In Form 5 History, in the first part of chapter 1, it talks about imperialism. I wonder why this is even taught. What do we learn from it? Learn that, if we're not strong enough we'll be overwhelmed? We also learn the effects before and after imperialism. And also the factors that cause imperialism to happen. What do we learn from these?
The Westerners who conquered South-East Asia did it for similar reasons. Among the Westerners who came were the Spanish, the British, the Portuguese, the French and other Western powers. The first place conquered was Malacca by the Portuguese 1511. The Spanish took the Philippines. The French took Indochina. Indochina at that time was made up of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. At present time, they are all now independent countries.
The main reason the Westerners came here was because of the natural resources. Malaya was rich in tin and is still now. At that time, the Industrial Revolution was ongoing, and they needed resources. They found it in South East Asia. They also conquered South East Asia, because it was strategically located. It was at the mid-point of China and India. They wanted to sell their stuff to them. The Westerners were also competing among themselves for land, to show who was the strongest and also for national pride. Another factor that allowed imperialism in South East Asia was the invention of the ships powered by steam and also the completion of the Suez Canal. This shortened the journey by quite a bit. They also had a slogan, "White Man's Burden". They claimed that they were more modern and civilized and it was their job to make the people here civilized too and to make their lives easier (which was clearly not their main intentions).
It's rather fascinating to learn this all, but what is the main purpose of learning this?
2 comments:
what about the spices? and rubber?
yeah...
but tin was the main thing before the others came about...
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