This quick skill-building activity is intended to help you understand what is being asked of you when you’re presented with historical prompts, particularly those you’ll encounter in assessment prompts such as document-based questions (DBQs) and long essay questions (LEQs).

In this activity, you will revisit the process of how to parse a prompt. Remember, parsing a prompt is the process of analyzing a string of words—that is, trying to figure out what something is saying and asking!

Take out the Question Parsing Tool and write down the following prompt at the top of the tool: Evaluate the extent to which religious responses to wealth accumulation in Eurasia in the period circa 600 B.C.E. to 1500 C.E. differed from state responses to wealth accumulation.

Now, follow the tool directions. Be prepared to discuss your answers with the class!

There are lots of theories about why there was a rush of empire-building in the late nineteenth century. There had been empires before, of course, but the early years of the long nineteenth century had actually seen a retreat in the size and number of empires. What changed? The list of answers is long: technology, industry, capitalism, racism, nationalism, and the “man-on-the-spot” all feature in any analysis of this question.

This article will familiarize you with the theories about the rise of new and bigger empires in the late nineteenth century. It will help you to identify what was “new” about these empires, which could only have arisen in an age of industry and revolution. It will help you to respond to the Unit Problem, which asks in part why empires formed in this period.

Preview – Skimming for Gist

Fill out the Skimming for Gist section of the Three Close Reads Worksheet as you complete your first close read. As a reminder, this should be a quick process!

Key Ideas – Understanding Content

For this reading, you should be looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the major claim and key supporting details, and analysis and evidence. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. In what ways were the empires of the late nineteenth century not new?
2. How were the empires of the late nineteenth century new?
3. How did technology help to support imperialism?
4. How did capitalism and industrialization create motivations for Europeans to conquer new colonies?
5. How does the author argue that racism provided a motivation for Europeans to conquer new colonies?
6. Why did nationalism contribute to the rise of empire in this period?
7. Who are “men-on-the-spot” and how did they contribute to the growth of empire?

Evaluating and Corroborating

At the end of the third close read, respond to the following question:

1. This article provides several different theories to explain the origins of the “new imperialism” in the late nineteenth century. Which do you think were the most important? Which do you think were less important? Why?

According to John Green, imperialism was largely driven by economic concerns. Small numbers of Europeans (and some others) managed to take over large regions and rule them through a system of indirect rule. The tools of the Industrial Revolution provided European empires new weapons in their colonial ambitions. Local populations often resisted, but many people figured out how to live under colonial rule, at least for a while.

This video provides an introduction at the global level to some key ideas about modern imperialism, including how and why empires were built, how they were run, how locals reacted, and finally some of the legacies of imperialism. It connects the changes in production and distribution caused by industrialization to the creation and expansion of European empires. All of these ideas will be more deeply developed in later articles, so this video is meant as an introduction to these concepts.

Preview – Skimming for Gist

As a reminder, open and skim the transcript, and read the questions before you watch the video.

Key Ideas – Understanding Content

Think about the following questions as you watch this video:

1. Why did the British go to war with China in 1839?
2. What were the results of the Treaty of Nanjing?
3. Why, according to John Green, were Europeans suddenly able to extend control over large parts of Africa in the late nineteenth century?
4. How did Africans respond to European colonialism?
5. How, according to John Green, did Europeans manage to rule their distant overseas colonies?
6. Why does John Green theorize that local leaders put up with colonial rule?
7. How did Egypt end up as a colony?

Evaluating and Corroborating

1. John Green states that a legacy of imperialism survives today. What evidence does he provide, and is he convincing?

This exercise will give you a unique way to think about the experience of colonialism, colonial subjects’ reaction to that experience, and some of the difficulties colonial subjects faced in resisting imperial rule. You will be weighing ideas about ownership and power and conflict resolution. This will lay the groundwork for events such as the Sepoy Mutiny and Boxer Rebellion, and will establish a connection again when studying about the wave of post-WWII nationalism and decolonization.

Reading, sourcing
You will analyze setting, characters and plot in this fable. You will also be challenged to consider point of view, audience and purpose, which are a part of your sourcing skills.

In this activity, you will first read a version of the fable, “The Gentlemen of the Jungle”. You will discuss the fable as a source and engage in a whole class discussion about it, led by your teacher.

Read the fable to yourself—this is more of a story than the typical article you read in this course, so try to enjoy the change of pace. After you finish, have a brief discussion about the fable with your class. Your teacher will then ask you a few questions, then read the story aloud to you again. After that, you’ll have another round of class discussion.

Empires don’t seem like they should last very long. How can small groups of people run large territories with big populations, including colonies that are far away from their own capitals? Some of the tools of empire were ideas. Others were physical objects or new technologies. These tools were, in many cases, supported by other big trends of the era—industrialization, capitalism, nationalism, and reformism.

You have already learned about some of the motives and beliefs that led people in industrialized societies to create new and enlarged empires in the late nineteenth century. This article identifies the tools that imperialists used to create and control those empires. This information will help you respond to the first half of the Unit 6 Problem in particular: How were industrial empires created and contested, and how did those processes shape our world today?

Preview – Skimming for Gist

Fill out the Skimming for Gist section of the Three Close Reads Worksheet as you complete your first close read. As a reminder, this should be a quick process!

Key Ideas – Understanding Content

For this reading, you should be looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the major claim and key supporting details, and analysis and evidence. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. How are “colonialism” and “imperialism” different?
2. What were some ways of thinking about the world that supported imperialism?
3. What physical tools helped imperial powers to create empires?
4. What is gunboat diplomacy?
5. How did science sometimes function as a tool of imperialism?
6. What is indirect rule?

Evaluating and Corroborating

At the end of the third close read, respond to the following question:

1. The tools of imperialism were being developed at the same time as other transformations were reshaping the world. What are some connections you see between these tools and transformations like industrialization, the rise of capitalism, reformism, and liberal and nationalist political revolutions?

In this activity, you will analyze and then create cartoons about imperialism. This will help reinforce what you’ve already learned about imperialism in this lesson and will give you more insight into both the minds of the imperialists as well as those who rejected this type of domination. Additionally, engaging in image analysis will continue to help you build this important analytical skill, and producing an image will help build your visual presentation skills.

In this activity, you will first analyze political cartoons about imperialism, and then create your own anti-imperialist cartoon.

Take out the Imperialism Cartoons Worksheet and either individually or in small groups, look at the pictures and answer the questions to determine what these cartoons tell us about the era of imperialism. You will probably need to use the links or conduct additional research to find the information to answer these questions.

Once you’re done analyzing the images, be prepared to have a discussion about what you learned. What was the overall sentiment of the cartoons?

Now, it’s time to come up with your own anti-imperialist cartoon to share with the class. Get into small groups, and make sure to think about the following as you plan your cartoon:

• Whom or what did you include or leave out of the image?
• What imperialist practices are you rallying against (taking of raw materials, manipulation of trade, colonialism, violence, etc.)?
• What are the motivations/justifications for this anti-imperialism?

You may need to do some research to complete these cartoons, so make sure you keep a list of any articles or pictures you referenced in creating your cartoon. Be prepared to share your final products with the class.