Critiques of Imperialism

Question Two

2. What are the chief criticisms of imperialism in colonizing and colonized nations?

Sources for Question Two

Textbook
John P. McKay, et al. A History of World Societies; 5th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1999. Read Chapter 27, but pay special attention to pp. 853-875.

Terms, Concepts, People

1. Joseph Conrad
2. Social Darwinism
3. Partition of Africa
4. Sepoy Rebellion/Mutiny
5. racism
6. Boxer Rebellion
7. Meiji Restoration
8. elite reaction to foreign rule
9. King Chulalongkorn
10. Indian National Congress

Study Questions

1. Compare Kipling’s “White Man’s Burden” with the brown and black man’s burden.
2. What role does race play in the following sources?

In Colonizing Nations

American Anti-Imperialist League. “Platform of the American Anti-Imperialist League” 1899.
https://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1899antiimp.html

Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness 1902.

Labouchere, Henry. “The Brown Man’s Burden.” As quoted in J. Ellis, The Social History of the Machine Gun. New York: Pantheon, 1975.

Morel, Edward. The Black Man’s Burden 1903
https://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1903blackburden.html

In Colonized Nations

Dadabhai Maoroji, “The Benefits of British Rule” 1871
https://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1871britishrule.html

Jose P. Laurel. “Racial Pride.” In Forces That Make a Nation Great. Manila: Board of Information, 1944.

Minh Mang, Emperor of Vietnam. “Edict Against Christianity (1833).” In Georges Taboulet, La Geste Francaise en Indochine. 2 vols. Paris, 1955-56.

Nehru, Jawaharlal. The Discovery of India. New York: John Day, 1946

Next section: Imperialism in China