AFRICA INDIA THE NEW BRITISH EMPIRE CHAPTER 26

AFRICA, INDIA, & THE NEW BRITISH EMPIRE CHAPTER 26 (1750 -1870)

CHANGES AND EXCHANGES IN AFRICA

NEW STATES IN SOUTHERN & INLAND WEST AFRICA • Small independent chiefdoms ruled modern South Africa until serious drought hit the region in the early 1800 s. • Out of the conflict for grazing and farming lands, Shaka created the Zulu kingdom. • Most powerful and feared fighters in southern Africa • Strict military drill • Close-combat warfare (oxhide shields, lethal stabbing spears) • Expanded kingdom by raiding African neighbors, seizing cattle, and capturing women and children. • British “astonished at the order and discipline” • Young people grouped by age into regiments • Festivals of loyalty to Shaka

Zulu King Shaka

SPREAD OF ZULU POWER

NEW STATES IN SOUTHERN & INLAND WEST AFRICA • Islam had been a force in West Africa for centuries. • Made slow progress among rural people • Most Muslim rulers tolerated older religious practices of rural subjects. • In 1770 s, local Muslim scholars began preaching need for vigorous reform of Islamic practices. • Largest of Muslim reform movements occurred in the Hausa states (modern Nigeria) under Usuman dan Fodio. • Distressed by practices of the king of Gobir, Usuman issued a call in 1804 for a jihad to overthrow him. • Successful rebels united Hausa states under a caliph who ruled from the city of Sokoto. (Sokoto caliphate)

USUMAN DAN FODIO

NEW STATES IN SOUTHERN & INLAND WEST AFRICA • New Muslim states in West Africa became centers for learning and reform. • Schools for training boys in Quranic subjects spread rapidly. • Library at Sokoto attracted many scholars. • Non-Muslims • Permitted to follow their religions in exchange for paying non. Muslim tax • Governments suppressed public performances of dances and ceremonies associated with traditional religions. • Sold captives into Atlantic and trans-Saharan slave trade • By 1865 there were more slaves in the Sokoto Caliphate than in any remaining slaveholding state in the Americas.

SOKOTO CALIPHATE HAUSA REGION

MODERNIZATION & EXPANSION IN EGYPT AND ETHIOPIA • Muhammad Ali ruled Egypt from 1805 -1848. • Wanted sufficient military strength to prevent another European conquest • Made use of European experts/techniques to achieve goal. • Set up European-style school system & military college • Combined technical expertise of the West with Islamic religious and cultural traditions. • By 1848, modernization was well under way (including industrialization producing textiles, paper, weapons, etc. ). • Ali’s grandson Ismail further westernized Egypt. • “My country is no longer in Africa, it is in Europe. ” • Increased European advisors – and debts to British and French banks. • When cotton market collapsed after U. S. Civil War, foreign debts led to partial occupation.

MUHAMMAD ALI (1769 -1849) PORTRAIT MADE IN 1840

MODERNIZATION & EXPANSION IN EGYPT AND ETHIOPIA • Ethiopia’s rulers had been Christian for 1500 years, but had been weakened by internal divisions and pressures of Muslim neighbors. • During the 1800 s, Ethiopia was reunified by strong emperors who purchased modern weapons from European sources and created strong armies loyal to the ruler. • Emperor Tewodros’ efforts to coerce more technical aid from British failed, and he committed suicide to avoid being taken prisoner. • Later Ethiopian emperors kept up the program of reform and modernization.

MODERN MAP SHOWING ETHIOPIA

EUROPEAN INVADERS AND EXPLORERS • France and Algeria • Algeria had long exported grain and olive oil to France and had even supplied grain for Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt. • Failure of French government to repay this debt led to disputes and, in 1827, the severing of diplomatic relations. • In 1830, an unpopular French government, hoping to stir French nationalism with an easy victory, attacked Algeria. • The war in Algeria dragged on for 18 years. • Algerians united behind the Muslim holy man Abd al-Qadir. • French built a huge army and broke resistance by destroying farm animals & crops and massacring tens of thousands of villagers. • Poor Europeans rushed in to take possession of Algeria’s rich coastlands.

