Chapter 34 Big Picture Questions

1. Discuss the motivations for nineteenth century imperialism. What does the term imperialism mean? How is it different from colonialism? Discuss the political, economic and cultural argument used to justify imperialist rhetoric.
2. How did Britain initiate its global expansion? How did economic trade networks develop into the expansion of the British empire? Compare Britain’s method of imperial expansion with that of other European states.
3. Consider the development of Japan and the United States as new imperial powers. How was their development similar? How was it different? Were their motivations and strategies the same as those of the European states that had preceded them?
4. Define scientific racism and place it within the context of popular intellectualism of the period. How was Darwin’s theory of biologic evolution used to justify social Darwinism? How was this scientific theory misused?