<h5 id="european-imperialism">EUROPEAN IMPERIALISM</h5> <ul> <li>The American empires of Spain and Portugal did not expand after the 17th century, while other countries like France, Holland, and England began to establish colonies in America, Africa, and Asia.</li> <li>In South Asia, trading companies like the East India Company became political powers, defeated local rulers, and annexed their territories, retaining the older administrative systems and collecting taxes from landowners.</li> <li>Africa was traded on by Europeans only on the coast, with inland ventures in the late 19th century, leading to an agreement among European countries to divide Africa as colonies for themselves.</li> <li>The term ‘settler’ is used for the Dutch in South Africa, the British in Ireland, New Zealand, and Australia, and Europeans in America, with English as the official language in these colonies (except in Canada, where French is also an official language).</li> <li>European-given names to countries of the ‘New World’ include ‘America’ from Amerigo Vespucci, ‘Canada’ from the Huron-Iroquois word ‘kanata’, ‘Australia’ from the Latin ‘austral’ meaning ‘south’, and ‘New Zealand’ from the Dutch ‘zee’ meaning ‘sea’.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="north-america">NORTH AMERICA</h5> <ul> <li>North America extends from the Arctic Circle to the Tropic of Cancer, and is bordered by the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.</li> <li>The Rocky Mountains run through the center of the continent, with desert, mountain ranges, plains, and the Great Lakes to the east.</li> <li>Mexico forms the southern border, while Canada in the north has a vast forest cover and significant oil, gas, and mineral resources.</li> <li>Modern industries and agriculture have developed over the last 200 years, largely due to immigration from Europe, Africa, and China.</li> <li>Indigenous peoples lived in North America for thousands of years prior to European discovery and settlement.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="the-native-peoples">The Native Peoples</h5> <ul> <li>The earliest Americans were Asian migrants who crossed the Bering Straits over 30,000 years ago.</li> <li>Their population increased about 5,000 years ago as the climate became more stable, leading to the development of villages along river valleys and the cultivation of maize.</li> <li>These societies were characterized by a lack of extensive agriculture, kingdoms, and empires, with control of land not a major issue.</li> <li>They engaged in formal alliances and gift-giving, with goods obtained through exchange rather than purchase.</li> <li>They had diverse languages and cultures, with accounts of origins and history passed down orally, and were skilled in textile weaving and land reading.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="encounters-with-europeans">Encounters with Europeans</h5> <ul> <li>In 1497, John Cabot reached Newfoundland, marking a significant step in North American exploration.</li> <li>Amerigo Vespucci’s travels were published in 1507, contributing to the early understanding of the American continent.</li> <li>Jacques Cartier traveled down the St. Lawrence River in 1534, where he met native peoples, expanding French knowledge of the area.</li> <li>The French established the colony of Quebec in 1608, while the British founded the colony of Virginia in the same year.</li> <li>In 1620, the British established Plymouth in Massachusetts, further expanding their colonial presence in North America.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="mutual-perceptions">Mutual Perceptions</h5> <ul> <li>In 1803, the Louisiana territory was purchased from France by the USA.</li> <li>From 1825-58, Native Americans were moved to reserves in the USA.</li> <li>The French Canadian rebellion occurred in 1837, and the Canadian Union of Upper and Lower Canada was formed in 1840.</li> <li>The American Gold Rush took place in 1849, followed by the Canadian Gold Rush in 1859.</li> <li>The American Civil War occurred from 1861-65, and the Confederation of Canada was formed in 1867.</li> <li>The American Indian Wars took place from 1865-90, and the Red River Rebellion by the Metis in Canada occurred from 1869-85.</li> <li>The transcontinental railway was completed in Canada in 1870 and 1876, and the buffalo were almost exterminated in North America by 1890.</li> <li>The transcontinental railway linked east and west coasts in North America in 1891, and the ’end’ of the American frontier was declared in 1892.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="the-native-peoples-lose-their-land">The Native Peoples Lose their Land</h5> <ul> <li>In 1820, the USA population was 11.6 million, including 0.6 million natives, 9.0 million whites, 0.1 million mixed Europeans, 1.9 million blacks, and 3.3 million others. Spanish America and Spanish America natives were 16.9 million in 1800.</li> <li>Native populations were forced to move and live in reservations, often with land they had no earlier connection to, due to westward expansion and mineral/oil discoveries on their lands.</li> <li>In 1854, Chief Seattle wrote a letter refusing to sell land to the American government, emphasizing the sacredness of the earth and water to his people.</li> <li>Anthropology, the study of differences between native ‘primitive’ and European ‘civilized’ communities, was introduced in North America in the 1840s.</li> <li>Some anthropologists argued that American natives would ‘die out’, while others studied and preserved native culture, such as moving a native lodge to a museum in Wyoming in 1862.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="the-gold-rush-and-the-growth-of-industries">The Gold Rush, and the Growth of Industries</h5> <ul> <li>The Gold Rush in California, starting in the 1840s, led to a rapid expansion of railway lines across the USA and Canada, with thousands of Chinese workers recruited for the construction.</li> <li>Industries in North America developed mainly to manufacture railway equipment and produce machinery for large-scale farming, leading to the growth of industrial towns and factories.</li> <li>In 1860, the USA had an undeveloped economy, but by 1890 it had become the leading industrial power in the world, with large-scale agriculture also expanding and vast areas being cleared for farms.</li> <li>The extermination of the bison by 1890 marked the end of the hunting lifestyle of Native Americans, and by 1892, the USA had completed its continental expansion, dividing the area between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans into states.</li> <li>Soon after, the USA began setting up its own colonies, becoming an imperial power, with the expansion driven by the completion of the frontier that had attracted European settlers for many decades.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="constitutional-rights">Constitutional Rights</h5> <ul> <li>The democratic spirit, which defined the identity of the USA against the monarchies and aristocracies of the Old World, was a rallying cry of the settlers during their fight for independence in the 1770s.</li> <li>The constitution included the individual’s right to property, which the state could not override, but democratic rights and the right to property were only for white men.</li> <li>Daniel Paul pointed out that Thomas Paine, the champion of democracy during the War for American Independence and the French Revolution, used Native Americans as models of how society might be organized.</li> <li>The Native Americans, through their examples, sowed the seeds for the long-drawn-out movement towards democracy by the people of Europe.</li> <li>Karl Marx described the American frontier as the last positive capitalist utopia, a limitless nature and space to which the limitless thirst for profit adapts itself.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="australia">AUSTRALIA</h5> <ul> <li>The Aborigines, the original inhabitants of Australia, arrived around 40,000 years ago from New Guinea, which was then connected to Australia by a land-bridge.</li> <li>The British started to arrive in Australia in the late 18th century, forming a penal colony in 1788. This interaction drastically disturbed the local Aboriginal communities and their food resources.</li> <li>The British established self-government in the Australian colonies in 1850, formed the Federation of Australia with six states in 1901, and established Canberra as the capital in 1911.</li> <li>The economic development of Australia was mainly based on vast sheep farms, mining stations, vineyards, and wheat farming, with some Aboriginal and later Chinese labor.</li> <li>The original Aboriginal population was significantly reduced in the 19th and 20th centuries due to germ exposure, loss of lands and resources, and battles with settlers.</li> </ul> <p>======</p>