So, the midterm is over. That's good, right?
Before I get into this week's primary sources, I want to remind you that you should be reading the first half of The River Between this week. Professor McDow has put a study guide up on Carmen, so you should take a look at that before class. You'll have a chance to ask questions at the beginning of section.
This week, we'll be discussing both LAST WEEK'S and THIS WEEK'S primary sources, which I actually think go together rather well. We'll try to get an idea of what the ideological transformations in the nineteenth century meant for the process of colonization.
The new readings for this week are Cecil Rhodes (p. 227), Edmund Morel (p. 232), and Jomo Kenyatta (p. 735 in the WTWA textbook).
THINGS TO CONSIDER FOR SECTION:
1) After reading Rhodes, what image do you get of British nationalism? What is it based in? Why does Rhodes think it is so important for the British Empire to expand?
2) According to Morel, why is economic domination in Africa so dangerous? Why doesn't European capitalism work in Africa?
3) Why, specifically, does Kenyatta think the European presence in Africa is damaging? How does he describe the Africans? What do you think of this description?
ACTIVITY - due by 11:59pm, Wednesday 10/10, if you choose this week's activity
I'm using the same activity as last week: Pick a quote (1-2 sentences) from any of the readings. YOU MAY CHOOSE ANY READING FROM THIS WEEK OR LAST WEEK (make sure to specify which one you are using). Give us the quote, tell us what you found interesting, surprising, confusing, etc about it, and then tell us one question that it raised for you. Please put your response in the comments section, and remember it only needs to be about 5-6 sentences total.
See you all on Thursday,
Kirsten
Before I get into this week's primary sources, I want to remind you that you should be reading the first half of The River Between this week. Professor McDow has put a study guide up on Carmen, so you should take a look at that before class. You'll have a chance to ask questions at the beginning of section.
This week, we'll be discussing both LAST WEEK'S and THIS WEEK'S primary sources, which I actually think go together rather well. We'll try to get an idea of what the ideological transformations in the nineteenth century meant for the process of colonization.
The new readings for this week are Cecil Rhodes (p. 227), Edmund Morel (p. 232), and Jomo Kenyatta (p. 735 in the WTWA textbook).
THINGS TO CONSIDER FOR SECTION:
1) After reading Rhodes, what image do you get of British nationalism? What is it based in? Why does Rhodes think it is so important for the British Empire to expand?
2) According to Morel, why is economic domination in Africa so dangerous? Why doesn't European capitalism work in Africa?
3) Why, specifically, does Kenyatta think the European presence in Africa is damaging? How does he describe the Africans? What do you think of this description?
ACTIVITY - due by 11:59pm, Wednesday 10/10, if you choose this week's activity
I'm using the same activity as last week: Pick a quote (1-2 sentences) from any of the readings. YOU MAY CHOOSE ANY READING FROM THIS WEEK OR LAST WEEK (make sure to specify which one you are using). Give us the quote, tell us what you found interesting, surprising, confusing, etc about it, and then tell us one question that it raised for you. Please put your response in the comments section, and remember it only needs to be about 5-6 sentences total.
See you all on Thursday,
Kirsten
Vicki F 11:30
ReplyDeleteThe quote I chose came from the Jomo Kenyatta source. It describes how when the Europeans take over they are "taking away not only their livelihood, but the material symbol that holds family and tribe together." I really liked how this source focused on the loss of culture for the African people. When previously learning about Europeans taking over land, my classes never really focused on the impact that had on the culture of the people. Because of this, I wonder why the study of history does not focus on the impact on culture as much. I feel like every moment in history would have more of an impact if we focused on the way it affected the culture of the native people. Yes they're losing their land and their economy, but the most important focus should be the loss of culture.
Colleen Hile Th 11:30
ReplyDeleteMy quote is from the "Testimony for the Factory Act" from last week's readings, "Are all these cripples made in silk factories?--Yes, they are, I believe." I found this quote interesting because it shows the effects of working in the factories for extended periods of time. In addition, the quote hints at the terrible conditions for workers who worked in the factories. A question this quote raises for me is why didn't factory owners give their workers better work hours and benefits? I wonder this because with more rest, the workers would work faster and more efficiently. So, the factory owners would have better made products and more productive workers. Having a productive worker yields the same results as having a tired worker work over time everyday. Also, crippled workers would be slower than healthy workers, so better benefits would have helped the factory owners more. So, why not give the workers normal hours and benefits?
