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Imperialism DBQ - INDIA

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European Imperialism: Was the overall impact positive or negative?

IN INDIA

Background Essay:

Because of radical developments in science, technology, industry, agriculture, communication, and weaponry, many Western countries were able to force their ideas and control on countries, communities, and empires around the world. By the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, European powers controlled about 20% of the world’s land area and over 150 million people!

Imperialism in some form or another was not new to the world stage. For most of history some groups of people have fought to control other groups of people for economic, political, or social gain. However, this “new imperialism” was different in a few key ways.

Bureacracy – Along with the developing idea of the “nation” came ideas of service and support for national identity and supremacy. People were now willing to travel long distances away from family and their known society to serve the greater good of the country or empire. This enabled a greater level of control to spread to greater distances.

Racial Superiority – Europeans believed that they were not only superior people, but that their society was superior and it was their duty to spread their moral code and ideology around the world to “less civilized” countries.

Infrastructure – Many times Europeans would develop the technology and infrastructure of a country and thereby radically alter a country or areas economics to the point where they would be forced to turn to the European country for guidance on how best to run their country and economy.

Business Imperialism – European companies would invest in local economies and industries to the point where they were compelled to protect their monetary investments through political or social action.

Colonies and Protectorates – If none of the less direct actions were successful, sometimes European countries would simply move in and

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take over a country or an area. They would establish a new government (annexation) or they would work out a one sided agreement with a figurehead government whereby the figurehead could keep their power as long as they implemented the policies the Europeans thought best for the country.

Overall, the question remains, were the policies good or bad for the areas that were impacted by the imperialism of Europe?

We will look at two case studies to determine:

Was the overall impact of European Imperialism good or bad?

For Africa? For India?

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Doc A: Excerpt from O.P. Austin’s, “Does Colonization Pay?” in The Forum, January 1900.

“Modern progressive nations…seek to control “garden spots: in the tropics. Under direction, these places can yield the tropical produce that their citizens need. In return the progressive nations bring to the people of those garden spots the foodstuffs, and manufactures they need. They develop the territory by building roads, canals, railways, and telegraphs. The progressive nations can establish schools and newspapers for the people of the colonies. They can also give these people the benefit of other blessings of civilization which they have not the means of creating themselves.”

Doc B: Excerpts from a speech and comments made by Dadabhai Naoroji. Born into a prosperous Bombay family, Dadabhai Naoroji, moved in 1855 to London, where he believed that he could be effective in improving Indian conditions. He became the first Indian elected to the British Parliament in 1892, running on the Liberal Party ticket. Earlier, he had helped found the Indian National Congress, the nationalist organization that sought greater Indian self-rule. This speech, delivered in London in 1871, was in response to a question he received about the impact of Great Britain on India.

“To sum up the whole, the British rule has been – morally a great blessing; politically peace and order on the one hand…on the other, materially, impoverishment…The natives call the British system…”the knife of sugar.” That is to say there is no oppression, it is all smooth and sweet, but it is the knife, nevertheless.”

These comments were delivered later…

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“Europeans occupy almost all the higher places in every department of government…Natives, no matter how fit, are deliberately kept out of the social institutions started by Europeans…All they do is love off of India while they are here. When they go, they carry all they have gained.”

Doc C: This excerpt is adapted from a book published in 1900,The Economic History of India Under Early British Rule, by an Indian, Romesh Dutt. Dutt was educated in England and held several posts in India as a lawyer, a civil servant, and in England as a college professor.

Englishmen…have given the people of India the greatest human blessing – peace. They have introduced Western education. This has brought an ancient and civilized nation in touch with modern thought, modern sciences, and modern life. They have built an administration that is strong and efficient. They have framed wise laws and have established courts of justice.

But in the same book, Dutt also said:

India in the eighteenth century was a great manufacturing as well as 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 ... discouraged Indian manufactures in the early years of British rule in order to encourage the rising manufactures of England . . . millions of Indian artisans lost their earnings; the population of India lost one great source of their wealth.

Doc D: An excerpt from the book, The English in India, published in 1932 by British historian J.A.R. Marriott.

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British brains, British enterprise, and British capital have changed the face of India. Means of communication have been developed. There are great numbers of bridges, more than 40,000 miles of railway, and 70,000 miles of paved roads. These testify to the skill and industry of British engineers. Irrigation works on a very large scale have brought 30 million acres under cultivation. This has greatly added to the agricultural wealth of the country. Industrialization has also begun. India now has improved sanitation and a higher standard of living. It has a fine transportation system and carefully thought-out schemes for relief work. Because of these things famines have now almost disappeared.

Doc E: Excerpt from India: A Restatement by British author, Sir Reginald Coupland, points out the social and economic impact of imperialism on India. Sir Reginald was a historian and a professor of history at Oxford University. This book was published in 1945.

British rule brought with is from the West certain standards of humanity that Indian society had not yet reached. Early action was taken to stop infanticide [the killing of girl babies]… The slave trade was ended and the owning of slaves was forbidden…One result of the new order was a steady rise in the value of India’s export trade.

Doc F: Jawaharlal Nehru became the first Prime Minister of India after India’s independence from Great Britain. Between 1942 and 1946 he was imprisoned by the British because of disagreement about India’s independence movement. It was during that time he wrote the book, The Discovery of India. This is an excerpt from that book.

This process continued throughout the nineteenth century. Other old Indian industries – shipbuilding, metalwork, glass, paper – and many

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crafts were broken up. Thus the economic development of India was stopped and the growth of new industry was prevented…A typical colonial economy was built up. India became an agricultural colony of industrial England. It supplied raw materials and provided markets for England’s industrial goods. The destruction of industry let to unemployment on a vast sale…The poverty of the country grew. The standard of living fell to terrible low levels.

Doc G: Mohandas Gandhi was the face and voice of the Indian independence movement. He was a national hero and used civil disobedience and non-violent protest to achieve India’s independence from Great Britain. He said this about imperialism and British rule in India.

You English committed one supreme crime against my people. For a hundred years you have done everything for us. You have given us no responsibility for our own government.

Doc H: This is a photograph taken of an Englishman living in India.

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Doc I: This is a political cartoon that was published in a popular British magazine called, Punch. It is reference to a brief and failed revolution led by a branch of the army in India that was made up entirely of Indian men.

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Doc

Pro or Anti

Imperialism or Both?

What does the author say was the impact of imperialism?

Does this source have a bias? Is the source

reliable? Why? Cite evidence from the text

to support your ideas.

A

B

C

D

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Doc

Pro or Anti






E

F

G

H

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Doc

Pro or Anti






I

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