Topic 6.3 Indigenous Responses to State Expansion from 1750 to 1900
Learning Objective
Explain how and why internal and external factors have influenced the process of state building from 1750 to 1900.
Historical Developments
Increasing questions about political authority and growing nationalism contributed to anticolonial movements.
Anti-imperial resistance took various forms, including direct resistance within empires and the creation of new states on the peripheries.
Direct resistance:
- Túpac Amaru II’s rebellion in Peru
- Samory Touré’s military battles in West Africa
- Yaa Asantewaa War in West Africa
- 1857 rebellion in India
New states:
- Establishment of independent states in the Balkans
- Sokoto Caliphate in modern-day Nigeria
- Cherokee Nation
- Zulu Kingdom
Increasing discontent with imperial rule led to rebellions, some of which were influenced by religious ideas.
Rebellions:
- Ghost Dance in the U.S.
- Xhosa Cattle-Killing Movement in Southern Africa
- Mahdist wars in Sudan
- Maji Maji Rebellion
Reading Questions:
Why did some choose to cooperate with the colonizing powers?
What effects did Christianity have on the local culture?
Explain how nationalism increased in colonized regions.
Explain the causes and effect of each of the Rebellions
Cooperation and Adoption
Many colonized people decided to cooperate and adopt Western Culture, Technology and Political Institutions. Some groups and individuals cooperated willingly with their new masters. One reason was employment in the armed forces. Many used this opportunity to rise in social status. Some colonized peoples (Sikhs, Gurkhas, Kamba, and Hausa) were gendered as masculine or martial races and recruited into security forces.
Also, many elite often kept much of their status and privileges. There was growth of a small middle class with Western education. Many of these western educated middle class would adopt Enlightenment ideas and democratic beliefs. Imperial powers often relied on this group for lower level jobs in the administration in the local bureaucracy.
Also, many elite often kept much of their status and privileges. There was growth of a small middle class with Western education. Many of these western educated middle class would adopt Enlightenment ideas and democratic beliefs. Imperial powers often relied on this group for lower level jobs in the administration in the local bureaucracy.
Cultural consequences of Imperialism
Conversion to Christianity
Governments and missionaries promoted European education. Around 10,000 missionaries had gone to Africa by 1910. By the 1960s, some 50 million Africans were Christian Many middle class men learned Western culture and began to devalue their own culture. Contempt for the traditional culture and admiration of European life undermined stable societies and caused identity problems for colonized people.
Rise in education and rise in Nationalism
A small group of Western-educated members of colonial societies benefited from better education and better-paying jobs, elite status within their own societies, and escape from forced labor. Western institutions brought prosperity for some. Many middle class people studied Enlightenment ideas finding value them. European methods of rule were more dictatorial then Enlightened. Europeans refused to allow even the educated natives to serve in higher positions in government. That caused the rise of nationalism. While in Europe more and more men were gaining the right to vote, the colonies were increasingly dictatorships with racial hierarchies. For example, in Rwanda, the Belgians used the Hutu minority to rule the Tutsi minority. These social divisions hindered efforts to unite and rebel against the colonizing powers.
Rise in of women's Power
Women became more responsible for the home as men were away in the plantations or mines. Many women became responsible for the food production and protection of the home. Some used this as an opportunity to become financially independent. Many began to free themselves from the patriarchy that existed. However, this also meant traditional family structures were broken with men participating minimally and often not at all at home.
Governments and missionaries promoted European education. Around 10,000 missionaries had gone to Africa by 1910. By the 1960s, some 50 million Africans were Christian Many middle class men learned Western culture and began to devalue their own culture. Contempt for the traditional culture and admiration of European life undermined stable societies and caused identity problems for colonized people.
Rise in education and rise in Nationalism
A small group of Western-educated members of colonial societies benefited from better education and better-paying jobs, elite status within their own societies, and escape from forced labor. Western institutions brought prosperity for some. Many middle class people studied Enlightenment ideas finding value them. European methods of rule were more dictatorial then Enlightened. Europeans refused to allow even the educated natives to serve in higher positions in government. That caused the rise of nationalism. While in Europe more and more men were gaining the right to vote, the colonies were increasingly dictatorships with racial hierarchies. For example, in Rwanda, the Belgians used the Hutu minority to rule the Tutsi minority. These social divisions hindered efforts to unite and rebel against the colonizing powers.
Rise in of women's Power
Women became more responsible for the home as men were away in the plantations or mines. Many women became responsible for the food production and protection of the home. Some used this as an opportunity to become financially independent. Many began to free themselves from the patriarchy that existed. However, this also meant traditional family structures were broken with men participating minimally and often not at all at home.
Resistance
Rebellions influenced by Religious ideas
Maji Maji RebellionAfricans in German East Africa put their faith in a spiritual defense. African villagers resisted the Germans’ insistence that they plant cotton, a cash crop for export, rather than attend to their own food crops. In 1905, the belief suddenly arose that a magic water (maji-maji) sprinkled on their bodies would turn the Germans’ bullets into water. The uprising became known as the Maji Maji rebellion. Over 20 different ethnic groups united to fight for their freedom. The fighters believed that their war had been ordained by God and that their ancestors would return to life and assist their struggle.