MAP OF MEDITERRANEAN 1830 S (AND FLY WHISK)

EUROPEAN INVADERS AND EXPLORERS • European explorers and missionaries were uncovering the mysteries of the interior of Africa. • Learned Niger River flows from west to east • Found headwaters of Nile (Lake Tana and Lake Victoria) • Dr. David Livingstone • • • Scouting locations for Christian missions Traced course of Zambezi River Named Victoria Falls Traced course of upper Congo River “found” by Henry Stanley (“Dr. Livingstone, I presume? ”) who descended the Congo River to its mouth

“DR. LIVINGSTONE, I PRESUME? ”

VICTORIA FALLS

ABOLITION & LEGITIMATE TRADE IN COASTAL WEST AFRICA • In must of coastal West Africa, commercial relations with Europeans dominated the economy. • Gradually, western countries abolished the slave trade. • To continue their access to imports from Europe, Africans expanded their “legitimate” trade (exports other than slaves). • Market for palm oil led to Niger Delta slavery • As harsh and brutal as slavery on New World plantations • Offered some slaves the chance to gain wealth and power. • King Jaja of Opobo

KING JAJA OF OPOBO

ABOLITION & LEGITIMATE TRADE IN COASTAL WEST AFRICA • Another effect of suppression of slave trade was the spread of Western cultural influences in West Africa. • Sierra Leone • British colony formed as a base for anti-slave-trade naval squadron in 1808 • “Recaptured” slaves were settled here. • Christian missionaries helped settle these impoverished recaptives and found many willing converts. • Liberia • Settlement of free black Americans in 1821 • As slavery ended newly freed blacks from the U. S. , Brazil, and Cuba moved to Liberia bringing their culture with them.

WEST AFRICA INCLUDING SIERRA LEONE AND LIBERIA

SLAVES & SECONDARY EMPIRES IN EASTERN AFRICA • When British patrols hampered the slave trade in West Africa, slavers moved to eastern Africa where the Atlantic slave trade joined an existing slave trade in slaves to the Islamic world. • Slavery also became more prominent within eastern Africa itself as slaves were needed to work on clove plantations. • The plantations were on Zanzibar and neighboring territories belonging to the Sultanate of Oman, an Arabian kingdom that had been expanding its control over the East African coast since 1698.

THE OMANI EMPIRE

SLAVES & SECONDARY EMPIRES IN EASTERN AFRICA • Zanzibar was also an important center of slaves and ivory. • Ivory caravans came to the coast from hundreds of miles inland under the direction of African and Arab merchants. • Some merchants brought large personal empires under their control using capital borrowed from Indian bankers and modern firearms bought from Europeans and Americans. • The largest of these personal empires, along the Congo River, was created by Tippu Tip, a trader from Zanzibar.

COLONIAL OFFICIAL WITH ARAB DIGNITARIES IN ZANZIBAR TIPPU TIP IS ON THE RIGHT

SLAVES & SECONDARY EMPIRES IN EASTERN AFRICA • The states carved out by the sultans of Oman, Tippu Tip, and others are referred to as “secondary empires. ” • While not part of a European colonial empire, they were dependent on European consumers and goods. • Egypt’s expansion southward is another example of a secondary empire. • Muhammad Ali conquered the Sudan to secure slaves for his army so more Egyptian peasants were free to grow cotton for export

INDIA UNDER BRITISH RULE

COMPANY MEN • As Mughal power weakened in the 18 th century, British, French, and Dutch companies were eager to expand their profitable trade into India. • Their success depended on hard-drinking and ambitious young “Company Men, ” who used hard bargaining, and hard fighting when necessary, to persuade Indian rulers to allow them to establish trading posts at strategic points along the coast. • To protect their investments, the companies hired and trained Indian troops known as sepoys. • These private armies came to hold the balance of power.

COMPANY MEN • In 1691, the East India Company (EIC) had convinced the nawab of Bengal to allow the company to establish a fortified outpost on the port of Calcutta. • In 1756, pressing claims for additional tribute, a new nawab imprisoned a group of EIC men in a cell so small that many died of suffication. • To avenge their deaths in this “Black Hole of Calcutta, ” a large EIC force led by Robert Clive overthrew the nawab and forced the weak Mughal emperor to acknowledge EIC rule of Bengal.

COMPANY MEN • Clive also gained an advantage over French traders during the Seven Years War and secured south India for the EIC. • The EIC continued to gain territory in India. Some states were taken over completely as Bengal had been, but others remained in the hands of local princes who accepted the political control of the EIC.

