Current Events:
The Culture of Modernity
Literature
Painting
Degas
Introduction
Social trends in the mid-1800s in France are readily apparent in the works of many of the impressionist artists. The work of Edgar Degas is a good example. In this activity you will learn about impressionism and about the contribution of Degas to a new style in painting and sculpture.
Edgar Degas
Directions
* Read the information on the Web site about Degas. Take notes as you read.
* Click on “Life” and read the information.
* Go back and click on “Artistic Styles.” Read the information.
* Click on two of Degas’ paintings and review his works.
Use the information you found to answer the following questions.
Architecture
Music
Reading Check
Explaining
How did the Impressionists radically change the art of painting in the 1870s?
Preview (Chapters 14-15)
Ch. 14 The Height of Imperialism 1800-1914
Section 1 Colonial Rule in Southeast Asia
The New Imperialism
Reading Check
Describing
What were four primary motivations for the "new imperialism?"
Colonial Takeover in Southeast Asia
Great Britain
France
Thailand--The Exception
The United States
Reading Check
Identifying
What spurred Britain to control Singapore and Burma?
Colonial Regimes in Southeast Asia
Indirect and Direct Rule
Colonial Economies
Reading Check
Explaining
Why did colonial powers prefer that colonists not develop their own industries?
Resistance to Colonial Rule
Reading Check
Summarizing
Explain three forms of resistance to Western domination.
Section 2 Empire Building in Africa
West Africa
Reading Check
Explaining
Why did the slave trade decline in the 1800s?
North Africa
Reading Check
Explaining
Great Britain was determined to have complete control of the Suez Canal. Why?
Central Africa
Reading Check
Examining
What effect did King Leopold II of Belgium have on European colonization of the Congo River basin?
East Africa
Reading Check
Evaluating
What was significant about the Berlin Conference?
South Africa
Reading Check
Describing
What happened to the Boers at the end of the Boer War?
Colonial Rule in Africa
Reading Check
Comparing
How did the French system of colonial rule differ from that of Great Britain?
Rise of African Nationalism
Reading Check
Evaluating
Why were many African intellectuals frustrated by colonial policy?
Section 3 British Rule in India
The Sepoy Mutiny
In the early 1600s, the British East India Company won trading rights on the fringe of the Mughal empire. As Mughal power declined, the company’s influence grew. By the mid-1800s, it controlled three fifths of India.
Exploiting Indian Diversity
The British were able to conquer India by exploiting its diversity. Even when Mughal power was at its height, India was home to many people and cultures. As Mughal power crumbled, India became fragmented. Indians with different traditions and dozens of different languages were not able to unite against the newcomers. The British took advantage of Indian divisions by encouraging competition and disunity among rival princes. Where diplomacy or intrigue did not work, the British used their superior weapons to overpower local rulers.
Implementing British Policies
The East India Company’s main goal in India was to make money, and leading officials often grew rich. At the same time, the company did work to improve roads, preserve peace, and reduce banditry.
Infographic
The Sepoy Rebellion
Go Online
For: Audio guided tour
Visit: PHSchool.com
Web Code: nap-2441
By the early 1800s, British officials introduced Western education and legal procedures. Missionaries tried to convert Indians to Christianity, which they felt was superior to Indian religions. The British also pressed for social change. They worked to end slavery and the caste system and to improve the position of women within the family. One law banned sati (suh tee), a Hindu custom practiced mainly by the upper classes. It called for a widow to join her husband in death by throwing herself on his funeral fire.
Growing Discontent
In the 1850s, the East India Company made several unpopular moves. First, it required sepoys (see poyz), or Indian soldiers in its service, to serve anywhere, either in India or overseas. For high-caste Hindus, however, overseas travel was an offense against their religion. Second, the East India Company passed a law that allowed Hindu widows to remarry. Hindus viewed both moves as a Christian conspiracy to undermine their beliefs.
Then, in 1857, the British issued new rifles to the sepoys. Troops were told to bite off the tips of cartridges before loading them into the rifles. The cartridges, however, were greased with animal fat—either from cows, which Hindus considered sacred, or from pigs, which were forbidden to Muslims. When the troops refused the order to “load rifles,” they were imprisoned.
Rebellion and Aftermath
Angry sepoys rose up against their British officers. The Sepoy Rebellion swept across northern and central India. Several sepoy regiments marched off to Delhi, the old Mughal capital. There, they hailed the last Mughal ruler as their leader.
