Up to this point in history, at no time had so few controlled the lives of so many. Let’s explore how industrialization allowed the English, French, Dutch, and others to expand and tighten their grasp on colonies—and how colonized people fought back.

The tools of industry soon became tools of conquest. How did technological innovations and new ideas empower empires?

Colonialism is more than just military invasion. It is a system of control that seeks to control, transform, and even eliminate Indigenous peoples to exploit natural resources and open new markets. Learn the methods and motivations of colonial powers.

Industrial empires deployed devastating new technologies in the nineteenth century. Yet, in every colony, people resisted. Review some of the ways colonized people pushed back, from armed uprisings to more subtle forms of noncompliance.