Industrial Imperialism
Driving Question: How did the rise of industry contribute to the rise of empires?
Imperialism wasn’t new, but this was a different kind of imperialism. Industrialization gave empires new strategies, weapons, and tools of communication and transportation. As a result, industrial empires rapidly expanded their territory in this period.
Learning Objectives:
- Evaluate the tools used by imperial powers to expand their empires.
- Build image-analysis skills to examine differing perspectives on imperialism during the nineteenth century.
- Use the historical thinking practice of claim testing to identify, assess, and use authority and evidence when evaluating and making claims.
Vocab Terms:
- administrator
- bureaucracy
- colonialism
- imperialism
- profit
- racism
- segregation
Did you know: US overseas imperialism was kick-started by bird poo. In 1856, the US Congress passed the Guano Islands Act, which allowed US citizens to seize “unclaimed” islands if they contained guano. This nutrient-rich excrement was a powerful fertilizer sought after by the world’s industrial empires to feed their growing populations and replenish over-used agricultural land. In 1856, the US claimed Baker Island and Jarvis Island in the South Pacific. This was the beginning of US imperial expansion that would see the American empire expand across the Pacific and the Caribbean, including around 100 guano islands seized via the 1856 act.
Start connecting industrial advances to imperialism by looking at how new technologies and economic systems gave empires more reach, control, and ambition.
Instructions for the Gentlemen of the Jungle activity can be found on the Lesson Guide. Be sure to read these directions ahead of time to better prepare for full-class discussion.
These materials introduce the “new” imperialism of the nineteenth century. You’ll examine how industrial power changed imperial strategies, and how people critiqued and resisted imperial rule.
-
Guiding Questions
-
Before you read
Preview the questions below, and then skim the article. Be sure to look at the section headings and any images.
While you read
Look for answers to these questions:
- In what ways were late nineteenth-century empires similar to earlier ones?
- What made these newer empires different from earlier ones?
- How did technology support the spread of imperialism?
- How did capitalism, industrialization, and racism create motives for empire?
- What role did nationalism and “men-on-the-spot” play in expanding empire?
After you read
Respond to these questions: Which reasons for the rise of new imperialism do you find most convincing? Which seem less important, and why?
Check out this OER Project Community post, where teachers share their experiences with the Imperialism Cartoons activity. Teachers have suggested variations on the activity that include options such as annotation and the SPY strategy.
Examine the tools of empire and explore different perspectives on imperialism and its impact through powerful political cartoons.
-
Guiding Questions
-
Before you read
Preview the questions below, and then skim the article. Be sure to look at the section headings and any images.
While you read
Look for answers to these questions:
- What’s the difference between colonialism and imperialism?
- What ideas or beliefs helped support imperialism?
- What technologies helped imperial powers expand?
- What is gunboat diplomacy?
- How did science and indirect rule help support empire?
After you read
Respond to this question: How were the tools of imperialism connected to other changes in this period, such as industrialization, capitalism, and political revolutions?
Have the bug to learn even more about industrial imperialism? “The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere: Japan’s Ironic Imperialism” is a great place to start.
Wrap up the lesson by thinking critically about industrial imperialism and how it relates to other global changes you’ve explored.
By suggesting revisions to someone else’s writing, you’ll get much better at identifying what makes strong writing. Make suggestions for improving analysis and evidence—and then keep those suggestions in mind the next time you write.