In some places, the sepoys brutally massacred British men, women, and children. But the British soon rallied and crushed the revolt. They then took terrible revenge for their earlier losses, torching villages and slaughtering thousands of unarmed Indians.
The Sepoy Rebellion left a bitter legacy of fear, hatred, and mistrust on both sides. It also brought major changes in British policy. In 1858, Parliament ended the rule of the East India Company and put India directly under the British crown. It sent more troops to India, taxing Indians to pay the cost of these occupying forces. While it slowed the “reforms” that had angered Hindus and Muslims, it continued to develop India for Britain’s own economic benefit.
Checkpoint
What were the causes of the Sepoy Rebellion in northern and central India?
Reading Check
Describing
What were two effects of the Great Rebellion?
Colonial Rule
Benefits of British Rule
Costs of British Rule
After 1858, Parliament set up a system of colonial rule in India called the British Raj. A British viceroy in India governed in the name of the queen, and British officials held the top positions in the civil service and army. Indians filled most other jobs. With their cooperation, the British made India the “brightest jewel” in the crown of their empire.
British policies were designed to incorporate India into the overall British economy. At the same time, British officials felt they were helping India to modernize. In their terms, modernizing meant adopting not only Western technology but also Western culture.
Vocabulary Builder
overall—(oh vur awl) adj. total
An Unequal Partnership
Britain saw India both as a market and as a source of raw materials. To this end, the British built roads and an impressive railroad network. Improved transportation let the British sell their factory-made goods across the subcontinent and carry Indian cotton, jute, and coal to coastal ports for transport to factories in England. New methods of communication, such as the telegraph, also gave Britain better control of India. After the Suez Canal opened in 1869, British trade with India soared. But it remained an unequal partnership, favoring the British. The British flooded India with inexpensive, machine-made textiles, ruining India’s once-prosperous hand-weaving industry.
Britain also transformed Indian agriculture. It encouraged nomadic herders to settle into farming and pushed farmers to grow cash crops, such as cotton and jute, that could be sold on the world market. Clearing new farmlands led to massive deforestation, or cutting of trees.
Population Growth and Famine
The British introduced medical improvements and new farming methods. Better health care and increased food production led to rapid population growth. The rising numbers, however, put a strain on the food supply, especially as farmland was turned over to growing cash crops instead of food. In the late 1800s, terrible famines swept India.
On the positive side, British rule brought some degree of peace and order to the countryside. The British revised the legal system to promote justice for Indians regardless of class or caste. Railroads helped Indians move around the country, while the telegraph and postal system improved communication. Greater contact helped bridge regional differences and develop a sense of national unity.
The upper classes, especially, benefited from some British policies. They sent their sons to British schools, where they were trained for posts in the civil service and military. Indian landowners and princes, who still ruled their own territories, grew rich from exporting cash crops.
Checkpoint
How did British colonial rule affect Indian agriculture?
Reading Check
Examining
How was British rule degrading to Indians?
An Indian Nationalist Movement
During the years of British rule, a class of Western-educated Indians emerged. In the view of Macaulay and others, this elite class would bolster British power. As it turned out, exposure to European ideas had the opposite effect. By the late 1800s, Western-educated Indians were spearheading a nationalist movement. Schooled in Western ideals such as democracy and equality, they dreamed of ending imperial rule.
Indian National Congress
In 1885, nationalist leaders organized the Indian National Congress, which became known as the Congress party. Its members believed in peaceful protest to gain their ends. They called for greater democracy, which they felt would bring more power to Indians like themselves. The Indian National Congress looked forward to eventual self-rule, but supported Western-style modernization.
Muslim League
At first, Muslims and Hindus worked together for self-rule. In time, however, Muslims grew to resent Hindu domination of the Congress party. They also worried that a Hindu-run government would oppress Muslims. In 1906, Muslims formed the Muslim League to pursue their own goals. Soon, they were talking of a separate Muslim state.
Checkpoint
How are the origins of Indian nationalism linked to British rule?
Reading Check
Summarizing
What were the two goals of Mohandas Gandhi?
Colonial Indian Culture
Reading Check
Comparing
How did the nationalist movement parallel cultural developments in India?
Section 4 Nation Building in Latin America
Nationalist Revolts
Prelude to Revolution
Reading Check
Describing
How did Napoleon's wars affect Latin America?
Revolt in Mexico
Revolts in South America
Reading Check
Evaluating
How did the French Revolution affect Mexico?
Difficulties of Nation Building
Rule of the Caudillos
A New Imperialism
Persistent Inequality
Reading Check
Describing
What were some of the difficulties faced by the new Latin American republics?
