The anti-imperialist vegetable

The fight against imperialism often did not include any fighting. New imperial powers had deadlier weapons. Colonized peoples couldn’t fight them with weapons. But there were subtler ways to resist empires.

One way involved food. Native people resisted oppression by moving around. They could plant simple crops like corn and cassava.¹ They could then move away to another area. Later, they could come back and dug up the crops (it’s kind of like a potato). They could also eat the leaves in the meantime. Cassava gave indigenous people a way to resist forced labor. It also gave them a cheap way to feed themselves.

It was not violent, but it was effective. It was also more common. Let’s look at other ways people could resist empires.  

Anti-imperialism before decolonization

Most of Southeast Asia came under European control in the late 1800s. The European colonizers included Britain, France, and the Netherlands. They controlled the lives of the local people. So, people had to be careful about how they interacted with the imperial power. The local people did not just want to survive. They also wanted to maintain their self-worth and culture. The following cases are some ways in which they resisted colonial control.

French Indochina

French Indochina covered modern-day Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. The French invaded these areas in the late 1800s.

Some local families accepted French rule. But the French colonizers faced constant uprisings. They also faced less obvious forms of resistance.

Many Laotian villagers pretended to cooperate with the French while resisting at the same time. The French believed they were using local leaders to control villages. But, the villagers nominated fake leaders, who didn’t have any real power. Then the real leaders ran the villages how the Laotian people wanted. The French had no idea.

Another example comes from the city of Hanoi in Vietnam. There were many rats in the city. The French offered to pay the locals for killing rats. They demanded to see a rat’s tail as proof. The locals began to just clip the tails off of live rats. They then released them back into the sewers. The French paid large sums of money to the locals. But, they ended up with an even worse rat problem!

Many in Indochina fled from colonial rule. They went into the hills. The colonial government couldn’t reach them there.

The French also educated their colonial subjects. But this backfired. It gave people intellectual tools to empire. Colonial subjects formed networks. This allowed them to share new ideas about revolution.

Dutch East Indies

The Dutch East Indies covered modern Indonesia. But the Dutch struggled to control this region.

Some aristocrats on the island of Java² agreed to serve the Dutch. In exchange, they were able to keep some wealth. Those in lower classes also found ways to gain political rights. Many converted to Christianity. They also adopted Dutch customs. These are examples of accommodation. They adapt to colonial rule. They receive some benefits from doing this. They can also hold on to parts of their own culture.

The Southeast Asian highlands

The Southeast Asian highlands include Burma, Malaya, and Borneo. The people were very mobile. They hid from their British colonizers in the hills.

They moved around to avoid taxation and forced labor. They also avoided colonial censuses.³ Some even burned down records offices.

The British tried to reach the locals by holding feasts. They hoped they could make connections. But the locals resisted by not showing up. Instead, they held their own feasts.

Creative resistance

There were even smaller ways to resist. Some people did it without being noticed. They would cause accidents by tripping colonizers. They could also insult colonizers. They had secret language codes and inside jokes.

People were very creative in how they resisted. It is hard for historians to track all the ways. Many colonized people expressed themselves in ways that are still misunderstood.

1 Tapioca pearls, (the fun part of boba tea) come from cassava. Cassava can also be used to make bread flour and several other foods.
2 Java is an island that is part of today’s Indonesia.
3 A census is an official count of the population, along with other demographic information.