1. Western Imperialism BY DAVID LOPEZ
Western Imperialism
BY DAVID LOPEZ

2. Academic Paragraph: Africa
Western interests impacted Africa by dividing up its states and conquering them, killing and defeating a large number of Africans in their mission to imperialize, and spreading religion to certain and many parts of Africa. By the 1900 nearly the whole continent of Africa had been under European control, only Ethiopia in the northeast and Liberia on the west coast remained independent. In the all the other states the Europeans tightened their control and established colonial governments in the years that they imperialized. When the British were imperializing southward of Egypt they ran across Sudan where there was a huge battle in which the Muslim tribesmen were easily killed by the British with their new Maxim machine gun. This impacted Africa by making it weaker and conquering more of it which went to the Europeans. As more native ethnic groups were being defeated others were getting ready to be the next ones to fall. In Africa Catholic and Protestant missionaries were competing to spread and convert people to Christianity. Also they built schools which led to first contact with the two races. This changed the African native culture because in some places like Ibo in Nigeria people became highly Christianized. It increased the number of Christian believers in Africa. Western interests impacted Africa by having them conquer their states, killing and defeating a large number of Africans, and they spread their main religion of Christianity all over Africa.

3. European Imperialism in Africa
By the nearly the whole continent had been carved up and placed under European rule
Only Ethiopia in the north and Liberia in the west coast were able to fight off the invaders and maintain their independence
The Berlin conference laid down some basic rules for the European countries and it made the game fair
Germany established protectorates over tribes in Togo, the region of Cameroon, south west Africa, and later East Africa
The French pressed forward in Algeria, then in the Senegal coast, and north of the Congo River

4. Defeated Africans
In 1898 British troops met against native Muslim tribesmen armed with spears who were defeated by the British with their new weapon the Maxim machine gun
In the Battle of Omdurman the muslim tribesmen were killed as they were extremely over powered with the new British technology
As the Europeans advanced on different areas of Africa they used their modern weapons to defeat the Africans who were mostly armed with spears

5. Spreading of Religion
The spread of religion was a huge factor in the reason for imperialism in Africa as Christians wanted to spread their religion
Catholic and Protestant missionaries competed with Islam south of the Sahara, seeking to convert people and build schools to spread the word of the gospel
This lead to huge numbers of Africans converting to Christianity, for example in places like Ibo, Nigeria

6. Academic Paragraph: Asia
Western interests impacted certain parts of Asia by blowing a hole in the wall of Chinese seclusion, opening up the ports of Japan, and they also imperialized some of the states in central and western Asia. Since the early 1800s the Chinese ports were not opened to many westerners but the British found a way to change that; by smuggling opium, getting the country addicted then forcing them to trade with them. Britain forced China, in the Treaty of Nanking, to cede the island of Hong Kong, pay $100 million, and open up four large cities to unlimited foreign trade with low tariffs. This broke the long tradition that China had of being self-sufficient. Much like the case in China the case with Japan was similar. The country of Japan was closed off to European influences and they would kill any one that got close. In 1853 using gunboat diplomacy the United States forced Japan to open up its ports and being helpless the Japanese agreed to the terms. They had “opened” Japan. This changed the policy that Japan had of not being opened to foreigners but it was changed like China was, by force. Russia conquered parts of Central Asia and the south of Caucasus and the United states conquered the Philippines, forcing them to fight but with no hope of winning. This also divided up Asia, much like Africa, to be ruled by different European countries. Western interests impacted Asia by opening up both China and Japan going against their traditions of no foreign trade and imperializing Asia much like Africa was in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

7. China “opens” in trading
The chinese civilization was self-sufficient and carefully regulated its trade with Europe
The British got the chinese addicted to opium creating something that the chinese needed to trade creating the opium trade
In the treaty of Nanking of 1842, the imperial government was forced to cede the island of Hong Kong to Britain forever, pay $100 million in compensation, and open up four large cities to foreign trade with low tariffs

8. Japan is “opened”
Much like China, Japan was sealed off from all european influences because they wanted to preserve their culture
In 1853 United States Commodore Matthew Perry went into Japan and using gunboat diplomacy he was able to negotiate with the emperor
In their treaty Japan was forced to open two ports and permit trade
The Western powers used their modern advances to take advantage of the other countries and force them to take certain actions

9. Asia faces imperialism
In the 1880s the French took Indochina
The Dutch ruled the East Indies
Russia conquered areas south of Caucasus and in Central Asia
The United States had control of the Philippines
Not only had Africa felt imperialism but Asia as well, several different parts were conquered on the quest for European imperialism