Colonialism
Driving Question: What motivated colonialism, and what were the goals of colonial powers?
What really drives one country to control another? During the nineteenth century, colonial powers expanded with promises of trade and progress, but their goals often mixed ambition, economic manipulation, and political control.
Learning Objectives:
- Analyze the causes and consequences of colonialism in different societies around the world.
- Use the historical thinking practice of claim testing to identify, assess, and use authority when evaluating and making claims.
- Use the historical thinking practice of contextualization to analyze the conditions that led to the Opium Wars.
Vocab Terms:
- administrator
- colonialism
- ideology
- imperialism
- plantation
- profit
- subject
Try out the Three-Step Reading routine with students to “read” visuals: First, get the big picture. Then, zoom in on details. Finally, think about what the image means. Our Reading Guide explains how to do this in more detail.
Start connecting industrial advances to imperialism by looking at how new technologies and economic systems gave empires more reach, control, and ambition.
Did you know: The British and American empires once almost went to war over a pig. In 1859, the two countries disagreed over the British-US border in the San Juan Islands between Vancouver and the Washington Territory. When an American farmer shot a British pig that was rooting through his crops, the confrontation escalated into a military standoff with dozens of soldiers and several warships. Thankfully, cooler heads prevailed, and no humans died during the conflict. Sadly, the pig did not survive.
Imperial powers ruled their colonies through violence and coercion. Discover how that played out across the globe and use evidence to test claims about the realities of colonial rule.
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Guiding Questions
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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:
- How is Henry Morton Stanley’s journey in Africa described?
- Why was the early phase of colonialism especially violent?
- How did economic goals lead to violent practices in colonies?
- What ideas were used to justify the use of violence?
- What were some psychological effects of colonialism?
After you read
Respond to these questions: Do you think the suffering caused by colonialism outweighs any benefits? Why or why not?
Before you run this activity, be sure to check out the Lesson Guide for full instructions. You’ll also need to print and cut out one set of the Event Cards for each student group or copy our Google Slides version. Finally, you’ll need tape and the Feedback Form.
Note: Although this activity’s instructions are intended for a teacher-led, full-class activity, if you’re pressed for time, students can easily complete this on their own or with a partner.
The Opium Wars reflected the goals of imperial powers and the resistance they faced. These materials will help you place the conflict in context and examine how economics and empire were deeply connected.
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Guiding Questions
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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 is economic imperialism, and why did some empires use it?
- Why was tea important in the relationship between Britain and China?
- What did Britain sell to China? How did the Chinese government respond?
- What caused the First Opium War?
- What were the “unequal treaties,” and what did they do?
After you read
Respond to this question: How might the history of the Opium Wars still influence global affairs today?
Can you take everything you’ve learned in this lesson and fit it into a pithy headline?
Khanmigo Writing Coach is an AI-powered tool designed specifically for teachers and students in K–12 and secondary classrooms. This tool can help you teach many OER Project: World History writing activities. It can be used to provide individual feedback and revisions on early student work. If you’re interested, check out this Khanmigo Writing Coach Guide.
In this writing activity, you’ll use evidence from sources to support an argument that responds to the question: What were the major causes of the partition of Africa between 1880 and 1914 CE?
Add depth to your understanding of imperialism by seeing how it was viewed differently across time and place. In the process, you'll explore how historical sources reflect bias, perspective, and lived experience.