The 3.2.1 Summary

What have I learned?
I learned that the Suez Canal is very crucial during the age of Imperialism and now as well. It is very economically important to the world right now.
I found out that India wasn't technically under British control until after the Sepoy Mutiny.
The Imperialist nations of Europe and the US were complete jerks to the Chinese. I mean we shoved guns in their face and demanded to trade with them, and in Britain's case, they wanted to give the Chinese people Opium. Seriously.

What interested me?
I found the United States' Non-Imperialistic Imperialism very interesting, as it told other countries to stay out of South American affairs, but they did nothing about it themselves.
I found the Sepoy Mutiny very interesting due to its cause. It makes me wonder if religion was genuinely used as a reason for uprising, or a scapegoat, or both. I mean, in history, religion was used as justification for a great many things.

I still want to know why the European Imperialist countries didn't abandon parts of Africa that had no real value to them. South Africa had diamonds and gold, the Congo had rubber, but I didn't see anything else.

http://images.fineartamerica.com/images-medium-large/imperialism-cartoon-1876-granger.jpg

The Suez Canal connects the Mediterranean sea and the Red Sea. It is owned by the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) of Egypt. Under international treaty, it may be used "in time of war as in time of peace, by every vessel of commerce or of war, without distinction of flag." The canal is 120.11 miles long, 79 feet deep, and 673 feet wide. In 2008, the total amount of money that passed through the canal was 5.381 billion dollars, spread over 21,415 vessels, approximately $251,000 per vessel. It played an important role in allowing Europeans to get ships to Africa faster to colonize during the age of Imperialism when it was first completed in 1869. The Convention of Constantinople in 1888 established that the canal was a neutral zone. Now under the protection of the UN, no country, no matter what the circumstance or situation, can be restricted from accessing the canal.

An ongoing uprising currently in the world is the rebellion in Syria against Bashar al-Assad. The uprising was caused by the severe abuses of human rights like detainment permanently without trial, the government having this power due to the Syrian government having had their emergency powers in effect for over 30 years.

The conflict began on March 15, 2011. The major leaders for the rebels are Moaz al-Khatib, George Sabra,

Salim Idris, Abdulbaset Sieda, Burhan Ghalioun, Riad al-Asaad, and Mustafa al-Sheikh. When protests began to release political prisoners labeled "terrorists" by Assad, the police responded with water cannons, tear gas, beating of protesters, and even live rounds. On April 25, the Syrian military was first deployed against protesters, with snipers positioned on rooftops, with troops marching through the streets, searching houses, backed by tanks. The rebellion is still ongoing. The rebels have taken most of Northern Syria, but there are still many major cities to take, and it looks like the rebellion is still a stalemate.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Syrian_Civil_War.svg

India was considered the crown jewel of the British Empire's colonies, being very profitable to them due to their production of Opium. However, in 1857, the first rebellion against British control started in India with the Sepoy Mutiny. The Sepoys were Indian soldiers employed by the British India Trading Company. It was caused by a number of reasons, but the main one is that a rumor got around that the paper cartridges for their rifles were greased with beef and pork fat, and the sepoys were required to bite this paper off. The two dominant religions in India, Hinduism and Islam, have tenets that do not allow their followers to eat these animals. This being against their religious beliefs, the sepoys mutinied against the trading company. The rebels consisted of 3 groups: the feudal nobility, rural landlords, and the peasants.
Mangal Pandey was the first to openly declare that he would attack his British commanders. After failing to incite his fellow sepoys, he attempted to kill himself, and failed, then was court-martialed and hung. At Meerut, where there was a large force of British, there were also many sepoys. One of the officers sent 90 sepoys to do a shooting drill. 85 refused due to the fallow made from the meat. They were stripped of their rank and sentenced to 10 years of hard labor. The next day, a number of sepoys rebelled and freed their captive brethren, killing 50 British. The sepoys in mutiny marched to Delhi, where the Mughal emperor Bahadar Shah gave his support to the sepoys. However, the rebels were fairly unorganized, and the rebellion failed. However, the East India company was shut down, but more British forces came to reinforce India. Bahadar Shah was exiled and then died later, bringing an end to the Mughal dynasty. Queen Victoria then took the title Empress of India.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Indian_revolt_of_1857_states_map.svg