INDIA, EARLY 1800 S

THE RAJ & THE REBELLION, 1818 -1857 • In 1818 the EIC controlled an Empire with more people than in all of western Europe. • British raj (reign) was based on the policies of “westernization, Anglicization, and modernization. ” • Relied heavily on military power (170 sepoy regiments & 16 European regiments) • Gave freer rein to Christian missionaries • Substituted private property ownership for India’s complex and overlapping patterns of landholding (made tax collection easier) • Created many new jobs through expansion of trade and agricultural production (opium, tea, coffee) • Drove many Indians out of the handicraft textile industry through competition w/ British industrial-made cotton goods

THE RAJ & THE REBELLION, 1818 -1857 • Various groups rebelled against the rule of the EIC in the early 1800 s. • The EIC was most concerned about the loyalty of the 200, 000 armed sepoys. • Cultural insensitivity caused issues with sepoys. • Hindus objected to new law that required new recruits to serve overseas because their religion prohibited ocean travel. • Hindus and Muslims were offended when they were ordered to tear open with their teeth ammunition cartridges greased with animal fat. • The Sepoy Rebellion broke out in May of 1857 and was put down in March of 1859.

THE SEPOY REBELLION

POLITICAL REFORM & INDUSTRIAL IMPACT, 1858 -1900 • The Sepoy Rebellion was a turning point in the history of modern India. • Government changes • Britain eliminated all traces of Mughal and Company rule and made India a direct colony. • A British viceroy ruled India in the Queen’s name. • Queen Victoria guaranteed all Indians protection of the law and freedom to practice religions and social customs. • Members of the Indian Civil Service held the senior administrative and judicial posts. • Technically all British citizens were eligible for these positions, but the exams were only given in England, so in practice the system worked to exclude Indians.

POLITICAL REFORM & INDUSTRIAL IMPACT, 1858 -1900 • Economic changes • British government invested millions in harbors, cities, irrigation canals, and other public works. • British interests persuaded Indians to focus on cash crops (cotton, opium, tea, silk, sugar). • Trade expanded rapidly (raw materials for manufactured goods). • Transportation and communication became easier thanks to railroads and telegraphs. • Easier transportation led to poor Indians flooding cities which promoted spread of cholera. • Sewage system dramatically reduced cholera deaths in large cities, but it continued to affect small villages.

VICEROY PROCLAIMING VICTORIA EMPRESS OF INDIA

INDIAN REPRESENTATIVES IN LONDON FOR VICTORIA'S DIAMOND JUBILEE

RISING INDIAN NATIONALISM, 1828 -1900 • Both the successes and failures of British India stimulated the development of Indian nationalism. • Rammohun Roy was a reformer who promoted Indian nationalism in the early 1800 s. • Administrator for EIC • Mastered 10 languages (Indian and Western) • Ideas attracted Indians who sought to reconcile Western values with ancient religious traditions of India. • Helped found Hindu College in Calcutta in 1816. • Roy and supporters backed early British efforts to ban certain traditional Hindu practices. • Widow burning (sati) outlawed in 1829. • Prohibitions against widows remarrying revoked in 1856. • Female infanticide was made a crime in 1870.

RISING INDIAN NATIONALISM, 1828 -1900 • Indian nationalists formed the Indian National Congress in 1885. • Goals: • Larger roles for Indians in the Civil Service • Reductions in military expenditures so more could be spent on alleviating the poverty of the Indian masses • Unity among the country’s many religions and social groups • Most members were upper-caste Western-educated Hindus. The Congress effectively voiced the opinions of elite Indians, but until it attracted the support of the masses, it could not hope to challenge British rule.

BRITAIN’S EASTERN EMPIRE

BRITAIN’S EASTERN EMPIRE • 1750 • Britain’s overseas empire was centered on slave-based plantation and settler colonies in the Americas. • French and Dutch also were serious contenders for global dominion. • 1850 • Britain’s main overseas focus was commercial networks and colonies in the east. • Britain’s colossal empire had eclipsed the competition. • Why this change? • A string of military victories pushed aside rivals for overseas trade. • New policies favored free trade over mercantilism. • Changes in shipbuilding increased speed & volume of maritime commerce.

COLONIAL RIVALRIES & TRADING NETWORKS • The French Revolution & Napoleonic Wars weakened French and Dutch overseas empires. • When the Netherlands was occupied by Napoleon’s forces, the Dutch ruler fled to Britain and authorized the British to take over Dutch possessions overseas. • The British also gained control of several French possessions. • After Napoleon’s defeat, the British returned some colonies but kept the Dutch Cape Colony (at the tip of southern Africa) and several other colonies.

