Resisting Colonialism
Teacher Resources
Driving Question: How did colonized people resist colonial control?
Industrial empires spread across almost the entirety of the African continent as well as much of Asia and Oceania. These empires attempted to control the lives and societies of the people they colonized. Yet, in every colonized society, people resisted these attempts at control. Responses to colonialism varied, from compliance and collaboration to violent uprisings. Many people charted a middle course between these two extremes, resisting colonial control using quieter, everyday methods.
- Understand and evaluate how certain communities responded to and resisted increased industrialization and the expansion of empires.
- Examine how colonialism directly impacted societies and continues to do so today, with Ghana as an example.
- Use the historical thinking practice of claim testing to evaluate claims about imperialism and colonialism.
- Use graphic biographies as a microhistories to support, extend, or challenge the overarching narratives from this time period.
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Guiding Questions
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Note: For more detailed directions on completing the three close reads below, refer to the Three Close Reads for Graphic Bios – Introduction activity.
Observe
Skim the full comic, paying attention to things like prominent colors, shapes, and types of text and fonts. How do you know where to start and which direction to read? What’s in the gutters (the space between panels)? Who is the focus of the comic? What big questions do you have?
Understand
- Where did Azizun live, and what was its status in 1856?
- What was a Tawa’if? What did the British believe they were?
- How did Azizun react to the occupation of Awadh in 1856 and the rebellion that broke out in 1857?
- How does the artist use the image in the last panel to demonstrate that Azizun was breaking the rules, both of Awadh and British ideas, about how women should act?
Connect
- How does this biography of Azizun support, extend, or challenge what you have learned about the “civilizing mission” and about resistance to colonial rule in this period?
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Guiding Questions
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Note: For more detailed directions on completing the three close reads below, refer to the Three Close Reads – Introduction activity.
Skim
Before you read, you should quickly skim the article, by looking at the headings of each section and the charts. Read the questions below as well, so you know what to look for when you read!
Key Ideas
- Why were armed struggles not very common?
- How did cassava help people resist imperialism?
- Why did colonized people have to be careful and strategic.
- What are two ways people resisted French imperialism?
- What is accommodation? Give one example.
- Why might some peasants have vandalized or burned down offices of official records?
Evaluate
- The author of this article lists many types of actions and activities as acts of “resistance”. Do you agree that these were all acts of resistance? How does that change or reinforce you sense of what “resistance” means?
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Guiding Questions
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Note: For more detailed directions on completing the three close reads below, refer to the Three Close Reads – Introduction activity.
Skim
Before you read, you should quickly skim the article, by looking at the headings of each section and the charts. Read the questions below as well, so you know what to look for when you read!
Key Ideas
- Who ruled much of India in 1857?
- What was the doctrine of lapse?
- Where did most of the East India Company’s soldiers come from? How did the EIC treat them?
- What was the “spark that lit the fire” for the 1857 uprising?
- What were some of the other explanations for the uprising?
- What was the outcome of the uprising?
Evaluate
- Why does it matter whether historians call the 1857 uprising a “mutiny,” a “revolt,” or a “war of independence”? Why do titles matter?
- This revolt failed, but some historians think that it was the beginning of the Indian national independence movement. Why do you think the memory of this revolt would have lived on in the minds of Indians living under direct British rule?
Use the claim cards to evaluate several claims about imperialism in the long nineteenth century.
Experiencing Colonialism: Through a Ghanaian Lens
Key Ideas
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Guiding Questions
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Before you watch
Before you watch the video, it’s a good idea to open and skim the video transcript. And always read the questions below so you know what to look and listen for as you watch!
While you watch
- When was the region that is today Ghana conquered by the British?
- According to Ato Quayson, what was the purpose of the Customs House, and how did it help the British to make money?
- How did some Ghanaians employed at the Customs House fight back?
- According to Jennifer Hart, what type of transportation did the British want to put in Ghana to control the export of cocoa, and how did Ghanaian farmers seek to control trade themselves?
- According to Jennifer Hart, how did the informal system of trotros (mini-bus taxes carrying people around Accra) come into being. What did the British call these trotros, and why?
- What do the plaques on the walls of Holy Trinity Church tell us, according to Ato Quayson?
After you watch
- You are encountering all kinds of evidence about how imperialism was powerful, controlling, and invasive. Does this video support or challenge that narrative?
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Guiding Questions
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Note: For more detailed directions on completing the three close reads below, refer to the Three Close Reads for Graphic Bios – Introduction activity.
Observe
Skim the full comic, paying attention to things like prominent colors, shapes, and types of text and fonts. How do you know where to start and which direction to read? What’s in the gutters (the space between panels)? Who is the focus of the comic? What big questions do you have?
Understand
- What kind of a state was Asante, and who was Yaa Asantewaa?
- What was the role of the Queen mother, or Ohemaa?
- What happened in 1895 and how did it affect Yaa Asantewaa?
- What happened in 1900, and how did Yaa Asantewaa respond?
- How does the artist represent Yaa Asantewaa’s leadership through art in this biography?
Connect
- How does this biography of Yaa Asantewaa support, extend, or challenge what you have learned about reactions and resistance to colonial rule in this period?
Extension Materials
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Guiding Questions
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Note: For more detailed directions on completing the three close reads below, refer to the Three Close Reads – Introduction activity.
Skim
Before you read, you should quickly skim the article, by looking at the headings of each section and the charts. Read the questions below as well, so you know what to look for when you read!
Key Ideas
- What is “double consciousness”?
- What is one way that Indian nationalists sought to limit the effects of racism and colonialism on their culture?
- How did networks help people of color survive and flourish? Give two examples of networks.
- What was Fanon’s view on the origin of racial categories?
Evaluate
- According to the author, “the experience of oppression can ‘split’ one’s consciousness, or one’s sense of self,” which helps us see that “we ourselves may behave differently in different situations, ‘performing’ an identity for others, and how these performances are affected by power.” Can you give an example, from this course, other studies, or your own life, of how a person or group may perform an identity or split consciousness in response to power?
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Guiding Questions
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Note: For more detailed directions on completing the three close reads below, refer to the Three Close Reads – Introduction activity.
Skim
Before you read, you should quickly skim the article, by looking at the headings of each section and the charts. Read the questions below as well, so you know what to look for when you read!
Key Ideas
- Did most resistance to colonialism take the form of highly organized military action? If not, what forms did it take?
- Why did the Italians want to conquer Ethiopia?
- How did Emperor Menelik II and Empress Taytu resist Italian invasion, and were they successful?
- What strategies did Samori Ture pursue when the French first pushed into his territory?
- After first being defeated in battle, what did Samori Ture do with the population of the empire to escape French rule? Was he successful?
- What strategies did Kinjikitile Ngwale and Selemani Mamba use to try to unify and inspire people to fight against German rule in Tanganyika? Were they successful?
Evaluate
- What strategies and ideas did these resistance figures share? How might we interpret these strategies and ideas through the communities frame?