Caroline H. Thursday 12:40 PM
ReplyDeleteMy quote is from Cecil Rhodes, "Confession of Faith." It starts by saying, "Africa is still lying ready for us it is our duty to take it. It is our duty to seize every opportunity of acquiring more territory and we should keep this one idea steadily before our eyes that more territory simply means more of the Anglo-Saxon race more of the best the most human, most honourable race the world possesses."
This quote was interesting because in the beginning of the article he explains that if there were more Anglo-Saxon people living, the world would be much better. He says that "we are the finest race in the world.' I didn't really know how to take this at first, because it sounds like a very racist statement. However, at the time, it seems like people were convinced the white dominant male was the most powerful person in society. As I kept reading, I ran into the quote I choose. It was interesting that he claims that every where else besides England needs their help. It seems crazy to me that he has no problem "bragging" about being the best race in the world through his own opinion. In comparison to today's society, if you were to write that about "white people" there would be major issues between the buyers and the writers. Just seemed like a very bold statement to me!
On Cecil Rhoads:
ReplyDeleteI was pretty taken aback by the self-righteousness of this man to begin with. He is one of those people that speaks as if his road is the "right" way and wants to crush any opposition to the contrary. This kind of thinking is very dangerous in my book as diverting these people to a path in step with everyone else is very difficult. They march in their own direction and tear everyone else down with the thought that they are doing it for the greater good.
Believing the Anglo-Saxon race is inherently better than the other races (specifically mentioned the Irish and Germans) was a bold and factually absent statement. Whenever he brought up "facts" to support his arguments I found them to extremely weak just like political statements today. Facts without background or circumstance are just bullet points and don't really have a lot of meaning.
I haven't read much material of this nature, but was that the overall attitude of the English during this time?
John Brundage
Sean T Thursday 12:40
ReplyDeleteThe Black Man's Burden: "For from the evils of the latter (capitalistic exploitation), there is no escape for the African. Its destructive effects are not spasmodic; they are permanent".
This quote definitely and fiercely embodies the effect of near-random division and colonization of much of Africa. To be forced under the rule of a nation and be forced onto the 'home' nation's rule of more-or-less industrial needs truly embodies an unsustainable system. As with India before, it marks a greed of exploitation for the sheer sake of profit.
With how one-sided the trade was, and the vast difference in military technology between the two nations, this quote embodies the dread of what it was to be not so much a colony, but a 'facilitator' to Europe at this point in time.
In “Testimony for the Factory Act” it states: “I think it has been clearly proved that the children have been worked a most unreasonable and cruel length of time daily, and that even adults have been expected to do a certain quantity of labour which scarcely any human being is able to endure. I am of opinion no child under fourteen years of age should work in a factory of any description for more than eight hours a day” (191). I find this quote interesting because it expresses how brutal the working conditions were in the factory. The cruelty seems to be pretty obvious but until this point little had been done in terms of fixing it. Obviously a greater importance was placed on making money than human well-being. This quote raises several questions from me. First, how was the work hour rule regulated and did factory managers often disregard the rule at the time? Also, how do these factories compare to sweatshops in today’s world?
ReplyDeleteIn The Black Man's Burden, "If the white man retains these gods and if he insists upon making the African worship them as assiduously as he has done himself, the African will go the way of the Red Indian, the Amerindian, the Carib, the Guanche, the aboriginal Australian and many more. (235)" This quote stood out to me as it is making a very valid point, if the greater powers in the world decend on the lesser powers and force their beliefs, there will be a lot less difference between cultures. It made me wonder if the 'white man' knew just what they were actually doing by forcing African natives to believe the white man religions. Did they not see how snuffing out different cultures beliefs would be a bad thing, or were they too concerned with gaining and conquering more land for their empire?
ReplyDeleteSarah Petersen 1020
My quote is from “The black Man’s Burden” by Edmund D. Morel. It says “It kills not the body merely, but the soul. It breaks the spirit. It attacks the African at every turn, from every point of vantage. It wrecks his polity, uproots him from the land, invades his family, destroys his natural pursuits and occupations, claims his whole time, enslaves him in his own home.” This quote describes the tremendous negative influences brought by the white men’s occupation. This influence is not spasmodic but permanent.
