Spotlight On... The Suez Canal

The Suez Canal connects the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea, and is an extremely useful waterway, both now and long ago. It is controled and maintained by the Arab Republic of Egypt and the Suez Canal Authority. However, anyone is allowed to use it at any time, regardless of wars or what country the ship is from. Today, about 7.5% of the world's trade goes through the canal, and in 1955, two-thirds of Europe's oil was being transported through it. This is obviously an important canal, because without it, ships would be forced to either travel around the southern-most tip of Africa (adding about 2,700 miles to a trip) or unload everything, have the goods driven across land, and reloaded on another ship on the other side. The canal really makes everything go quicker, and is very useful in today's world of trading and transport.

Modern Day Uprising - Egypt

On January 25th of this year, Egypt experienced a very dramatic uprising. A ton of Egyptians all got together and demanded the overthrow of the president, Hosni Mubarak. It started out with peaceful intents, just demonstrations, marches, and civil resistance, but ended up becoming violent when the miliary, police, and some protesters started in with fighting. Most of the action took place in Cario, and on February 11th, Hosni Mubarak resigned.

The protesters had a lot that they wanted changed, including freedom of speech policy, food prices, election rules, government corruption, minimum wages, and police brutality. The government tried to control things by making a curfew, but it wasn't enforced. After Mubarak stepped down, he appointed a new panel to take over running things and to try to fix things, and agreed not to seek re-election. While things are far from over, we can only wait and watch what happens. By now things are quieting down, and details and plans are being worked out.

European Uprising - The Second Boer War

After reading The Power of One, I know so much more about colonization and imperialism in Africa! In 1899 there was an uprising that found its roots in many places in history. Ever since Europe had come to Africa, there had been tension between Europeans and Africans. When the British tried to put even more control over the Transvaals and Orange Free State, they didn't take very well to that. Ultimatums were exchanged, and then rejected. Eventually, the Africans demanded that all British troops be gone within 48 hours. That didn't happen, and war was declared.

Paul Kruger lead the Transvaals, and Christiaan de Wet lead the geurilla warfare portion for Africa. On the English side, Herbert Kitchener was an important commander in chief for a time, and Cecil Rhodes played a role, mostly in annoying the military people who were there. No one regarded him as helpful or cooperative, but his company did help with providing many valuable materials. By the end of the war in 1902, the British had gained more control over the South Africans, but it was still an important point in history, as it showed the oppressed actually standing up to their oppressors where imperialism was concerned.

Is/Has the U.S. Been Imperialistic?

I think that America was somewhat imperialistic in the past, but we were in no way imperialistic in the same sense as Europe. Here's why:

-European countries placed a lot of emphasis on the three C's: Christianity, Commerce, and Civilization. America hasn't placed nearly that much emphasis on any of those, and we rarely even come close to even being able to use one of those as justification. Sometimes we go to aid another counrty (possibly civilization), but we don't look at them as being a backwards culture, just one that needs aid in some way.
-America doesn't want more land just to expand our power or resources. We didn't go over to the middle east to take their resources, and we don't just plan takeovers to obtain workers, material, land, or power.
-While the United States has gained territory in the past, we adopted our last state in 1959, and have not recently shown imperialistic tendancies.

Some may argue that the United States is an imperialistic nation though, and here are somw reasons they use to back up their claims:

-America has territory like Peurto Rico and the Virgin Islands, which are not actually states, but are often referenced as 'the 51st state' and such because of the way we treat them and our power over them.
-In the past, we have been quick to show more imperialistic tendancies, and there are still left over effects and realms of control from those times.
-We are still going over to other countries and working with the people there to change things (such as in the middle east). While I don't think these actions reflect imperialism, there are those who argue for that, so it has become a common arguement.

Imperialism in the U.S. Today - Political Cartoon

This cartoon shows a before and after look at countries the United States has become involved with. On the top, in the 'before' section, the countries are oppressed, enslaved, and unhappy. On the bottom, in the 'after' section, we see nicely dressed men looking happy with bags of money and various signs. The signs say what countries they represent, and it refrences the ways in which the United States has taken charge in those areas. For example, we have Hawaii, which went from being oppressed in industrial slavery to being the stable state in America that they are today. Another example is Peurto Rico, which is shown attached to a yoke before, and is now connected with the United States.

The artist isn't outrightly arguing against American imperialism, but seems to be pointing out that when we become involved with a country or territory, we end up having a good deal of control over them. I think that sometimes this is a good thing, and some times it can be taken too far. Even today America is involved in a lot of other countries' affairs, and we will most likely exit those countries with some further form of power over them.

Political Cartoon #2

This political cartoon represents the affair with King Leopold II and the Congo. It shows explorers putting a black man (probably African) through a press and receiving coins or some form of a coveted material. A preacher stands by reading from a Bible. This represents the way that many European countries handled imperialism in Africa. They pressed all the work possible out of the natives, and justified it by saying they were bringing them civilization and Christianity. There is also a man on the left pouring something into the man's mouth. I assume he is giving him water, to represent the idea that Europeans were providing Africans with things they needed to live, like food and water.

The artist obviously doesn't like imperialism, as they depict the man who is effected in being in a painful/deadly position. He seems to be making a statement regarding the mistreatment of many Africans, such as those under the control of King Leopold II. The expression on the preacher's face is also interesting. He is reading the Bible to the men, but he has his eyebrows positioned in such a way that seems to depict shock or discomfort. I believe the artist is making a point about the bystanders of imperialism - those who realized that there was mistreatment going on, but didn't say anything. I think this cartoon is very effective, and is extremely interesting in the small details.

Political Cartoon #1

In this cartoon, the Philadelphia Inquier depicts America's role in the Imperialistic claiming of land in the late 1800's. It shows representatives from various countries watching as one of them plays a card game with 'Uncle Sam', who is representing the United States. They are 'betting' with countries and territories that they have control over, and are presumably using cards that represent their strategies and plans. The group of people behind the table (the chorus) are giving their commentary on the game, and wondering what sort of things the United States has up our sleeves. I think that this artist was trying to show that America was on the verge of becoming Imperialistic, and was being taken into the game with the rest of the world. However, the point is made without being overly offensive, which is very nice, and the comic leaves a lot of room for differing interpretations. For example, maybe the U.S. is trying to halt imperialsim instead of join, and our cards represent ways to stop it. While that seems unlikely, it is another possible explanation for the cartoon. It is one of the better ones I have seen from the age of imperialism, and I think it's interesting that the world's affairs are shown as a game, since that's how I tend to simplify lots of history to make it more comprehensive.