized way since they viewed Japan's isolation as barbaric. America wanted Japan to share their ports and behave civilly. Matthew Perry went into Japan and with gunboat diplomacy forced military punishment if they did not open two of their ports for trade with America.

Con:
1.) The US is not imperialistic because one of the main goals of the nation is to spread the idea of liberty and want other countries to succeed as America has. This is similar to but very different from the "white man's burden" because America does not want to condescend other nations or force them from their ways, but merely set an example of a path to follow.
2.) Teddy Roosevelt reinstated the Monroe Doctrine which basically said that the US was opposed to European powers trying to expand westward and that if they attempted to, the US would take it as a direct threat. This shows how much the US did not want to colonize or see other nations have an imperialistic attitude.
3.) The US was not imperialistic because it was a nation built on liberty. With these principles, the nation could not control another country as an overbearing figure. The United States believes in freedom so it may not infringe on these rights against other countries.




What was the US doing?

Queen Liliuokalani

The US at this time was forming its own great amount of nationalism along with its quest for more land. The US annexed Hawaii in 1898 which the Hawaiian government was not very happy about. Queen Liliuokalani was dethroned and her kingdom disbanded. The United States gained the resources Hawaii had and its closeness to Japan was a major boost to the security and trade for the nation. However even today, Hawaii has retained much of its culture that it had when it was its own kingdom.

The Spanish-American war was occurring in 1898. The US intervened in Spanish affairs after the USS Maine sunk in Havana. Spain was intervening on Cuban designs and the US came to help Cuba out which caused tensions between the US and Spain. So while the US was helping Cuba out, Spain decided to declare war. Spain lost this war against America and had to renounce its claim on Cuba and cede Guam and Puerto Rico to the US. The treaty that did this was the Treaty of Paris in 1898. The Treaty also made the sovereignty over the Philippines go to the US. 


**This is similar to the rule Britain had in India because it gave the British the benefits of the Indian resources so they could trade with other countries. The United States acquired territories that it could use for trading and resourceful purposes.




European Turmoil: An Uprising

One of the major uprisings over imperialism against the British was the Sepoy mutiny which started in Meerut, India on May 10, 1857. The Sepoys were Indian soldiers in the British army so when they, being Muslim and Hindu, had to rip their gun cartridges made out of pork and cow off with their mouths, they got upset since that violated their religion. The rebellion spread throughout India and only resulted when the British East India Company was dissolved. The rebellion led to reforms in the army as well as the financial and administration systems. The British held even stronger control on India.

An Uprising From the Present Day

The famous Boxer rebellion about Chinese "Boxers" who disliked foreigners trying to westernize China and say that the Chinese beliefs were wrong simply because they were not with the status-quo of the west. A couple hundred missionaries were killed as well as a few thousand Chinese Christians. This is similar to the rebellion in December 2010 in Tunisia where Tunisian citizens, while not being upset with foreigners, were upset with their government's corruption and political restrictions. A street vendor named Mohammed Bouazzizi set himself on fire in his home which set off the revolt where young educated, unemployed people took to the streets and could not be contained. This all caused the Tunisian president to go into exile and the military to go into shambles with two different sides battling each other.





Spotlight On the Suez Canal

The Suez Canal was first built in 1869 because of the French diplomat Ferdinand de Lesseps's request and the Universal Suez Ship Canal Company was formed to make it. Today, the Suez canal still connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea at the Gulf of Suez. The Canal allowed trade between Europe and Asia to be done much faster than before since ships did not have to sail around the coast of Africa. The canal is controlled by the Suez Canal Authority. There is a railroad along the west bank and the canal can only have one ship in a "shipping lane" since the Canal is not wide enough for two ships to pass each other. To go through the canal takes about 11 to 16 hours. The Canal is a very efficient waterway and nearly fifty ships go through it daily as it supports 8% of the shipping traffic of the world. In the future the Canal will be widened and deepened so more and larger ships can use it at once. 




And Finally, a 321 Summary

3 Things learned:
     1.) New imperialism focused on the African continent rather than the New World.
     2.) The Boxer Rebellion caused the collapse of the Qing Dynasty
     3.) I learned that although America was not entirely imperialistic, it did have its moments with Japan trying to make Japan "civilized".

2 Things interesting:
     1.) The majority of Africa was controlled by Europe during this time period of new imperialism.
     2.) Opium was a major source of wealth for the British from India into China. Who knew opium could be so addicting? Oh those poppies...

1 Question:

     1.) Why did the British continue to import opium into China besides the fact that it was good for trade? It seems like they did it just for power which they must have known wouldn't be good for their relations with China yet they apparently didn't care. How could they be so heartless??