Colonial Empires

By Phillip Ramsey

Review of the Age of Exploration

In the 1400’s, Europeans explored the world for many reasons:

* to find a sea route to the spices of ________* to find gold, silver, and precious __________* to expand their knowledge of the world* to build and control larger ____________

* to expand the ____________ religion* to find natural __________ for their newly created

factories * to open up new markets for their newly created products

Review of theAge of Exploration

Which statement best summarizes the reasons for European exploration?

A. European explorers were trying to prove that the earth was flat. B. Europeans were looking to find ways to ease the overcrowding

in their cities.C. The monarchs of Europe were trying to develop and use new sailing techniques.D. The Europeans were trying to expand their territories, gather riches, and spread their religion.

and the answer is………

Review of the Age of Exploration

D. The Europeans were trying to expand their territories, gather riches, and spread their religion.

What mnemonic device have we learned to remember this information?

the 3G’s God, Gold, and Glory

Beginning of Colonies• Once an area was “discovered,” it was claimed by the country who financed (or paid for) the expedition.

• The countries would set up colonies (territories controlled by people from a foreign country).

Beginning of Colonies• The colonies helped the European countries make a

lot of money. This economic ($) theory, called mercantilism, called for using colonies to increase a nation’s wealth by gaining access to:

– cheap/free labor - natural resources–market for goods -trade routes

Impact of the Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution was a time of great change. The development of machines prompted entrepreneurs to build factories. The ability to mass produce items created a great demand for low-cost raw materials and profitable markets to sell their goods.

shipped to England

cotton grow in India

turned into cloth by British machines and workers

cloth shipped to India

material purchased by Indians

Imperialism

This thirst for new land, natural resources, cheap labor, and new trade opportunities, prompted the European powers to expand into Africa, Asia, and the Americas. This desire to create overseas empires is called imperialism.

Between 1875 and 1895, a handful of European powers seized over 25% of the world’s population. Some of the major players were Portugal, Spain, England, and France.

Portugal

Thanks to Prince Henry the Navigator’s leadership, the Portuguese were able to explore a great portion of Africa’s

coast. They only found a little of the gold that they were looking for, but soon realized sugar was their ticket to riches.

The Portuguese set up plantation colonies in places like Brazil. They grow sugar cane there and imported Africans to work the land as slaves.

Spain

• Thanks to Christopher Columbus, the majority of Spain’s colonies were in the New World. When he reached land, he started claiming it for Spain,

the sponsor of his voyages. His explorations opened the door to further exploration and enormous wealth.

Spain • The majority of South America and

the western part of what is today the USA became part of the Spanish

empire.

• Like the Portuguese, the Spanish found that growing crops was very profitable.

England

The British Empire was by far the biggest in world history. At the peak of its power, it was often said that “the sun never sets on the British Empire.”

Which means that because of the empire spanning the globe it ensured that the sun was always shining on at least one of it numerous colonies.

England

England had colonies on the continents of North America, Asia, Africa, and Australia. When one thinks of the British Empire they think of places like the 13 Colonies, present day Canada, India, and Australia.

England

England established settler colonies on North America. Large numbers of people from the mother country, England, moved to the new colony to start new lives. The local people or tribes, were often moved off the more desirable land by force.

England • In Australia, the newcomers were prisoners sent there

by the English court system. This was due to the overcrowding of their jails. The impact felt by the native people, the Aborigines, was enormous.

England

• Australia was important to England for other reasons, too.

* British government wanted to station some of its navy there since it was

in the southern hemisphere * it was an economic base to expand

trade * the British didn’t want the French to

have it

France

• Along with England and Spain, France was one of the world’s dominant empires. It had colonies around the world.

France

• They controlled islands in the Caribbean, the Indian Ocean, the South Pacific, the North Pacific, and the North Atlantic.

• They had power in parts of Canada, South America, SE Asia, and NW Africa.

Scramble for Africa • During the late 1800’s, several countries

wanted more overseas land. The result was the “Scramble for Africa.” Several European countries divided the continent among themselves.

• No major country, including Great Britain, France, and Germany wanted to be without colonies.

Why the Scramble for Africa?

1. Africa was rich in resources: diamonds gold copper tin land for growing peanuts, palm oil, cocoa, and rubber

2.Africa was a market for European goods.

Why the Scramble for Africa?

3. Some European countries showed national pride by competing for colonies in Africa.

4. During the 19th century, many Europeans viewed themselves as the most advanced civilization. Some felt they needed to “civilize” people in the rest of the world.

Consequences of ImperialismThere were both negative & positive consequences:

improved knowledge of the world

slavery increased trade spread of disease

cultural diffusion (spreading ideas about who you are – language, religion, dress, food…)

disruption of culture (one group’s way of life loses value, gets pushed to the side)

countries were stripped of their wealth

wars were fought

Today’s ImpactThe impact of colonization and imperialism are still

present in our lives today:

Languages – Spanish in Mexico, _______ in India

_________ – many different ethnicities in the Americas

Religions - Christianity in Latin America, parts of Africa

Place Names – Florida is Spanish for ______________,