ReplyDeleteFor those European, they have latest technology, large amount of capital, strong army. Those factors let them stand out and kept their bondage and became extremely wealthy. But what they brought to Africans is a long time nightmare. They killed their family members, forced them working in an unsuitable system and conditions, broken their older believes and totally change their old economic system. It is a crash blow to those African people.
My quote is from “The black Man’s Burden” by Edmund D. Morel. It says “It kills not the body merely, but the soul. It breaks the spirit. It attacks the African at every turn, from every point of vantage. It wrecks his polity, uproots him from the land, invades his family, destroys his natural pursuits and occupations, claims his whole time, enslaves him in his own home.” This quote describes the tremendous negative influences brought by the white men’s occupation. This influence is not spasmodic but permanent.
ReplyDeleteFor those European, they have latest technology, large amount of capital, strong army. Those factors let them stand out and kept their bondage and became extremely wealthy. But what they brought to Africans is a long time nightmare. They killed their family members, forced them working in an unsuitable system and conditions, broken their older believes and totally change their old economic system. It is a crash blow to those African people. I want to ask if the system that European created all unsuitable for African countries? If there were some positive effects exist?
The quotation I decided to comment on is from Confession of Faith. Rhodes stated, "To myself thinking over the same question the wish came to render myself to my country. I then asked myself how could I and after reviewing the various methods I have felt that at the present day we are actually limiting our children and perhaps bringing into the world half the human beings we might owing to the lack of country for them to inhabit that if we had retained America there would at this moment be millions more of English living. I contend that we are the finest race in the world and that the more world we inhabit the better it is for the human race."
ReplyDeleteI know I should not be surprised by this type of comment from a well educated British man, thriving for his country to succeed in expansion and trade, but I am still shocked that someone can be this conceded to think their own race needs to be so ahead of every other civilization, including the newly formed Americas. I am a person who believes in peace and equality, and it makes me angry to see someone this such an opposite approach. At the beginning of the quotation it makes him sound so self sacrificing to put his country first, but then I only realize he is only selfish to bring succession to only his country. He later discusses how England's next project should be to take Africa, supporting his idea that he believes he is a member of the finest race on Earth. In his eyes, and the rest of England, it is their job to better the world with their presence. Where does he come up with these thoughts regarding the world could be a more populous place if England's presence would have stayed in the America's? This just shows the greed he had. A question that sparked when I read this passage was how he believed that the English were the finest race in the world, as other countries in Europe were also thriving?
My quote is from Cecil Rhodes. It states "Just fancy those parts that are at present inhabited by the most despicable specimens of human beings what an alteration there would be if they were brought under Anglo-Saxon influence.." It shocked me that he thought of his own race so superior to others, that others would be better off under his own race's control. He also says if they had the Americas that more of this superior race could live and reproduce. One question that this raised for me is what caused this superior thinking, almost racist or cocky. He didn't seem to have any evidence to back up why his race was better or why the others were inferior.
ReplyDeleteMy quote is “In the process of imposing his political dominion over the African, the white man has carved broad and bloody avenues from one end of Africa to the other” from “The black Man’s Burden” by Edmund D. Morel. We can infer that the African suffered a lot from the colonialism. The white settlers would continue to expand colonies violently and make profits for themselves.
ReplyDeleteI found this quote impressive because it reveals the savage and inhumanity of European settlers. The “blood avenues” is a good metaphor to show that the European forced African to work for them. It may contain the disease, the separation of the family, and the inadaptability of the new environment. So, why did European only focus on the political dominion at that time but ignore the feelings of people and the consequences if these people get angry and fight against them?
I found Confessions of Faith by Cecil Rhodes to be very interesting, and in many ways shocking. Although I knew that at this time, white people strongly believed their systems and beliefs were best and they were superior, the way Rhodes expressed it seemed very arrogant and bold. One of the many bold statements I noticed in particular was "I think that we all think that poverty is better under our own flag than wealth under a foreign one." I wonder if these beliefs were normal for all English citizens, even of all social classes.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting how he had spent so much time away from Britain (though still under Britain's rule) and still held these strong opinions. It makes me wonder how the South Africa he saw was like to prevent him from even slightly swaying in his beliefs, and what kind of local people he met.
