Subjects /European History /Assignments /

European Imperialism

Source 1

I was anxious to see to what extent the natives had “adopted the fostering care” of your Majesty’s “benevolent enterprise”, and I was doomed to bitter disappointment. Instead of the natives of the Congo “adopting the fostering care” of your Majesty’s Government, they everywhere complain that their land has been taken from them by force; that the Government is cruel and arbitrary, and declare that they neither love nor respect the Government and its flag. Your Majesty’s Government has sequestered their land, burned their towns, stolen their property, enslaved their women and children, and committed other crimes too numerous to mention in detail. It is natural that they everywhere shrink from “the fostering care” your Majesty’s Government so eagerly proffers them. There has been, to my absolute knowledge, no “honest and practical effort made to increase their knowledge and secure their welfare.” Your Majesty’s Government has never spent one franc for educational purposes, nor instituted any practical system of industrialism.

Source:  George Washington Williams, Open Letter to King Leopold on the Congo, 1890

Question 1

Short answer

 Explain one critique of imperialism alluded to in this letter. Include evidence that supports Williams’s claim.

Question 2

Short answer

Explain one example of how a similar critique could be given for European imperialism in a region outside Africa.

Question 3

Short answer

Describe one counterargument Europeans would have provided in response to Williams's accusations.

Teach with AI superpowers

Why teachers love Class Companion

Import assignments to get started in no time.

Create your own rubric to customize the AI feedback to your liking.

Overrule the AI feedback if a student disputes.

Other European History Assignments

1230GF SAQ The Creation of Adam ✍️ 1230 SAQ The Creation of Adam 📝 1260 LEQ Italian Renaissance and Northern Renaissance 1260 Renaissance LEQ 1270 Renaissance DBQ ✍️ 1330 SAQ Martin Luther 1330 SAQ Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation 1331 SAQ Protestant Reformation ✍️ 1331 SAQ Protestant Reformation in Europe 1332 SAQ Renaissance and Reformation Art 1360 LEQ Reformation and Catholic Reformation 1370 DBQ German Peasants' War 1430GF SAQ Ptolemy’s Map ✍️ 1431 SAQ The Columbian Exchange 1431 SAQ The Columbian Exchange 1460 LEQ Economic Effect of Discovery and Exploration 📝 1461 LEQ Economic Effect of Atlantic Trade 1450-1700 (2010 - 4)1470 DBQ Conquest (2)14th Century Disasters ✍️ 1530 SAQ Dutch Commerce 1530 SAQ Dutch Commerce 1531 SAQ Divine Right of Kings 1560 LEQ Effects of State Centralization 📝 1560 LEQ State Centralization (2019-2)1570 DBQ The Thirty Years' War 1571 DBQ The English Civil War 1630 SAQ Scientific Discovery 1631 SAQ Louis XIV 1672 DBQ Women in Science ✍️ 1730 SAQ Adam Smith 1730 SAQ Adam Smith Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet 17th C. Economics (Primary Source) - Contextualization & Causation 1830 SAQ Early Modern Medicine 1831 SAQ Renaissance and Reformation 18th-Century Demographics - Causation 1931 SAQ The Tennis Court Oath 1932 SAQ The Loyalty Oath 1962 LEQ Enlightenment Causation 19th-Century Culture - Continuity and Change 19th Century Modern Thought 19th-Century Political Change - Causation 19th-Century Political Development - Continuity and Change, Causation 1. French Revolution Paper 2: Part A 1. French Revolution Paper 2: Part B 1. German Nationalism Paper 2: Part A 1. German Nationalism Paper 2: Part B 1. Industrial Revolution Paper 2: Part A 1. Industrial Revolution Paper 2: Part B 1. Russian Revolution Paper 2: Part B 2030 SAQ Spread of the Industrial Revolution