British Imperialism in India
European Imperialism in Africa
Western Imperialism in Asia
Ideas of Imperialism
Historical Thinking
100
This British company gained control over large parts of India before it became a formal colony.
What is the British East India Company?
100
In this Central African colony, King Leopold II of Belgium oversaw brutal exploitation, including forced labor for rubber and ivory.
What is the Congo?
100
Angered by foreign domination and Christian missionaries, this Chinese movement led a violent anti-foreigner uprising at the turn of the 20th century.
What is the Boxer Rebellion?
100
This belief system views one’s own culture as superior to all others, often justifying imperial control.
What is Ethnocentrism?
100
This historical thinking skill requires understanding the time and place in which a document was created.
What is Contextualization?
200
This once-powerful empire in India was in decline when the British arrived, making it easier for them to take over.
What is the Mughal Empire?
200
This African leader successfully resisted European colonization by defeating the Italian army at the Battle of Adwa in 1896.
Who is Menelik II?
200
During this period of Japanese history, reforms included adopting Western-style education, military practices, and technology to strengthen Japan against Western powers.
What is the Meiji Era (or Meiji Restoration)?
200
This 19th-century practice used skull measurements and other dubious methods to rank races hierarchically.
What is Racist Pseudo-Science?
200
This skill asks historians to examine how a document makes its argument — including word choice, claims, and evidence.
What is Close Reading?
300
These Indian soldiers, employed by the British East India Company, played a key role in an 1857 uprising.
Who are the Sepoys?
300
European powers used both of these forms of labor to extract wealth from African colonies — one unpaid and brutal, the other poorly compensated.
What are Forced Labor and Wage Labor?
300
This 1842 agreement, often called the first of the "Unequal Treaties," forced China to accept harsh trade terms and cede territory to Britain.
What is the Treaty of Nanjing?
300
These agricultural products were grown for export rather than local subsistence, often leading to economic dependency.
What are Cash Crops?
300
If a British soldier writes about the Sepoy Rebellion in 1857, what sourcing question should you ask before trusting his account?
"What is the soldier’s perspective or bias?" or "What was the author's purpose or point of view?"
400
This 1857 uprising was sparked by anger over British policies, such as the Doctrine of Lapse, and the rumored use of pig and cow fat on rifle cartridges.
What is the Sepoy Rebellion (or Sepoy Mutiny, or The First Indian War For Independence)?
400
The event depicted by this cartoon is considered part of the "Scramble for Africa" occurred in 1884-1885 
What is the Berlin Conference?
400
These mid-19th century conflicts forced China to open trade ports to Britain and other Western powers, marking a major shift in Chinese sovereignty.
What are the Opium Wars?
400
This type of colonial governance, often associated with the British Empire, maintained traditional local power structures under the ultimate control of foreign imperial authorities.
What is Indirect Rule?
400
If two accounts of the Opium Wars — one British and one Chinese — describe the causes differently, what skill are you using when you compare them to figure out what probably happened?
What is Corroboration?
500
This term describes the period of direct British government rule in India that followed the Sepoy Rebellion.
What is the British Raj?
500
This war between Dutch settlers and the British in South Africa lasted from 1899 to 1902.
What is the Boer War?
500
These areas in China were controlled economically and politically by foreign powers but not officially colonized.
What are Spheres of Influence?
500
This political cartoon illustrates an idea related to European Imperialism 
What is “The White Man’s Burden”?
500
You are reading a French newspaper from 1884 praising imperialism in Africa. To fully analyze this source, which two historical thinking skills would help you understand and judge its reliability?
What are Sourcing and Contextualization?