Colonialism - SAT Subject Test in World History

The Sepoy Mutiny (sometimes called the First War of Indian Independence or the Indian Rebellion of 1857) occurred in Northern India. Much of India at the time was under British control, and the government was generally referred to as the British Raj. It has become common policy to state that the rebellion began when Hindu and Muslim Sepoys (another word for soldiers) were told that the grease used in their rifles was from either pork or beef fat—pork would offend Islamic customs and beef would offend Hindu customs; however, the rebellion was really an outpouring of long-held frustrations and angers. It would eventually be brutally put down by the British and resulted in the death of hundreds of thousands of Indian civilians.

The Indian caste system has existed for hundreds of years as a means of enforcing social stability and obedience; however, it has often been rather fluid, and rarely has it been uniformly enforced across the whole vast Indian subcontinent. Following the arrival of the British, however, the imperialist government needed a way to further entrench their system of power, so they sought to solidify and normalize the caste system. They placed Brahmans (priests and religious figures) at the top, followed by the Kshatriyas (warriors and rulers), then Vaishyas (merchants), and finally Shudras (workers and peasants). Below the established caste system there existed, and indeed still exists, an “untouchable caste” of Dalits.

This question is primarily asking you to identify which of these empires rose to prominence in the second half of the nineteenth century, as this was the time period in which Social Darwinism became a factor in European Imperialism. Social Darwinism was a political manipulation of Darwin’s “survival of the fittest” biological theory and was used to “justify” conquering and ruling native people under the guise that they were better off being ruled by "fitter" human beings. The only one of these empires that was rising in the second half of the nineteenth century was the German empire. The Roman, Carthaginian, and Greek empires were all in their ascendency in the classical era, and the Spanish empire rose to prominence in the late-Medieval and early-Renaissance eras.

Following the arrival of the British in the Indian subcontinent the established elites were generally reinforced in their legitimacy and control of the territory. The British arrived with only a couple of thousand men and were faced with the task of administering a population of tens, if not hundreds, of millions so they rather had little choice but to manipulate the existing forms of power.

The Seven Years’ War was a global conflict fought between the two imperial powers of France and Britain. In the North American theatre the conflict has come to be called the French and Indian War. Many Native Americans fought on the side of Britain and the colonists against the French. The war resulted in victory for the British (including Britain taking control of the subcontinent of India), but led indirectly to the American Revolution.

The Berlin Conference took place in 1884 and 1885 and coincided with Germany’s emergence as a prominent European and imperial power. At the Berlin Conference, the European imperial powers sought to divide the entire continent of Africa among themselves.

The Platt Amendment was issued following the Spanish-American War in 1901. It effectively gave the American government complete control (albeit temporarily) over the Cuban government and stipulated that American troops would remain in Cuba and that naval bases would be constructed.

The Monroe Doctrine states that the United States will prevent any further European imperialism in the American hemisphere through diplomacy and military force if necessary. The Roosevelt Corollary, added to the Monroe Doctrine by Theodore Roosevelt in 1904, redefined exactly what was acceptable practice for the United States in the issue of imperialism. Roosevelt declared that the United States had the right to intervene in any kind of conflict, even in support of a European power, if the conflict is fomenting unrest and chaos in the Western hemisphere.

The Treaty of Nanking ended the First Opium War between Britain and China. The treaty was an unequal one, as it resulted in numerous concessions being offered by the Chinese and none being offered by the British. The treaty opened China up to European trade and gave the territory of Hong Kong over to British control.

In the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, Indian troops serving the British revolted against British rule, but were defeated, and the British government took direct control of British India from the East India Company shortly after. The Seven Years' War and the battle of Plassey occurred a century earlier, and simply marked the start of British dominance in India. The massacre of Amritsar and World War II both occurred in the 20th century, long after direct British rule in India started.