The United States in Latin America
Revolution in Mexico
Reading Check
Describing
What was the United States's role as a colonial power?
Economic Change in Latin America
Reading Check
Evaluating
What caused the growth of a middle class in Latin America?
Chapter 15 East Asia Under Challenge 1800-1914
Section 1 The Decline of the Qing Dynasty
Causes of Decline
Reading Check
Examining
What factors led to the decline of the Qing dynasty?
The Opium War
Reading Check
Summarizing
What did the British do to adjust their trade imbalance with China?
The Tai Ping Rebellion
Reading Check
Summarizing
What social reforms did the Tai Ping Rebellion demand?
Efforts at Reform
Reading Check
Explaining
What was China's policy of "self-strengthening?"?
The Advance of Imperialism
Mounting Pressures
Internal Crisis
Internal Crisis
Reading Check
Identifying
What countries claimed Chinese lands between 1880 and 1900?
Opening the Door to China
Reading Check
Analyzing
Why did the United States want an Open Door policy in China?
The Boxer Rebellion
Reading Check
Explaining
How did the Boxers get their name?
Section 2 Revolution in China
The Fall of the Qing
The Rise of Sun Yat-sen
The Revolution of 1911
Reading Check
Evaluating
What changes did the Revolution of 1911 actually produce in China?
An Era of Civil War
Reading Check
Explaining
Why were there rebellions in China after General Yuan Shigai became president?
Chinese Society in Transition
Reading Check
Evaluating
How did the arrival of Westerners affect China?
China's Changing Culture
Reading Check
Describing
What effects did Western culture have on China?
Section 3 Rise of Modern Japan
An End to Isolation
Reading Check
Identifying
What benefits did the Treaty of Kanagawa grant the United States?
Resistance to the New Order
Reading Check
Identifying
What events led to the collapse of the shogunate system in Japan?
The Meiji Restoration
Transformation of Japanese Politics
Meiji Economics
Building a Modern Social Structure
Daily Life and Women's Rights
Reading Check
Explaining
How was Japan's government structured under the Meiji constitution?
Joining the Imperialist Nations
Beginnings of Expansion
War with Russia
U.S. Relations
Reading Check
Explaining
Why did Japan turn itself into an imperialist power?
Culture in an Era of Transition
Reading Check
Describing
What effect did Japanese culture have on other nations?
Empire Builders
Lord Frederick Lugard, a British empire builder, tried to justify imperialism in Africa with these words:
“There are some who say we have no right to Africa at all, that ‘it belongs to the natives.’ I hold that our right is the necessity that is upon us to provide for our ever-growing population—either by opening new fields for emigration, or by providing work and employment . . . and to stimulate trade by finding new markets.”
Note Taking
Reading Skill: Recognize Multiple Causes As you read the section, make a chart like the one below showing the multiple causes of imperialism in the 1800s.
In 1871, Indian nationalist Dadabhai Naoroji (dah dah by now roh jee) criticized British rule in India:
“[Indians] call the British system ‘Sakar ki Churi’ (sa kur kee choo ree), the knife of sugar. That is to say, there is no oppression, it is all smooth and sweet, but it is the knife notwithstanding.”
Learn
Focus Question
How did Britain gradually extend its control over most of India, despite opposition?
For more than 200 years, Mughal rulers governed a powerful empire in India. By the mid-1700s, however, the Mughal empire was collapsing from a lack of strong rulers. Britain then turned its commercial interests in the region into political ones.
East India Company and Rebellion
In the early 1600s, the British East India Company won trading rights on the fringe of the Mughal empire. As Mughal power declined, the company’s influence grew. By the mid-1800s, it controlled three fifths of India.
Exploiting Indian Diversity
The British were able to conquer India by exploiting its diversity. Even when Mughal power was at its height, India was home to many people and cultures. As Mughal power crumbled, India became fragmented. Indians with different traditions and dozens of different languages were not able to unite against the newcomers. The British took advantage of Indian divisions by encouraging competition and disunity among rival princes. Where diplomacy or intrigue did not work, the British used their superior weapons to overpower local rulers.
Implementing British Policies
The East India Company’s main goal in India was to make money, and leading officials often grew rich. At the same time, the company did work to improve roads, preserve peace, and reduce banditry.
Infographic
The Sepoy Rebellion
Go Online
For: Audio guided tour
Visit: PHSchool.com
Web Code: nap-2441
By the early 1800s, British officials introduced Western education and legal procedures. Missionaries tried to convert Indians to Christianity, which they felt was superior to Indian religions. The British also pressed for social change. They worked to end slavery and the caste system and to improve the position of women within the family. One law banned sati (suh tee), a Hindu custom practiced mainly by the upper classes. It called for a widow to join her husband in death by throwing herself on his funeral fire.