The Monroe Doctrine was signed on December 2, 1823 under President Monroe. It was written by the Secretary of State at the time, John Quincy Adams. It stated that any European involvement in North or South America would be seen as an act of aggression. It established both Americas as protectorates of the United States, and the Americas became part of the US' sphere of influence. This became the cornerstone of American foreign policy for a long time. It is similar to the defeat of China after the Opium war due to the idea of having a "sphere of influence" in a foreign country without actually conquering it.

http://attridgehistory.edublogs.org/files/2008/03/monroe-doctrine-1.jpg

The Roosevelt Corollary was added by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1904 as an addition to the Monroe Doctrine. It added onto the Monroe Doctrine, saying that the US had the right to force out Europeans that got involved in Latin American affairs. It was used as justification for the US' intervention in Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. I think it is somewhat similar to the Berlin conference that took place prior to the Imperialist conquering of Africa by many states, in the way that it dictates the terms of Imperialism.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Roosevelt_monroe_Doctrine_cartoon.jpg

Imperialism has existed in the United States' history, but not in the traditional European way. It was and is a different kind of Imperialism that existed in Europe during their age of Imperialism. In fact, it was Imperialistic at the same time as it was not.

Imperialism?:
The Monroe Doctrine- Any European attempts to colonize land in North and South America would be seen as aggression towards the United States. Imperialistic because it established all of North and South America as protectorates under the US, but non Imperialistic because the US did not conquer any South American countries and put them under American rule.

The Mexican American War- Fought over the lands of Texas when American settlers moved into Mexican land, then declared their independence and petitioned to join the states. Imperialistic because it did subjugate the land of another country to American rule, but non Imperialistic because all Mexicans were pushed out of the state of Texas.

The Spanish American War- Cuba rebelled against Spanish rule. The United States decided to help Cubans win their Independence. Imperialistic because they took over another country, but non Imperialistic because they did not annex the country and gave the Cubans their own government and left.

http://www.myhistoryclass.net/images/big_gun.jpg

http://www.iranreview.org/file/cms/files/us%20imperialism.jpg

This political cartoon depicts the red and white stripes of the American flag stretching out from 50 stars representing the states in North America, wrapping around the world's other nations and encircling the globe with them.
I think the author's point is that we are putting our influence where it doesn't belong, instead of where it should be, in the United States.

I think it is an interesting way of showing our modern American "imperialism" which isn't strictly the old Imperialism, where new things were annexed into a country. If it was like the old Imperialism the stars would probably stretch over to the other countries. It is just showing that we are involved in other nations, but not taking them over.

What did people at home think of Imperialism?
A lot of journalists (as usual) had a political cartoon to express what they thought of what was happening in Africa, China, and Japan.

http://apus2scott.wikispaces.com/file/view/British-Imperialism-Africa-Political-Cartoon-06_04.jpg/376037272/British-Imperialism-Africa-Political-Cartoon-06_04.jpg

This depicts a person as the British Empire stretching their influence over South Africa, motivated by the economic prospects of the Gold fields present there. It shows the economic factors that motivated the Imperialism of the major European countries like Britain. I think for the artists opinion, it was very negative of the imperialism that led to the conquering of African nations for purely economic reasons. I am also of similar opinion to the author, and I think that the British man looks very dirty and unclean.

 

http://core1220fall2012mw3a.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/boxer-rebellion-china_cartoon.gif
Here, you see several Imperialist nations, each represented by an animal, vying for a piece of the defeated China. After China was forced into opening trade with the European Imperialist powers, each power got a "sphere of influence" within China where each nation could trade with Chinese merchants. I think that this political cartoon also portrays Imperialism negatively, showing the powers as scavengers fighting over a dead body.

Introduction to the Imperialism Blog

This Blog is focused on Chapter 25 of A History of Western Society. This chapter is entitled "The West and the World". This chapter looks at the last era of aggressive expansion by the western powers where colonization will occur across the previously untouched countries of China and Japan, and the continent of Africa.

Hopefully this blog will shed some light onto the ideas of Imperialism and how those ideas affected the course of history.

How did the Age of Imperialism affect history then?

To give the shortened version, several western powers expanded, including Britain, Germany, and France, into the territories of Africa and opened up trade with China and Japan. Political tensions would increase due to the massive division of land in Africa between the great powers. The Age of Imperialism lasted from 1815-1914, not coincidentally ending at the same time that World War I started. Imperialism was a direct consequence of Industrialization, which led to the economic problems that many countries sought to remedy with Imperialism.


http://www.fordjordan.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Imperialism.jpg