What Were the Causes of the New Imperialism of the 19th Century, and How Did It Differ from European Expansion in Earlier Periods?

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EQ: What were the causes of the new imperialism of the 19th century, and how did it differ from European expansion in earlier periods? The world was in a time of great change. The Industrial Revolution occurring in was consuming vast amounts of resources, and the European powers needed more to feed their industrialization. The goods created by the Industrial Revolution also needed new markets to sell manufactured goods to. All of these problems made Europe look towards the other nations spread throughout the world. The European powers began to recolonize the world, and instead of only trading with a few elites in other countries, like they used to, the Europeans took complete control over their colonies. This philosophy differed vastly from the earlier era of colonization. Before, colonization was mainly done for trading spices and spreading Christianity. The practice of seizing foreign markets for economic gain became known as imperialism. The United States, Japan, and all of the industrialized European powers began practicing imperialism. Soon, colonization became more of a land grab and less of an imperialist motivated action. Nations began grabbing colonies simply to increase their political power. A prominent case of this is the invasion of the Philippines by the US. The US had no other motives for invading the land except to keep the Japanese from seizing it. Grabbing land from the natives for the sake of it was justified by Social Darwinism. The famous quote “might makes right” summed up the argument presented by every global strategist in an imperialist nation. This rebirth of colonialism changed the world in many ways. Firstly, it brought European influences to areas that had little to no direct contact with Europe. Secondly, it brought foreign ideas into Europe, introducing new technologies making its culture richer. Finally, this colonization set

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