Colonialism Imperialism Decolonization

In-depth Analysis for a World History Survey Course

3 Approaches to World History

A. Chronological

B. TopicalC. Regional

From:Reilly, Kevin. “A World History Approach” in Approaches to World Studies: A Handbook for Curriculum Planners, eds. Robert B. Woyach and Richard C. Remy, 19-60. Needham Heights, MA: Simon & Schuster 1989.

Chronological

I. Human Origins and the Agricultural Revolution (to 4000 BCE)

II. Urban Revolution & Early Civilization (4000 BCE – 500 BCE)

III. Classical and Great Traditions (2000 BCE – 1453 CE)

IV. Rise of the West (1400 – 1914)

V. World in the Shadow of the West (1800 – 1945)

VI. Problems of the Interdependent World (post 1945)

Where would Colonization, Imperialism, & Decolonization fit ????

Topical

Where would Colonization, Imperialism, & Decolonization fit ????

First Semester• Gender and Family (Human Origins – 1000

BCE)• City and Civilization (3000 BCE – 1000 CE)• Religion and Society (1000 BCE – 1000 CE)• War and Peace (500 BCE – 1500 CE)

Second Semester• Politics and States (1500 – 1800)• Economics and Ecology (1500 – 1900)• Race and Nationality (1600 – present)• Individual and Mass Society (1800 – present)

Regional

Where would Colonization, Imperialism, & Decolonization fit ????

I. Thinking Geographically – Introducing Location & Space

• Geographic Variations on the Local Scale• Geographic Variations on the National

Scale

II. Patterns/Processes on Global Scale • Regionalization• Physical Geography• Human Geography• Trade/Politics/Economics

III. Uneven Development• Development Continuum• Measures of Development• Theories of Development• Spatial Dimensions of Development

IV. The Global Pattern of Development• More Developed Regions• Less Developed Regions

Lecture Topic Ideas

What is the relationship between industrialization and imperialism?

Eric Hobsbawm’s work is critical on this subject – focus on British dominance

• Industry and Empire (1968, 1999)• Age of Empire (1987)

Alice Amsden’s contrasting piece on others who industrialize later• The Rise of the ‘Rest’: Challenges to the West from Late

Industrializing Economies (2001)

Technology and its Role in Imperialism/Colonialism

• Transportation• Medicine• Weapons

Jared Diamond’s Guns, Germs, and Steel (1997) could be a good supplement to this topic as he discusses how geography impacted the development of technology in different regions.

Empire in British Literature

• William Shakespeare – The Tempest• Daniel Defoe – Robinson Crusoe• Jean Rhys – Wide Sargasso Sea• Charlotte Bronte – Jane Eyre• Rudyard Kipling – The White Man’s Burden• E.M. Forster – A Passage to India• George Orwell – Shooting an Elephant• Joseph Conrad – The Heart of Darkness

Lecture Topic described in Professor Patrick Allitt’s Great Course seminar “The Rise and Fall of the British Empire” Course No 8480, The Teaching Company.

Economics and Theories of Empire

• Hobson/Lenin Theory

• Wallerstein’s World System (How does his theory fit with empire building?)

Comprehensive Activities

In-depth Analysis : China and the Opium Wars

• China’s Official Statementso Imperial Edict to the Grand Secretariat (June 5, 1842)o Reports by Kiying, Imperial Commissioner (1842)

• Britain’s Statementso Participant’s View by J. Elliot Bingham, Naval Officer

(1842)

• China’s Response to the End of the Opium Warso Wei Yuan’s Defense Plan (1842)

From: Stearns, Peter. World History in Documents:

A Comparative Reader. New York, NY: New York University Press, 1998.

Comparison of Ruling Philosophy Between Chinese, Indian, Ottoman, and French Rulers

• The Emperor Kangxi “Reflections” (China, 1671-1722)• Memoirs of the Emperor Jahangir (India, 1605-1627)• Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq “Turkish Letters”

(Regarding Suleiman I, 1520-1566)• Louis XIV “Memoirs” (France, 1670)• Jean-Baptiste Colbert “Instructions for Intendants”

(France, 1680)

From: Strayer, Robert. Ways of the World: A Global History

With Sources. New York, NY: W.H. Freeman, 2010.

Strayer 652-663

Apartheid and Imperialism in South Africa

Michigan State University – African Studies Center

• Lesson units with primary sources and multimedia material for use with high school and undergraduate college students.

http://overcomingapartheid.msu.edu/index.php

White Man’s Burden v. Black Man’s Burden

• Rudyard Kipling’s “The White Man’s Burden”

• Edward Morel’s response to Kipling in his “The Black Man’s Burden”

Victor Gillam, “The White Man’s Burden,” Judge, 1899.

Scramble for Africa: Visual Analysis

Strayer 960-967

Fordham UniversityInternet History

Sourcebook Project

“Imperialism”

http://legacy.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbook34.asp