However, when resistance fighters armed with spears and protected by the magic water attacked a German machine-gun post, they were mowed down by the thousands. Officially, Germans recorded 75,000 resisters dead. But more than twice that number perished in the famine that followed. The Germans were shaken by the rebellion and its outcome. As a result, they made some government reforms in an effort to make colonialism more acceptable to the Africans. The Ghost Dance (Wounded Knee Massacre) |
Mahdist War in the SudanMandist Revolt In East Africa in 1881, a Sudanese Islamic cleric, Muhammad Ahmad (1844-1885), declared himself the Mandi, or "guided one," who would restore the glory of Islam. The Sudanese had resented Egyptian rule for decades, and the arrival of the British in 1873 only fueled their resentment. Ahmad turned the political movement into a religious one, forming an army to fight against Egypt. By 1882, the Mandist army had taken control of the area around the capital, Khartoum. The next year, a joint British-Egyptian military expedition launched a counterattack against the Mandists. The Mandists finally overran the British-Egyptian forces in January 1885.
After Ahmad's death in June of that year, the Mandist movement disintegrated, weakened by infighting among rival leaders. The British returned to Sudan in 1896, and finally defeated the Mandists in September 1898. Xhosa Cattle-Killing Movement in S. AfricaThe Xhosa cattle-killing was an African response to British imperialism. In a series of wars starting in 1811, the British had devastated the country of the Xhosa. As soon as peace was peace restored a lethal cattle disease arrived from Europe killing many cattle of the already impoverished Xhosa.
The people sought answers in indigenous concepts of witchcraft, pollution, sacrifice, and the powers of the ancestors. The movement was started when a Xhosa prophetess, Nongqawuse, claimed that if the Xhosa killed all their cattle and destroyed their corn, their ancestors would return to drive out the European settlers. 1856 and 1857, the Xhosa, a South African people, slaughtered roughly four hundred thousand of their own cattle and burned thousands of fields of their crops. Ultimately, this led to the death of forty thousand Xhosa people by starvation. The British then transported numerous Xhosa leaders to jail on Robben Island, supplanted the chiefs with white magistrates, made still more land available for white settlers. |
Direct Resistance
Samory Touré in West AfricaIn West Africa in 1868, Mandinka chieftain Samory Toure (1830-1900) led a group of warriors to establish a powerful kingdom in Guinea, extending it until the early 1880s. He opposed French attempts to annex West Africa, first fighting them in 1883. The French finally succeeded but offered Samory their protection. When he was unable to extend his kingdom to the east, he again went to war with the French in 1891.
After his forces were ejected, he tried to reestablish his kingdom in the upper Ivory Coast. The French finally captured him in 1898 and sent him into exile. 1857 Rebellion in India
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Tupac Amaru's Rebellion in PeruThe great-great grandson of Túpac Amaru I, the last Incan leader and a provincial Indian nobleman, José Gabriel Condorcanqui Noguera, alias Túpac Amaru II (1742–81), led the most significant Indian rebellion that took place in the Americas between the Spanish conquest and independence. Tupac was aware of the conditions endured by common Indians, in 1780 he organized a revolt that appealed to the Incans' sense of justice and thus attracted large numbers of native fighters. Tupac Amaru captured the local administrator and executed him infront of a huge crowd. When Tupac tried to capture Cuzco and Lima, he failed.
After much effort, the Spaniards captured Tupac, suppressed the movement and executed Condorcanqui. He was drawn and quartered then beheaded. His body parts were sent to be displayed in the Andean villages from which he had drawn his support and troops. Why does this matter? Tupac Amaru's rebellion is one example of indigenous responses to colonial rule (in this case Spanish rule). The rebellion was caused because the indigenous people saw themselves oppressed by Europeans. Amaru's rebellion continues to be an inspiration of indigenous people fighting the Spanish. |
Herero resistance against GermanyBerlin moved to annex a new colony on the south-west coast of the continent. Land was confiscated, livestock plundered and native people subjected to racially motivated violence, rape and murder. In January 1904, the Herero people – also called the Ovaherero – rebelled. More than a hundred German civilians were killed. The smaller Nama tribe joined the uprising the following year.
Tens of thousands of Herero were forced into the Kalahari desert, their wells poisoned and food supplies cut. Access to water holes for cattle was cut. An unknown number of people were killed or died from starvation. Those who survived were herded into the first German concentration camps. The most famous of which was called Shark Island. There many lived in horrible conditions. Germans also subjected the people to forced labor. Many experiments were conducted on dead prisoners. This would give Germans an idea on how to later run the concentration camps in WWII. |
Yaa Asantewaa War (War for the Golden Stool) in West Africa |
New States
Zulu Nation
The First Zulu King, Shaka Zulu established the Kingdom in 1825. The Zulu became and independent state for for the next 25 years. Shaka Zulu kept control of the region using a highly disciplined army. Shaka managed to keep Europeans out as well. Shaka was assassinated in 1828 and his successors could not keep control. By the 1830s migrating Boers came into conflict with the Zulu Kingdom. A series of wars broke out between the Zulu and the Boers. But by 1842, the Boers and Zulu managed to maintain peace. After the diamond discoveries he British decided to take control of the Zulu land. In 1879 the Zulu refused to give up their independence stating the Zulu Wars against the British. The Zulu fought bravely but lost because the British were using industrialized weapons while the Zulu were using spears and shields. Ethiopia |
Establishment of Balkan StatesFrom 1800 to 1900, the Ottoman empire was collapsing. After the invasion of Egypt by the French, Muhammad Ali established and modernized Egypt independently. Nationalist movements spread inspiring calls for independence in the Balkans. Serbia (1815) and Greece (1832) won their independence with the help of Russia. After the Russo- Turkish War in 1878, Bulgaria, Romania and Montenegro all got independence from the Ottoman Empire.
After their formation, however, states used all means at their disposal—the military, the educational system, the church, and the media—to enhance the process of constructing national identities. Balkan nationalism would also lead the world to WWI. Cherokee Nation
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