Growing Discontent
In the 1850s, the East India Company made several unpopular moves. First, it required sepoys (see poyz), or Indian soldiers in its service, to serve anywhere, either in India or overseas. For high-caste Hindus, however, overseas travel was an offense against their religion. Second, the East India Company passed a law that allowed Hindu widows to remarry. Hindus viewed both moves as a Christian conspiracy to undermine their beliefs.
Then, in 1857, the British issued new rifles to the sepoys. Troops were told to bite off the tips of cartridges before loading them into the rifles. The cartridges, however, were greased with animal fat—either from cows, which Hindus considered sacred, or from pigs, which were forbidden to Muslims. When the troops refused the order to “load rifles,” they were imprisoned.
Rebellion and Aftermath
Angry sepoys rose up against their British officers. The Sepoy Rebellion swept across northern and central India. Several sepoy regiments marched off to Delhi, the old Mughal capital. There, they hailed the last Mughal ruler as their leader.
In some places, the sepoys brutally massacred British men, women, and children. But the British soon rallied and crushed the revolt. They then took terrible revenge for their earlier losses, torching villages and slaughtering thousands of unarmed Indians.
The Sepoy Rebellion left a bitter legacy of fear, hatred, and mistrust on both sides. It also brought major changes in British policy. In 1858, Parliament ended the rule of the East India Company and put India directly under the British crown. It sent more troops to India, taxing Indians to pay the cost of these occupying forces. While it slowed the “reforms” that had angered Hindus and Muslims, it continued to develop India for Britain’s own economic benefit.
Checkpoint
What were the causes of the Sepoy Rebellion in northern and central India?
Impact of British Colonial Rule
After 1858, Parliament set up a system of colonial rule in India called the British Raj. A British viceroy in India governed in the name of the queen, and British officials held the top positions in the civil service and army. Indians filled most other jobs. With their cooperation, the British made India the “brightest jewel” in the crown of their empire.
British policies were designed to incorporate India into the overall British economy. At the same time, British officials felt they were helping India to modernize. In their terms, modernizing meant adopting not only Western technology but also Western culture.
Vocabulary Builder
overall—(oh vur awl) adj. total
An Unequal Partnership
Britain saw India both as a market and as a source of raw materials. To this end, the British built roads and an impressive railroad network. Improved transportation let the British sell their factory-made goods across the subcontinent and carry Indian cotton, jute, and coal to coastal ports for transport to factories in England. New methods of communication, such as the telegraph, also gave Britain better control of India. After the Suez Canal opened in 1869, British trade with India soared. But it remained an unequal partnership, favoring the British. The British flooded India with inexpensive, machine-made textiles, ruining India’s once-prosperous hand-weaving industry.
Britain also transformed Indian agriculture. It encouraged nomadic herders to settle into farming and pushed farmers to grow cash crops, such as cotton and jute, that could be sold on the world market. Clearing new farmlands led to massive deforestation, or cutting of trees.
Railroads and TradeBy building thousands of miles of railroads, the British opened up India’s vast interior to trade. The British also encouraged Indians to grow tea (top photo) and jute (bottom photo). Today, tea is one of India’s biggest crops. What were some of the benefits of British rule?
Population Growth and Famine
The British introduced medical improvements and new farming methods. Better healthcare and increased food production led to rapid population growth. The rising numbers, however, put a strain on the food supply, especially as farmland was turned over to growing cash crops instead of food. In the late 1800s, terrible famines swept India.
Benefits of British Rule
On the positive side, British rule brought some degree of peace and order to the countryside. The British revised the legal system to promote justice for Indians regardless of class or caste. Railroads helped Indians move around the country, while the telegraph and postal system improved communication. Greater contact helped bridge regional differences and develop a sense of national unity.
The upper classes, especially, benefited from some British policies. They sent their sons to British schools, where they were trained for posts in the civil service and military. Indian landowners and princes, who still ruled their own territories, grew rich from exporting cash crops.
Checkpoint
How did British colonial rule affect Indian agriculture?
Resources
Self-check Quiz on Chapter
Vocabulary eFlashcards
Academic Vocabulary
Combined
Content Vocabulary
People, Places and Events
HW email to gmsmith@shanahan.org
1. Be sure to consider the Ch. 13 Test Prep page before the Test.