COLONIAL RIVALRIES & TRADING NETWORKS • The Cape Colony was valuable because of Cape Town’s importance as a supply station for ships making the voyage between Britain and India. • Cape Town was already settled by 20, 000 descendants of earlier Dutch and French settlers. • Despite European origins, they thought of themselves a permanent residents of Africa and referred to themselves as “Afrikaners. ” • Sometimes referred to as Boers – the Dutch word for farmer.

COLONIAL RIVALRIES & TRADING NETWORKS • British governors prohibited any expansion of the white settler frontier to avoid conflicts with indigenous Africans. • The British also enacted laws to protect African rights within the colony, including the emancipation of slaves. • Parties of alienated Afrikaners embarked on a “Great Trek” to the fertile high plateau to the north (which had been depopulated by two decades of Zulu wars) and formed three new settler colonies. • Despite some victories against the Zulu, they were a tiny minority surrounded by powerful African kingdoms.

CAPE COLONY CIRCA 1840

COLONIAL RIVALRIES & TRADING NETWORKS • After the return of the island of Java to the Dutch, the British East India Company established a new port at Singapore. • Singapore soon became the center of trade and shipping between the Indian Ocean and China. • British expanded into Burma to protect India’s borders from Burmese aggressive expansion plans. • As rice and timber trade grew, the occupation became permanent. • British India annexed all of Burma.

SOUTHEAST ASIA, INCLUDING SINGAPORE AND BURMA

IMPERIAL POLICIES AND SHIPPING • By 1870, Britain had added several dozen colonies to the 26 it had in 1792. • The purpose of these colonies was trade rather than territory. • Colonized and uncolonized lands were drawn into commercial networks created by British expansion. • Provided vegetable oils, cocoa, tea, coffee, sugar, dyes…. • In return, industrial nations supplied manufactured goods at attractive prices. • Assisting in this global commercial expansion were Americanbuilt clipper ships (larger and faster than 18 th century ships). • Completed long voyages in half the time. • Lowered shipping costs and stimulated maritime trade.

COLONIZATION OF AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND • In the new British colonies of Australia and New Zealand, British settlers displaced indigenous populations, just as they had in North America. • Because of long isolation, populations of Australia and New Zealand were as vulnerable as the Amerindians had been to unfamiliar diseases introduced by new overseas contacts. • First permanent British settlers in Australia were 736 convicts. Penal colonies grew slowly and had little contact with “Aborigines. ” • Discovery of gold in 1851 brought a flood of European settlers and hastened the end of the penal colonies. • The European population of Australia continued to grow rapidly.

COLONIZATION OF AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND • Settlement of New Zealand happened more slowly. • There were a few temporary settlements of seal and sperm wale hunters along the coast. • Several events attracted more British immigrants after 1860. • Military action that overcame Maori resistance • Brief gold rush • Availability of faster ships and subsidized passages (especially for single women)

AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND 1889

COLONIZATION OF AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND • Britain used the same patterns in Australia and New Zealand as it had in Canada. • Policies were designed to avoid conflicts that had led to the American revolution. • Britain gradually turned governing power over to the colonies. • Satisfied the settlers’ desire for more control • Muted demands for independence • Made the colonial governments responsible for most expenses

COLONIZATION OF AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND • Self-government did not extend to indigenous peoples. • 1897 Australian law segregated Aborigines onto reservations, where they lacked the rights of Australian citizenship. • New Zealand required that voters read and write English, keeping Maori from voting. • Four seats in lower house of legislature were reserved for Maori from 1867.

BRITISH PROCLAMATION TO THE ABORIGINES, CIRCA 1830 MESSAGE THAT GOVERNMENT WOULD TREAT RACES EQUALLY

COLONIZATION OF AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND • In other ways, Australia and New Zealand were more progressive. • Australia developed very powerful trade unions. • Improved welfare of urban white male workers • Promoted democratic values • Exercised considerable political clout • New Zealand promoted land availability for common people. • Both were among the first states in the world to grant women the right to vote, beginning in 1894.

NEW LABOR MIGRATIONS • After Britain’s emancipation of slaves in 1834, new laborers were needed for Caribbean plantations. • Large numbers of Indians, Chinese, Africans, and others responded to labor recruiters. • Other parts of the world also recruited foreign labor. • Contracts of indenture: bound laborers to work for a specified period in return for free passage • These workers left home in hopes of improving social & economic positions. • Saved to bring money back when they returned home • Or used earnings to buy land or start a business in their new countries.