Also despite what the title of the paper may suggest, it seems that most of Rhodes' discussions and arguments come from beliefs about racial supremacy rather than religious faith. He seems very pretentious as he speaks and I find it especially odd when he references a "phrase" from Aristotle however it is said to be unrecognizable…?
My quote is from Cecil Rhodes "Confession of Faith". "It is our duty to seize every opportunity of acquiring more territory... more territory means more of the Anglo-Saxon race more of the best the most humans, most honorable race in the world possesses."
ReplyDeleteI love this quote because I think it embodies what every country, empire, or group of power believes when they expand. Throughout history this is the justification that is used for expanding and taking over countries. Here is a perfect example of the belief that the Anglo-Saxon race is most honorable race and therefor have the right and responsibility to expand and spread their beliefs.
This is the motivation that drove every expansion throughout history. I believe that it is one of the most powerful beliefs. This is because once this mindset is in place it is impossible to change and people think they can do no wrong.
My quote is "I contend that we are the finest race in the world and that the more of the world we inhabit the better it is for the human race.", "Confession of Faith" written by Cecil Rhodes, in 1877. I was amazed that Ceil had a great pride in his country and treated his race as the best race compared to any others'. Cecil's opinion in the paper leads me thinking that in that era, British possessed might power and authority not only in Europe, but also other colonies in asia, and africa. Therefore, the residents in British were guided to think that they are the most influential and effective people in the world. A question arising for me after reading the resource is that how native inhabitants living in the colonies thought toward the British's impacts in their colonies while British people were so proud of themselves. Did the residents think that the British people actually improved the condition of their lives and satisfy with British's occupation? Or, did they possess negative responses toward the British's colonization and presented unpleased responses or opinions? If the natives were not satisfied with the British's colonization or occupation in their countries, how they expressed their uncomfortableness?; was there any featured rebellion or revolution being held against British?
ReplyDeleteWhen I first took a glance at the title "Confession of Faith", I was thinking about the sympathy expressed by one race over the misfortune of another. However, I was totally wrong about the position of author because he was instead egoistically expressing superiority over another civilization.
ReplyDeleteCecil Rhodes, in his "Confession of faith", said: "Why should we not form a Empire and the bringing of the whole uncivilised world under British rule for the recovery of the United States for the making the Anglo-Saxon race but one Empire. " I feel more curious than offensive on his opinion because I wonder why he would consider the United States simply as a country being independent from Briton instead of thinking of the independence as a phenomenon. It is easy to enslave a race or a country physically when they were not awake; however, once they are spiritually aware of the truth and thirsty for freedom, it will be hard to conquer them. More pressure and more sense of superiority will only mean more Americas will rise. Actually, instead of seeking another country to slave, trying to realize the objectiveness of the cause and effect, understanding the root of the independence and fixing the problem would be a better choice.
Quote I chose is from Cecil Rhodes "We know the size of the world we know the total extent. Africa is still lying ready for us it is our duty to take it. It is our duty to seize every opportunity of acquiring more territory and we should keep this one idea steadily before our eyes that more territory simply means more of the Anglo-Saxon race of the best most human, most honorable race the world possesses."
ReplyDeleteThis quote is interesting because it sums up the scramble for Africa perfectly. First, at the turn of the century a whole enclosure of global space fear began within Europe, the world was mapped out and then they realized now they have to expand -"we know the size of the world.." . The second part is the nationalism supported by Social Darwinism and the idea of orientalism or the "cultural other". The British were taught they were better because they created a "less than human" picture of the African peoples.
The question this poses for me: after the Enlightenment you would think that the "all men are created equal, rights of man, etc" would somehow change these people but it did not. Instead of progressing with Enlightenment ideas they seem to go backwards by thinking it is ok to take over other people's lands and completely disregard the human lives this affected.
Jomo Kenyatta:
ReplyDelete"He is doing this for the sake of the Africans, to civilise them, teach them the disciplinary value of regular word, and give them the benefit of European progressive ideas."
I found this quote interesting because this shows that Kenyatta understands that the Europeans, who are taking over Gikuyu lands, are not doing so as a benefit to the people of Kenya. He is worried that the Europeans are upsetting the culture of the Gikuyu country. In addition, the Europeans are degrading the people of Kenya to a state that will not make people happy. The author also urges the the Gikuyu people to fight for what is theirs or else they may never get it back.