Homework

• Imp #1 due tomorrow

Aim #1: What is Imperialism?

• Do Now: What are some reasons why one person might bully another person?

I. Imperialism

• Definition: A strong country taking over another weaker country or region politically, economically and socially.

• In the late 19th / early 20th centuries, the powerful nations of Europe began to take control of the Eastern Hemisphere (Asia, the Middle East, Africa), turn these areas into colonies.

II. Causes of Imperialism A. Economic Causes:

1. Industrial Revolution (why would this encourage European countries to establish colonies in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East?)

2. Colonies provide opportunities for European businessmen to invest money and turn a profit.

II. Causes of Imperialism

B. Political Causes:

1. Governments want to take over places to protect the investments of their businessmen

2. Nationalism

I. Causes of ImperialismC. Social Causes:

1. White Man’s Burden (famous poem by Rudyard Kipling, 1899): Educated white Europeans have a responsibility to help less developed areas and regions (Asia, Africa, etc) by building railroads, schools and hospitals, converting people to Christianity, and making colonists more “civilized.”

Is the White Man’s Burden a racist concept? Why or why not?

II. Causes of Imperialism C. Social Causes

2. Social Darwinism: Darwin’s theory of “survival of the fittest” applied to human beings. Europeans believed they were stronger, wiser and more technologically advanced than the people of Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Therefore, the strong Europeans have the right to rule over the weak.

Concluding Question

• Which of these causes do you think was most important in encouraging Europeans to pursue a policy of imperialism in the 19th century? Why?