Module 2 Ch 18

1. In what ways did the Industrial Revolution shape the character of 19^thcentury European imperialism?

With the emergence of the Industrial Revolution, European powers quickly saw the use of a foreign intervention that inevitably gave fruit to foreign markets. As Strayer correctly quoted the English Empirialist Cecil Rhodes "... In order to save 40 million inhabitants of the United Kingdom from a murderous civil war, the colonist politicians must open up new areas to absorb the excess population and create new markets for the products of the mines and factories..." In order to alleviate the problem created by Imperialists such as class division, and redistribution of wealth the Imperialists believed that by Invading, stealing natural resources and selling back said resources as newly created products such problems back home might be solved. This mentality was, of course, rampant to the point that it was the norm at the time and European Imperialists sought out against each other to gain a piece of the "Pie".    

4. In what different ways was colonial rule established in various parts of Africa and Asia?

The success of the Industrial Revolution created a necessity of raw materials, in which Imperialist reached out and obtained said materials by any means necessary. European nationalism was the main motivator in justifying such pirating. One major continent ravished by 19th Century Imperialism  was Africa, The competition for natural resources between European nations created a race to the finish and along the way little disregard was given to the colonized nations, to put it bluntly, a famous statement summarized the Imperialistic view of the situation "whatever happens we have got the maxi gun (machine gun) and they have not."    

3. What contributed to changing European views of Asians and Africans in the 19^thcentury?

Charles Darwin better known for his famous discovery of the evolution of animals in their natural realms shook the scientific world in the late 19th century, Darwinism a term coined by an English biologist Thomas Henry Huxley describes the theory of evolution; it states that all species being organic arise and develop through natural selection through small inherited variants that increase the individual's ability to compete survive and reproduce. now Social Darwinism is the theory that any group of people is subjected to Darwinian law of natural selection, Social Darwinism made Imperialism along with war, and aggression in Africa and Asia a just cause since it was seen as both a natural and progressive method that weeded out the weaker peoples of the world allowing the stronger to flourish.