Strayer 18, Colonialism

29/1/2017

No one asked for a forum, but here you go...

Matilda Smolij

29/1/2017 18:07:57

Here is MQ1, I'm sure there are more possible answers, so please add!!

MQ1: In what ways did the Industrial Revolution shape the character of nineteenth-century European imperialism?
-Productivity of industrial technology created the need for extensive raw materials and agricultural products
-Europe now produced more manufactured goods than its own people could buy, Britain exported 60% of its own cotton-cloth production
-Ideas of nationalism made popular during the Industrial revolution strengthened Europe’s competitive international relations
-Provide new means of expanding overseas, ex. Steam-driven ships, allowed EUropeans to reach distant Asian and African ports more quickly and predictably
-Europeans developed a secular arrogance (?)

Audrey Mills

1/2/2017 16:27:30

Hi! This is great, there are just a few things I would add. I'd mention that their technological advances increased their belief in their own inherent superiority. Also, I'd say that new weaponry like the machine gun aided in their conquest. I'm probably still missing something, though.

Audrey Deigaard

29/1/2017 18:37:50

okay so I ended up having a lot of trouble with structuring my answer to this question, so please correct me on the errors I make/better ways to answer it!

mq897 - what kinds of wage labor were available in the colonies? why might people take part in it? how did doing so change their lives?

1. plantation work/"squatting", mining, gold rush, indentured servitude, independent merchants, teachers, doctors, clerks in European offices, railway workers, factory workers, domestic servants, prositutes, etc.
2. Europeans pushed native inhabitants off their land (plantation workers), promise of new opportunities, promise of gold (gold rush), lack of alternative work
3. ecological damage, altered gender ratios, increased workloads on women in home country, high death rates, discrimination, lack of family life, appalling living conditions

melina bezanis

30/1/2017 11:04:01

MQ: Did colonial rule bring "economic progress" in its wake?

arguably yes even though it disrupted previously established economies in Africa and Asia. Feel free to add on! i know i'm missing things but this is what i found from the Assessing Colonial Development section

ways colonies were improved economically:

1. colonization integrated African and Asian economies into the world market
2. more land and labor were devoted to production for the global market
3. colonization led to modernization in the less developed regions; state infrastructure increased, education was more widespread, and modest healthcare was accessible

Sofia Puccio

30/1/2017 19:06:39

I also added that although moderization/urbanization did occur, there was never a major breakthrough to a truly industrial society

Eliza

30/1/2017 22:10:25

Okay, here's how I attacked this question:

First, I think it's important to state as you have that regardless of your definition of economic progress, these three statements are true.
1) Colonial rule served, for better or worse, to further the integration of Asian and African economies into a global network of exchange now centered in Europe.
2) Europeans conveyed to the colonies some elements of their own modernizing process, including modern administrative and bureaucratic structures, communication and transportation infrastructure, schools, and modest provisions for health care.
3) Nowhere in the colonial world did a breakthrough to modern industrial society of Japanese dimensions occur.

Then, we can move on to defining "economic progress". I defined it as a movement towards today's modern economy. By this definition, colonial rule did bring "economic progress". However, imposed economic progress can often be detrimental to & exclusive of native peoples. This also might have prevented a natural, unique development of a modern economy in the local regions.

AGH! I think both of the answers you've put are fantastic. Not sure if I added anything new, but that's just how my brain worked.

Bingham

30/1/2017 22:45:26

Yes, I agree Eliza, those three facts have to be the basis of the answer to this question. They are indisputable in this context.

Of course, the question of who's definition of "progress" is to be used raises some doubts, but regardless, these are clearly important developments in human progress. The cost to the local people, cultures and societies IS relevant, however the term "economic" tends to place these issues outside the scope of the question. That doesn't make this issues less real, or less important, just simply outside the scope of the question.

Matilda Smolij

30/1/2017 18:11:59

Here is my answer to MQ12, please add!!

MQ12: What were the attractions of Christianity within some colonial societies?
-Military defeat shook confidence in old gods and local practices, fostered openness to new sources of supernatural power that could operate in the wider world
-Christianity was wildly associated with modern education, especially in Africa where mission schools were the primary providers of Western education
-Oppressed groups found new opportunities and greater freedom in some association with the missions
-African teachers, catechists and pastors brought new faith to remote villages that begged for a teacher and supplied the labor and materials to build a small churches and schools

Sofia Puccio

30/1/2017 19:12:08

MQ5 (I think) What was distinctive about European colonial empires of the nineteenth century?

-prominence of race
-extent to which colonial states penetrated the societies they governed
-counted and classified subjects
-“gendered” the local people- some men were seen as too “feminine” to participate in politics while others were seen as “masculine” and martial
-contradicted core values of democracy, equality, and urbanization in their own colonies

Bingham

30/1/2017 22:50:52

Good answer Sofia. That whole "classifying" thing is troublesome though, huh? It comes down from Aristotle, and was quite useful in it's day. But 25 centuries later, it began to be used to keep humanity separate when so many other forces could have brought us together. I see this as a real missed opportunity in the human story. If only the Buddha or Ashoka had been around and listened to!

Savannah Wahlgren

31/1/2017 10:52:54

MQ9- How were the lives of African women altered by colonial economies?

-as men started to grow more lucrative crops, women took on the responsibility of subsistence agriculture
-because of this, women's working hours increased from 46 hours per week to 70+
-due to a decrease in the male population (because of labor migration to cities, settler farms, or mines) women were left to control the domestic economy and also had the responsibility of supplying food to their husbands who were away due to low wages
-women also took over traditionally male roles (planting crops, milking cows, harvest)
-women came to dominate small scale trade/markets by selling foodstuffs, cloth, and inexpensive imported goods
-in impoverished families, women became the head of the household
-other women found new opportunities in mission schools, towns, or mines

I feel like I'm being too vague and am missing some points. Please add or edit!

