COLONIALISM AND THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

1. What is colonialism?
Colonialism is a political-economic phenomenon whereby various European
nations exploited large areas of the world.

2. Why were Europeans able to claim many territories as their

colonies?
The British empire alone grew from about 9.5 million square miles in 1860
to 12.7 million in 1909; on the eve of World War 1 that empire embraced
about 444 million people.
3. What lead to the European countries to look for new trade
routes?
During the 1300s and 1400s, Arab merchants carried goods from Asia to
the eastern end of Mediterranean Sea. Other European countries wanted
to profit from trade with Asia. So they began to search for new trade
routes.

4. Describe the role played by the Dutch East Company in colonizing

Indonesia.
The Dutch built 7500 kilometers of railways, bridges, irrigation systems
covering 1.4 million hectares of rice fields, several harbors, and 140 public
drinking water systems. Recent discussions, for example of Dutch cruelty
in Aceh have encouraged renewed research on these aspects of Dutch
rule.
5. How was the Spanish able to keep control of the Philippines?
Magellan, sailing on behalf of Spain, is the first European to reach the
Philippines (in 1521). But the first permanent Spanish settlement is
established in 1564 by Miguel Lopez de Legazpi. Legazpi, appointed
governor general, makes his capital at Manila in 1571. In the same year
he names the new colony the Philippines of the Spanish king, Philip II.

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6. Describe the events that lead to the Portuguese rule of India.

They established a trading center at Tangasseri, Quilon city in 1503, which
became the centre of trade in pepper. In 1505 King Manuel I of Portugal
appointed Francisco de Almeida the first Viceroy of Portuguese India,
establishing the Portuguese government in the east.
In Goa and the Province of the North they established themselves as
village landlords; often improving landlords, building new roads and
irrigation works, introducing new crops like tobacco and cashew not, or
superior plantation varieties of coconut.
7. Describe how the British East India Company became the most
powerful economic force.
Two main lines of development worked to bring the British East Indies
Company to India and make it a power there. As a result, the British East
Indies Company gained the right to set up trading posts along the coast of
India.

8. Describe the events that lead to British rule of India.

The British East India Company, whose headquarter in London, achieved a
major victory over the Portuguese in the Battle of Swally in 1612. The
company, benefiting from the imperial patronage, soon expanded its
commercial trading operations, eclipsing the Portuguese Estado da India,
which had established bases in Goa, Chittagong and Bombay. The East
India Company also launched a joint effort attack with the Dutch United
East India Company on Portuguese and Spanish ships off the coast of
China, which helped secure their ports in china.

9. What is industrial revolution?

Industrial revolution is the process of sudden change that took place in the
industrial sector (in the 18th century) due to the development of science and
technology.

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10.
List down some of the advancements of the industrial
revolution in;
Communication,
Production,
Transport,
Medicine,
The technological changes include:
The use of new basic materials, chiefly iron and steel,
The use of new energy sources, including both fuels and motive power,
such as coal, electricity, petroleum, and the internal-combustion
engine,
The invention of new machines, such as the spinning jenny and the
power loom that permitted increased production with a smaller
expenditure of human energy.
Some of the most outstanding advancements that changed peoples
lives for the best include; development of all small pox vaccination,
discovery of the anesthetic, discovery of x-rays, invention of aspirin,
and blood transfusion.
Important developments in transportation and communication include
the steam locomotive, steamship, automobile, airplane, telegraph and
radio. Railroads revolutionized life in Britain in several ways:

Railroads gave manufacturers a cheap way to transport materials and

finished products.
The railroad boom created hundreds of thousands of new jobs for both
railroad workers and minors.
The railroad industry reproduced new industries and inventions and
increased the productivity of others. For example, agricultural products
could be transported farther without spoiling, so farmers benefited
from the railroads.

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 Railroads transported people, allowing them to work in cities far away

from their homes and travel to resort areas for leisure.

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