Evaluate the extent to which industrialization caused the expansion of European empires in the period circa 1800 to 1900.
Excerpts from historical sources. Cuts are marked with ellipses, and words in brackets were added for clarity.
Document 1
Lin Zexu, Qing imperial commissioner at Canton, letter to Queen Victoria, 1839.
Now, ever since the restrictions on sea-borne trade at Canton were relaxed—several decades back—and a free business intercourse followed, the people of the Inner Land and the barbarian ships from outside have been at peace in the enjoyment of their profits. It may be added that rhubarb, tea, silk, etc., are among the most precious products of the Middle Kingdom, and that if the Outside nations were unable to obtain these, they would be deprived of the necessaries of life. . . . There is, however, a class of treacherous barbarians who manufacture opium, smuggle it in for sale, and deceive our foolish people, in order to injure their bodies and derive profit therefrom. . . . Not to smoke yourselves, but yet to dare to prepare and sell to and beguile the foolish masses of the Inner Land—this is to protect one's own life while leading others to death, to gather profit for oneself while bringing injury upon others.
Document 2
Jules Ferry, former prime minister of France, speech to the Chamber of Deputies, 1885.
What our great industries lack . . ., what they lack more and more, is markets. Why? Because . . . Germany is covering herself with barriers; because, beyond the ocean, the United States of America have become protectionist, and protectionist to an extreme degree. . . . The superior races have a right as regards inferior races. They have a right because they have a duty. They have the duty of civilizing the inferior races. . . . Is it possible to deny that it is good fortune for the unhappy populations of equatorial Africa to fall under the protectorate of the French nation, or of the English nation?
Document 3
Menelik II, emperor of Ethiopia, circular letter to the rulers of Europe, 1891, from an English translation printed in a United States newspaper that year.
In indicating the actual limit of my empire I will say that if the good God gives me health and strength I shall re-establish the ancient frontiers of Ethiopia at Khartoum and on the Nyanza lake, including the whole [Oromo] country. For many years Abyssinia was an island of the Christians in a sea of pagans, and I have no intention of being an indifferent spectator when foreign powers are dividing Africa among themselves. As the Almighty has protected Ethiopia to this day, I am confident that He will protect her and enlarge her boundaries in the future; and I am certain that He will never divide Ethiopia among the other powers.
Document 4
Visual source
Edward Linley Sambourne, British cartoonist, "The Rhodes Colossus: Striding from Cape Town to Cairo," cartoon in Punch, London, 1892.
Edward Linley Sambourne, Punch, 10 December 1892. Wikimedia Commons, public domain.Describe the image
A cartoon shows Cecil Rhodes as a giant standing astride a map of Africa, one foot at the southern tip of the continent and the other in the far north. He wears a military-style uniform with a belt and ammunition pouch and has a rifle slung over his shoulder. He waves his hat in one raised hand. A single wire runs from the ground at the southern end of the continent up to one hand, across in front of his body to the other hand, and down to the northern end, representing the telegraph line from Cape Town to Cairo that Rhodes had just proposed. The caption reads "The Rhodes Colossus. Striding from Cape Town to Cairo."
Document 5
Mary Kingsley, British traveler and writer on West Africa, West African Studies, 1899.
The vast regions of Africa from 30° N. to 20° S., have long been known not to possess a climate suitable for colonising in. . . . Yet, as in spite of this, European nations are possessing themselves of this country with as much ardour as if it were a health resort and a gold mine in one, it is plain they must have another reason, and this reason is in the case of Germany and England primarily commercial pressure. . . . Such markets are of enormous value to us; they are, especially the West African ones, regions of great natural riches in rubber, oil, timber, ivory, and minerals from gold to coal. . . . The importance to us of such markets as Africa affords us seems to me to give us one sufficient reason for taking over these tropical African regions. I do not use the word justification in the matter . . . but it is a sound reason, as good a reason as we had in overrunning Australia and America.
Document 6
Winston Churchill, British army officer and war correspondent, The River War, an account of the Anglo-Egyptian conquest of the Mahdist state in Sudan, 1899.
In savage warfare in a flat country the power of modern machinery is such that flesh and blood can scarcely prevail, and the chances of battle are reduced to a minimum. Fighting the Dervish was primarily a matter of transport. The Khalifa was conquered on the railway. . . . The movements of the French expeditions towards the Upper Nile counselled speed. The poverty of Egypt compelled economy. The Nile route, though sure, would be slow and very expensive. A short cut must be found. . . . Thus ended the battle of Omdurman—the most signal triumph ever gained by the arms of science over barbarians. Within the space of five hours the strongest and best-armed savage army yet arrayed against a modern European Power had been destroyed and dispersed, with hardly any difficulty, comparatively small risk, and insignificant loss to the victors.
Document 7
Romesh Chunder Dutt, Indian historian, retired colonial administrator, and former president of the Indian National Congress, The Economic History of India under Early British Rule, 1902.
India in the eighteenth century was a great manufacturing as well as a great agricultural country, and the products of the Indian loom supplied the markets of Asia and of Europe. It is, unfortunately, true that the East Indian Company and the British Parliament, following the selfish commercial policy of a hundred years ago, discouraged Indian manufacturers in the early years of British rule in order to encourage the rising manufactures of England. Their fixed policy, pursued during the last decades of the eighteenth century and the first decades of the nineteenth, was to make India subservient to the industries of Great Britain, and to make the Indian people grow raw produce only, in order to supply material for the looms and manufactories of Great Britain. . . . The invention of the power-loom in Europe completed the decline of the Indian industries; and when in recent years the power-loom was set up in India, England once more acted towards India with unfair jealousy.
How it's scored
1 ptThesis or claim. A historically defensible thesis that establishes a line of reasoning, in one or more consecutive sentences in the intro or conclusion.
1 ptContextualization. Describe a broader historical context relevant to the prompt: events, developments, or processes before, during, or after the prompt's time frame.
2 ptsEvidence from the documents. One point for accurately describing the content of three documents. Two points for using the content of at least four documents to support the argument.
1 ptEvidence beyond the documents. Use one specific, relevant piece of historical evidence that appears in none of the documents, and explain how it supports the argument.
1 ptAnalysis and reasoning: sourcing. For at least two documents, explain how or why the point of view, purpose, historical situation, or intended audience is relevant to the argument.
1 ptAnalysis and reasoning: complexity. Demonstrate a complex understanding: explain nuance, consider multiple variables, analyze both similarity and difference, or qualify the argument with evidence that cuts against it.