Matilda Smolij

31/1/2017 19:43:26

This matches my answer!

Taylor Scott

31/1/2017 16:45:23

What contributed to changing European views of Asians and Africans in the nineteenth century?

-adopted many of the ideas and techniques of more advanced societies
-secular arrogance from world wealth and power led to opinions dropping
-used science to support racial preferences
-social Darwinism

Taylor Scott

31/1/2017 16:49:37

In what different ways was colonial rule established in various parts of Africa and Asia?

-informal control (economic penetration and occasional military intervention without wholesale colonial takeover)
-involved military force
-grew out of earlier interaction with European trading firms in India and Indonesia
-colonial conquest in Africa came abruptly and deliberately (became "Scramble for Africa")

Taylor Scott

31/1/2017 20:25:28

Why might subject people choose to cooperate with the colonial regime? What might prompt them to violent rebellion?

To cooperate:
-to find employment, security, and status (for men in European-led armed forces)
-had interest in supporting European education

To prompt:
-periodic rebellions erupted

Suggestions?

Yasmeen Gaber

1/2/2017 17:35:26

To rebellions, I would add the examples that Strayer gave about the grievances in India that were behind the Indian Rebellion: local rulers lost power, peasants were often overtaxed and exploited, workers were often displaced by industrial technology and many were outraged by the missionary practices of colonists. Is there more for cooperation? Still searching for it.

Taylor Scott

31/1/2017 20:31:27

How did the policies of colonial states change the economic lives of their subjects?

-required and unpaid labor on public projects (taking away time to do paid work)
-commerce of rubber and ivory evoked massive use of forced labor in the Congo and Cameroon
-peasants in Indonesia were required to turn over 20 percent of land as a sugar or coffee cash crop
-many peasants in Java became indebted when obligations were not met (contributed to wave of famine)

Taylor Scott

31/1/2017 20:57:17

How did cash-crops agriculture transform the lives of colonized peoples?

-was to the advantage of local farmers in some places
-some cash crops interfered with production of food
-destroyed environments with deforestation, soil erosion, and generating large amounts of methane gas

Yasmeen Gaber

1/2/2017 19:18:11

I would also add that in Africa, with the production of cacao, a new prosperity was brought to local farmers as they blended capitalism with farming, without interference into their farming for food. Also, a shortage of labor-->exploitation of former slaves, and you could mention (along the lines of the destroyed environment) how that often affected the diet of the locals, such as in French Vietnam. It also might be important to mention that specialization in one or two crash crops created an unhealthy dependency when world market prices dropped. I might be way off.

Taylor Scott

31/1/2017 21:01:34

What kinds of wage labor were available in the colonies? Why might people take part in it? How did doing so change their lives?

-being a squatter working for the new landowners of previously owned land
-working for wages on European farms
-overcrowding led to mistreatment of environment
-unskilled labor work was available
-often house in barracks
-indentured laborers received free passage and enough money to survive by working 5 to 7 years of heavy labor
-mines were a source of wage labor for Asians
-gold rush in California, Australia, and Peru

Taylor Scott

31/1/2017 21:03:50

oops...sorry...didn't see first post

Taylor Scott

31/1/2017 21:05:47

What impact did Western education have on colonial societies?

-generated a new identity
-an escape from forced labor
-provided social mobility and elite status
-opportunity to approach equality

Taylor Scott

31/1/2017 21:09:41

How and why did Hinduism emerge as a distinct religious tradition during the colonial era in India?

-effort to provide India with a religion equivalent to Christianity
-means of uplifting country's village communities
-spiritual support to a Western world
-cultural foundation for emerging ideas of India

Suggestions?

Taylor Scott

31/1/2017 21:12:30

In what ways were "race" and "tribe" new identities in colonial Africa?

-Africans started to think in broader terms rather than local communities
-Africa sharply divided into distinct and separate "tribes"

Suggestions?

Amy Vaughan

31/1/2017 22:28:53

I might also mention how "tribes" were a European construct, invented to make ruling such a diverse people easier.

Amy Vaughan

31/1/2017 22:33:34

Summing it Up So Far: In what different ways did the colonial experience reshape the economic lives of Asian and African societies?

-Brought into contact with global commerce
-Introduced cash crops as a way to make a living
-African women were allowed more control in local trade

I feel like there is definitely more to add, so please do :)

Amy

31/1/2017 22:38:18

Seeking the Main Point: In what ways did colonial rule transform the societies that it encompassed?

-Introduced them to the global economy
-Western educations allowed for social mobility, but
created new divides within colonies between educated and uneducated
-Led to changing gender roles (ex: women in Africa)
-Prevented natives from having an industrial revolution of their own
-Kept focus on producing raw materials and food

Here is that same theme of Europeans sticking their nose in other countries' business and messing everything up in an effort to "bring them civilization." Does anyone have anything else to add?

Amy

1/2/2017 22:03:27

I also added that the identities of African societies became based off of tribes, a European social construct.

Bingham

Welcome class of 2019. Some years students collaborate in this space effectively, some years not so much. One thing I know, collaboration significantly enhances learning. If you want access to my thoughts, this is the collaboration space to use. Most people propose an answer to margin questions, big picture question, or anything else related to managing Strayer. Other people can then comment leading to a stronger answer. I'll keep an eye on these pages, and pop in when I think you need me.

Strayer 18, Colonialism

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