DBQ - Imperialism and State Formation: 1750-1900

Document 1 

"The plan of removing the aboriginal people who yet remain within the settled portions of the United States to the country west of the Mississippi River approaches its consumption…. All preceding experiments for the improvement of the Indians have failed. It seems now to be an established fact that they can not live in contact with a civilized community and prosper…. [N]o one can doubt the moral duty of the Government of the United States to protect and if possible to preserve and perpetuate the scattered remnants of this race which are left within our borders. In the discharge of this duty an extensive region in the West has been assigned for their permanent residence…. A territory exceeding in extent that relinquished has been granted to each tribe." 

Document 2 

Article 111 
It being obviously necessary and desirable, that British Subjects should have some Port whereat they may careen [turn a ship on its side for repair] and refit their Ships, when required, and keep Stores [supplies] for that purpose, His Majesty the Emperor of China cedes to Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain, etc., the Island of Hong-Kong, to be possessed in perpetuity [state of lasting forever] by her Britannic Majesty, Her Heirs and Successors, and to be governed by such Laws and Regulations as Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain, etc. shall see fit to direct. 

Document 4 

"It is well known to all that in this age the people of Hindustan [northern India], both Hindus and Muslims, are being ruined under the tyranny and oppression of the infidel and the treacherous English. It is therefore the bounden duty of all the wealthy people of India…. to stake their lives and property for the well-being of the public…. I, who am the grandson of Bahadur Shah, have come here…. to extirpate [root out and destroy completely] the infidels residing in the eastern part of the country, and to liberate and protect the poor helpless people now groaning under their iron rule…. Several of the Hindu and Muslim chiefs who have been trying their best to root out the English in India, have presented themselves to me and taken part in the reigning Indian crusade…. all agree, asserting that the English will no longer have any footing in India or elsewhere. Therefore, it is incumbent [necessary] on all to give up the hope of the continuation of the British sway, [and to] side with me…."

Document 5 

About sixteen years ago, one of the Governors of the Colony, Sir George Napier, marked down my limits on a treaty he made with me. I was to be the ruler within those limits.... The Boers then began to talk of their right to places I had then lent to them.... Then came Sir Harry Smith…. and that he was to keep the Boers in my land under proper control, and that I should hear no more of their claiming the places they lived on as their exclusive property. But instead of this, I now heard that the Boers consider all those farms as their own.... Sir Harry Smith had sent Warden to govern in the Sovereignty. He listened to the Boers, and he proposed that all the land in which those Boers' farms were should be taken from me. I was at that time in trouble, for Sikonyela and the Korannas [other tribes living in the Cape Colony] were tormenting me and my people by stealing and killing; they said openly the Major gave them orders to do so, and I have proof he did so. One day he sent me a map and said, sign that, and I will tell those people (Mantatis and Korannas) to leave off fighting: if you do not sign the map, I cannot help you in any way.... I begged [the British Queen Victoria] to investigate my case and remove "the line," as it was called, by which my land was ruined. 

Document 6 

"The opening to the modern civilization of the West began in the reign of Kaie (1848-1858). Our people began to discover its utility and gradually and yet actively moved toward its acceptance. However, there was an old fashioned and bloated government that stood in the way of progress. It was a problem impossible to solve. If the government were allowed to continue, the new civilization could not enter. The modern civilization and Japan's old conventions were mutually exclusive. If we were to discard our old conventions, that government also had to be abolished. We could have prevented the entry of this civilization, but it would have meant loss of our national independence…. Not only were we able to cast aside Japan's old conventions, but we also succeeded in creating a new axle toward progress in Asia." 

Document 7 

Article 1 

China recognizes definitively the full and complete independence and autonomy of Korea, and, in consequence, the payment of tribute and the performance of ceremonies and formalities by Korea to China, in derogation [repeal] of such independence and autonomy, shall wholly cease for the future. 

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Article 2 

China cedes to Japan in perpetuity and full sovereignty the following territories, together with all fortifications, arsenals, and public property thereon: 

(a) The southern portion of the province of Fengtien….

(b) The island of Formosa, together with all islands appertaining or belonging to the said island of Formosa 

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(c) The Pescadores Group [islands located in the South China Sea near the island of Formosa]….