The Opium Wars

During the 1800 hundreds trade between China and Britain grew, but mostly on the Chinese side. The British payed large amounts of money for tea from China while China bought nothing from the British. That was until the introduction of Opium to China. Opium was a power downer drug made from the poppy seed that had an adverse affect on many of China's citizens. The Chinese decided they wanted no part in this destructive drug and banned sale and use of opium in China punishable by death. Britain didn't take to kindly to this and after awhile they decided to take action. In 1839 England attacked China's coastal cities with a fleet of ships and the Opium wars began. Britain being more technologically advance then China was able to defeat them easily in 1842 and made them sign a treaty legalizing opium in China.

The White Man's Burden

The White Mans Burden is a poem about white man's imperialism. White man being technically the most advance and successful took it upon its self to educate and conquer the lesser races.I agree with the poem to a point. I agree white man is the superior race but i do not believe it was white man's burden to share their knowledge. White man would have been better off keeping it to themselves. In fact many non white nations that are now prosperous owe it all to white imperialism. Even today we are still living out the poem. Going to Iraq and putting in another government to civilize the savages is a perfect example. If you ask me we should mind our own business and keep our prosperity and ideas to ourselves.

"The Scramble for Africa"

The scramble of Africa was indirectly caused by the Industrial Revolution. With so many European Nations reaching great heights in production Europe was eventually sucked dry of resources and Europeans were forced to find an alternative. The alternative was Africa. Mainly France, Germany, England, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Belgium all went after Africa all settling in somewhat different regions. With their advance technology and vast well equipped armies the Europeans easily took over Africa and depending on what region they were in had different effects on the African people. If you went to Africa you would notice North Africa near Spain in places such as Morocco have a very Hispanic culture while South Africa retains some English culture.

Film Lesson: "Mountains of the Moon"

In the film Mountains of the Moon the Europeans faced many hardships. Hostile tribes, harsh weather conditions, famine, deserters and a over all unfamiliar sense of their surroundings. Its sort of weird that the 3rd largest lake in the world which resides in Africa is named after a English Queen because it was named by the people who conquered the land rather then by the people who originally lived there. Even though the Europeans had many disadvantages they had great advantages in the Field of technology. Guns tents clothing and primitive medicine all helped the Europeans in Africa.