This is a fun way to think about differing perspectives and how a simple shift in viewpoint might completely change the meaning of something. Multiple historians looking at one event will often come up with very different interpretations of the same historical account. This can also be said about how any two people can have differing views of the same process or situation. This is often most noticeable in political debates, but also when there are different perspectives of an event, such as the interpretation or recounting of a war from the winning versus losing side.

Read the following poem.

Worst Day Ever?

by Chanie Gorkin

Today was the absolute worst day ever
And don’t try to convince me that
There’s something good in every day
Because, when you take a closer look,
This world is a pretty evil place.
Even if
Some goodness does shine through once in a while
Satisfaction and happiness don’t last.
And it’s not true that
It’s all in the mind and heart
Because
True happiness can be attained
Only if one’s surroundings are good.
It’s not true that good exists
I’m sure you can agree that
The reality
Creates
My attitude
It’s all beyond my control
And you’ll never in a million years hear me say that
Today was a very good day.
—
Now read it from bottom to the top, the other way,
And see what I really feel about my day.

Once you’re done reading the poem in both directions, think about how this poem can be an analogy for how historians (and people generally) often interpret the same event in a variety of different ways. Can you think of a more recent time when people had very different views of the same event or circumstances?

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?

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?

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 5 Problem in particular: How were modern empires created, administered, and contested in the Long Nineteenth Century, and how did these tensions help to create the world we live in 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.

In this activity, you’ll continue to build on your claim-testing skills by crafting supporting and refuting statements for a set of claims. As you evaluate the claims, you’ll also analyze the quality of the statements put forth by your classmates. This will help you gain experience in using evidence to support your own claims as well as devising ways to refute statements that might argue against your claims. In addition, these skills will help you develop your writing and critical thinking skills.

In this claim-testing activity, you are given four claims about imperialism. You are asked to work with these claims in three different ways:

1. Find supporting statements for the claims.
2. Evaluate the strength of the supporting statements provided for the claims.
3. Provide statements that refute (argue against) the claims.

Get into small table groups. Each group should have a complete set of Claim Cards in the middle of their table. Listen for your teacher’s directions for when to start.

Round 1

1. Grab one Claim Card from the center of the table.
2. On the card, write down a statement that supports the claim. You can use prior knowledge or course materials for this.
3. Pass your Claim Card to the person to your right.
4. Write down a statement that supports the claim on the card that you now have. It can’t be the same as any of the supports already written on the card.
5. Repeat the process until each group member has written a supporting statement on each card.
6. Put the Claim Cards back in the center of the table.

Round 2

1. Grab one Claim Card from the pile and stand up.
2. Find at least three other students who have the same claim as you and get into a group with them (if there are more than six people in your group, let your teacher know).
3. Look at all the supporting statements that were written for your claim. Decide which supporting statements are strongest (that is, they best support the claim).
4. Write the strongest supporting statements on the whiteboard so everyone can see them.

Round 3

1. With the same group you were in for Round 2, consider any historical exceptions to your claim. What can you offer to refute the claim?
2. Add at least one refuting statement, what we often refer to as a counterclaim, on the board so everyone can see it.
3. Write both your strongest supporting statements and the exception to the claim as an exit ticket—be sure to explain your reasoning for choosing your supporting statements and refutations. Your teacher may also have you share your statements and counterclaim with the class.