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Imperialism: Crash Course World History #35

Imperialism: Crash Course World History #35

Why are there so many call centers in India? Why does most chocolate come from Africa? John Green answers, and also explains how imperialism led to an increase in Europe’s power in the nineteenth century.

Key Ideas

As this video progresses, key ideas will be introduced to invoke discussion.

Think about the following questions as you watch the video


  1. How were the British able to move beyond trading only silver with China?
  2. What did Britain do when China stopped allowing them to trade?
  3. What were the terms of the treaty of Nanjing?
  4. What are some of the reasons Europeans were able to colonize almost all of Africa in the nineteenth century?
  5. Why does John Green hate Hiram Maxim?
  6. What are some of the countries that were not colonized by the Europeans?
  7. What does it mean that the European colonists resorted to indirect rule?
  8. What are some of the thoughts about why rulers allowed indirect rule?
  9. Although most of the colonization seemed fairly easy, what is one instance where Europeans faced some challenges in colonization occur?