The Opium War

The first Opium War was when The British fought The British and China. They fought with ships in the seas. This war started because the British had opium and wanted to trade with China.Opium comes from a plant called poppy. In the beginning British gave away opium to the Chinese so they can become addicted to it and make it a physical need for them. The rate of addiction greatly grew in China. Later the Chinese wanted more opium, however British didn't give it away this time, now they wanted to trade it to them for tea. The Emporer was not happy about this so when the British came to the ports to trade with the Chinese merchants, the Emporer sent out ships to block off the British ships. Obviously, the Chinese lost because of their out of date ships and weapons. The Europeans had high powered cannons and ships made of steel. European won the war because they had more superior technology's than China.

"The White Man's Burden"

The poem talks about the white man's burden which talks about their job to civilize and bring knowledge to the Africans and Indians. They believe it is a blessing for them to come and educate. At that period of time England had the most Technology, Guns, and Inventions than any other country. They believe it is a blessing for them to come and educate these people that don't even want their help. This poem explains how at the end your son is "Half Devil and Half Child" referring to all the misdeeds he committed to the savages that caused him to turn into that devil. The White man may have raped a African or Indian women because of the lack of Intelligence they posses. They have so much power in their possession causing them to do foolish things. There is also a line where it says "The hate of those ye guard" discusses the racism the White Man has against the African's and Indians. They talk about how their race is the dominant race and the world couldn't form without one English man. The White Man believes they are the dominant race and is better than everybody else.

"The Scramble for Africa"

The Scramble for Africa began in 1881. It was when different nation's all tried to colonize Africa. The nation's that were involved were Britain, Germany, France, Spain, Belgium, Portugal, and Italy were the main country's involved in the scramble for Africa. These European nations were looking for natural resources such as petroleum, gold , diamonds, timber, and ivory. Africans were also used for slave trade to the triangle trade to bring slaves to the New America's. This affected Africa by separating and splitting everybody up so they could not communicate with tribes. The Europeans created borders to isolate different Africans.It was very easy for Europeans to dominate Africa because of the Technology they possessed as well as a good military. Also Africa wouldn't have the intelligence to revolt against the British.

Film Lesson: "Mountains of the Moon"

In this film Richard Burton and John Speek were on a quest to look for the source of the Nile.The Europeans faced many different kinds of hardship. One was the lack of technology the had. They also lacked conservation of food. There were hazardous insects. John Speek was one of the victims from the insects. A beetle entered his ear and was causing him pain. He stabbed the beetle in his ear. They faced boredom and teaching African's how to use their technology. One was a dangerous and the primary advantage they had over the Africans was the invention of the firearm gun. I believe it was foolish to give a primitive unintellectual person a gun, who knows what they can do with it ? Its strange that the Nile river is named after a British queen when its an African country containing mostly African's not whites. When you think of Africa, White people don't come into your mind, unless you go back in time like I'm explaining now. It was so easy for Europeans to invade Europe because of the lack of intelligence the people there possessed and all the gifts the Europeans had to offer to them. What got me curious is, Why did John Speek commit suicide ?