While the resulting dominance of European powers over persons in the areas with which they came into contact was acceptable, the effects of global trade on societal norms of Europe were unprecedented. In other words, just as the Triangle Trade influenced Europe’s place in the world, it also affected its interior societal makeup. The Emergence of Industrial Society in the West highlights the three steps that led to the Age of Revolutions: Commercial Revolution, Scientific Revolution, and Enlightenment (5mins).The Commercial Revolution posed the first threat to European traditions by debunking the ideologies of birthrights as the source of wealth. Apparently, the rise in international trade encouraged the emergence of individuals who either owned lands or controlled trade routes in such a way that propelled them to massive wealth (The Emergence 6mins). Consequently, as opposed to the tradition of bloodlines being the determinant of one’s place in the societal hierarchy, the radical change in trade introduced a new wealthy class that had no claims to birthright property or titles. Another challenge to social order came in the form of the Scientific Revolution that emphasized the importance of “human reasoning” and questioned the supremacy of the Catholic Church (The Emergence 11mins). From Rene Descartes [1596-1650] to John Locke [1632-1704], philosophy permeated Europe and went on to question the “leaders who rule by divine right” including the Monarch and the Church (The Emergence 15mins). Such queries formed the grounds on which Enlightenment became a reality.
Suddenly, the people were not only questioning the absolute powers of the Crown but also all forms of inequality such as that of gender, race, and wealth (The Emergence 22-24mins). A perfect illustration of questions about wealth-based inequity is evident with a view of the Heaven on Earth documentary film. According to the narrator, the introduction of the new wealthy class mentioned above did not guarantee that all persons had money; for instance, industry owners were richer than the wage laborers they hired (Heaven on Earth 15mins). As a result, Industrialization plunged Europe into constant “class struggles” before reformers such as Frederick Engels and Carl Marx introduced Socialism (Heaven on Earth 14-19mins). Socialism called for people to contribute “according to their ability” and receive “according to their need” (Heaven on Earth 20mins). In the end, the acceptance with which the people handled the power and riches of the Church, the Monarch, and the aristocracy became questionable as the efforts that went into making global trade a reality destroyed the fabric of European society by proving the capability of every individual.
Rise of European Colonialism in Asia and Africa
As industrialization redefined the European and American economies, the target raw materials evolved to encompass rubber, a material that was essential to the running of the machines and the production of “hoses, tires [for automobiles], and shoes” (European Imperialism 28mins). In that sense, as industries continued to grow, territories in the African Continent became valuable to European powers including the Portuguese, French, British, and Belgians. Interestingly, rather than admit that they sought economic gains from the territories, the European nations assumed a role of moral guidance for the African communities considered uncivilized and backward. With a particular interest in the Berlin Conference of 1884 and the subsequent endorsement of the “General Act of Berlin” in 1885, colonization took place under a guise of helping the African populace. For instance, a read of Article II called for the “improvement of the conditions of [the Africans’] moral and material well-being” (European Imperialism 25mins). The problem was in the fact that Europe assumed that all non-Europeans were “backward” and used that assumption as a justification for all imperialistic adventures (European Imperialism 5mins). For example, the traditional act of “Sati,” a culture that encouraged every Indian woman to die in the fires that would burn her husband’s dead body willingly, was barbaric in the views of the Caucasians (European Imperialism 6mins). Similarly, in Africa, non-European traditions were unacceptable.
It was within such circumstances that the atrocities of colonialism became possible. The abundance of naturally occurring rubber trees in Congo became a target as King Leopold II of Belgium turned the region to his “personal fiefdom” (European Imperialism 28mins). Among many more atrocities, the inhabitants of Congo at the height of colonialism became subject to brutal punishments, such as having a hand cut off for failing to tap enough rubber and absolute tyranny that saw villages burnt to the ground (European Imperialism 34-36mins). Sadly, Africans would often betray each other. Apparently, for fleeting rewards such as “employment, status, [and] education,” some sided with the alien people with some going as far as to chop off the hands of their fellow inhabitants to account for bullets used to hunt (European Imperialism 35mins). The picture of men, women, and children without a limb was particularly rage inducing (European Imperialism 34mins): especially so when one considers the eagerness with which the United States embraced imperialism.
After the Spanish-American War, in which the United States claimed to support the Latin American populace to fight the Spanish Empire, the American forces assumed a dominant role in the affairs of the same people they claimed to be helping gain independence. The phrase “The White Man’s Burden” took opposing roles after its creation in an 1899 poem by Rudyard Kipling. On the one hand, pro-imperialists insisted that territories such as the Philippines and Cuba needed the help of the Americans if they were to become civilized. Kipling went on to call the people “half devil and half child” (European Imperialism 47mins) but anti-imperialists, as evidenced by the picture of colored persons carrying whites, questioned the legitimacy of imperialism as a means to aid non-Americans (European Imperialism 51mins). In the same way, in which European powers were taking advantage of their territories, the United States was doing the same in Latin America.
Transformations in Japan
While the European powers claimed territories of Africa and Asia in the name of civilization, such claims became doubtful courtesy of the Tokugawa Era of between 1600 and 1868. In response to the threat of Westernization, the Tokugawa Monarch isolated Japan from the alien Europeans, and until 1868, only the Dutch had any form of connections with the country (Nationalism and Japan 6mins). The Dutch had agreed only to trade with the people and not interfere with their traditions. Nonetheless, the Tokugawa Era boasted “[massive] expansion of economic activity” as the spread of the “money economy” encouraged the creation of cities and a merchant class that took advantage of the favorable trading conditions (Tokugawa Japan 0:15-0:30mins). Hence, when Japan opened up to the West, it had important traditions and technologies that met the conditions of what the Westerners considered modern at the time. For instance, there is an abundance of paintings depicting Japanese traditions with one showing the fear that the people felt when American Naval Officer Matthew Perry arrived with ships “to display the wealth and ingenuity of Americans” (Nationalism and Japan 16mins). While the piece of art allows readers to see the arrival of Western powers in the Japan through the eyes of the natives in the nineteenth century, the fact that it exists communicates the advancements that the people made before the arrival of Caucasians. After all, for precision, one could consider the reality that Africa does not have a similar abundance of images to show the arrival of the whites.
Works Cited
Burlingham, Kate. “Emergence of Industrial Society.” YouTube, 11 Feb 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjcSV1pMwx8
—. “European Imperialism.” YouTube, 25 Feb 2015,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_2iKmkAB9A
—. “Nationalism and Japan.” YouTube, 4 Mar 2015,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbwyveX_iLM
“Heaven on Earth: The Rise and Fall of Socialism.” YouTube, uploaded by MensBusinessAsocEduc, 24 Sep 2014,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfWOF__ADqw
“Tokugawa Japan - Path to Modernization: Economy, Education, Urbanization.” Asian Topics: an Online Resource for Asian History and Culture, n.d, http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/at/tokugawa/tj02.html
