I. Colonies as suppliers of raw materials and
food
a.
As the British and other European economies
began to specialize in industrial production, they had an increased demand for
specific raw materials from the tropical world such as metals, oils, and cotton
or rubber.
b.
Colonies would serve as captive and cheap
sources of these commodities.
II. Colonies as markets
a.
Conversely, colonies could be captive markets
for European exports such as British cotton textiles.
b.
when the British began importing mass-produced
cotton textiles to India, they reversed a centuries-long trade imbalance
i. A
previously poor Europe had been desirous of Asian goods with little to offer in
return.
III.
Colonies
as investments
a.
As Western industrialization in the nineteenth
century was closely tied to a new and expanding phase of capitalism
b.
colonies naturally served as sources for
investment.
IV. Nationalism and imperial expansion
a.
With the rise of nationalism in Europe, average
citizens suddenly felt they had a stake in imperial expansion.
b.
Viewing the struggles of European empires in
Africa and Asia as a great game, they felt pride in acquiring more territories
and hated seeing real estate go to a rival empire.
V. The tools of empire
a.
Technological advances made new imperial
expansions possible.
b.
Faster steamships, better guns, and global
communication networks gave Europeans a marked tactical advantage over
pre-industrial societies.
c.
Medical developments, such as using quinine to
prevent and treat malaria, allowed the fragile European body to enter and
(hopefully) survive in the tropics.
VI. Technological superiority as racial
superiority
a.
For many European observers, the idea that
technological superiority indicated some sort of larger racial superiority was
axiomatic.
b.
variety of pseudo- scientific theories were
developed to explain the power differential between the industrial West and the
pre-industrial East and South.
VII.
Social Darwinism
a.
Racist justifications of empire hijacked and
bastardized the work of Charles Darwin, arguing that competition among white
nations and people of color was a natural occurrence and the victors should not
feel guilty.
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