Neocolonialism and Imperialism

3/16/2020

Have a question or comment about:

Neocolonialism & Imperialism in the Long 19th Century?
Poetry
- 1: "The White Man's Burden" - pro-imperialism
- 2: "The Black Man's Burden" - against imperialism
- 3: "The Real White Man;s Burden" - very critical of imperialism, capitalism and western society
"Stimela" by Hugh Masekela and Scramble for Africa

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15 Comments

Dillen Holbo

3/30/2020 11:39:50 am

Why does Africa seem to be the only place that resists against imperialism? Is Africa the only one specifically mentioned because of its strong resistance and success in one country? Or have no other places attempted or had the resources to attempt resistance against European Imperialism?

Sherer

3/30/2020 12:35:34 pm

Some confusion here. All places resisted Western imperialism, just some were far more successful than others. Places that experienced the most total conquest was Africa [the entire continent except Ethiopia and Liberia] and Southeast Asia [except Siam / Thailand]. Other "giant" civilizations were weakened as well, including but not limited to India, China, Japan and the Ottoman Empire. Out of those 4, only Japan emerged as a challenger to Western Powers, as evidenced in their participation of the world wars. China, India and the Ottoman Empire all utilized "defensive modernization efforts" but all did so too little, too late. Ottoman Empire collapses and becomes Turkey. China's Qing Dynasty is overthrown leading to the ultimate Communist takeover. India remains a colony of Britain until after WWII, not gaining independence until 1947.

vanity enriquez

3/30/2020 11:46:46 am

I learned that imperialism is when a country becomes stronger when it takes over other countries that have more needed resources. When reading “The White Man’s Burden” it was about supporting imperialism. It was beneficial for the people because their country could get more of what is needed and be better for their lifestyle. I don’t understand why African Americans would be against imperialism.

Sherer

3/30/2020 12:37:55 pm

Great work Vanity. If you are referencing the second poem, "The Black Man's Burden," the purpose of that poem was to say to Americans, we the black Americans KNOW already what imperialism looks like, "we" suffer it at the hands of the American government and society daily (look at his reference to the Red Man, aka Native Americans. He is suggesting that what Americans are doing in the Philippines is similar to the treatment of African-Americans already in America.

Melisa Sandoval

3/30/2020 01:14:28 pm

I learned few of the causes of New Imperialism; one cause would be the fact that manufacturers needed raw materials that they didn’t have from other colonies. For example, Britain sold an illegal crop known as Opium to exchange with china for tea. China wanted to stop trading, but Britain refused and this later on caused The Opium Wars. This cause of trading raw materials leads to many negative impacts on the world, like deforestation,wars,etc.

Sherer

3/30/2020 01:19:59 pm

The Opium Wars is a favorite subject of mine in this era. British demand tea, have nothing of value to trade China evenly, uses slave-like labor to harvest Opium in Afghanistan (India - British colony) and gets millions of Chinese addicted so that the Chinese HAVE to trade the British for tea. Wow, right?

Austynn Holder

3/30/2020 01:54:59 pm

I also find the Opium Wars interesting to learn about. I find it crazy to think that so many people in China start using this drug and got addicted to it just so the British could have their tea.

Austynn Holder

3/30/2020 01:51:49 pm

I learned that while Western nations were gaining so much control over other nations during the age of imperialism, there were some Western people who were against it. These people were against it because they went through so many years of hardships to become a democracy which is important to them, but then their nations started imposing an undemocratic rule on these other nations. I also learned that while Africa resisted, pretty much all of it ended up being controlled by Western nations except for Ethiopia and Liberia.

Sherer

3/30/2020 02:00:26 pm

Nice post! Certainly hypocrisy is a big part of the story, the 'ol double-standard. You have to really focus on WHAT the "natives" liked and disliked about the Western World
- society
- politics
- relationship with the environment
- culture
- economics
- technology

SPICE-T!

Their criticism is of great interests to historical thinkers.

Robert Joseph Jordan

4/1/2020 06:41:02 pm

Why was it thought that Russification would actually work, and not backfire? Where else has the idea of forcing people to learn a nation's language and customs occured? Has this ever worked?

In my opinion, Russia was not in a state to try to unify its ethnic groups; it was weak in military, and economy. You would need some heavy punishments or rewards to have people willingly accept some foreign customs.

Sherer

4/2/2020 11:14:54 am

Well, there is the American school system to cite as an example here. Maybe Russification WAS the solution? Multi-ethnic states that are destroyed in this era, Ottoman Empire and Austrian-Hungarian. However, though Russia experiences multiple revolutions, they emerge in the post-WWII era as one of two world superpowers and becomes the leader in the space race. Were they free, well, of course not.

Aaron Taylor

4/5/2020 08:32:31 pm

White men seem to see everything as a profit and a gain. Imperialism just shows the lengths that are taken to ensure they get what they want. In a black mans burden it talks about how a white men use there armies to seek the end of the red skins and browns with bullets, blood or death. Imperialism was effective for white people to gain profit and land but it also destroyed culture, religion and peoples lives.

Sherer

4/14/2020 09:25:28 am

Well, maybe not all white men, but in this context, yes. Seems like you understood the poems.

Karem Sherlyn Alondra Perez Ortiz

4/10/2020 12:51:51 am

Who was the most imperialistic nation or country out of all of them at the end? Europe, Britain, Japan?

The first poem is quite hard to read, but he says that they are teaching how to be civilized through imperialism, but he states no rational evidence for them to say that because they give the burden to the others places they take to imperialize.
The second poem was against imperialism and it stated why it is bad such as them having to be in war constantly to achieve it.
The last poem was totally against imperialism and it gave evidence as to why. War, forcing them to work in mines, and turning them into a mess like they were are some examples the author gave.

It is a poem that express the lives of African Americans who were set in mines forced to work away from their love ones who were most likely dead.

Sherer

4/14/2020 09:27:56 am

Europe is a continent, but arguably the British and the French led the way in this era. In Asia, Japan for sure, but that did not begin to happen until after the Meiji restoration mid-century. Germany and Italy didn't start until their nations were unified, so after 1860. As far as the poems, you seem to get it. I like the third one the best because it is such a total and comprehensive critique of all the negatives of the new imperialist, industrialized Western society.

Neocolonialism and Imperialism

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