AP World History — economic imperialism and resistance, 1839-1900

Unit 6 of AP World History: Modern, Consequences of Industrialization, asks two questions that document-based and long essay prompts return to again and again: how did industrial powers gain economic control over other societies, and how did those societies respond? This material works on both, and leaves aside the topics the category already treats elsewhere, such as the technology of new imperialism, cash-crop economies and the battle of Adwa.

Economic imperialism comes first. You follow the First Opium War from Britain's trade deficit and the opium traffic from India to Commissioner Lin Zexu's crackdown, then the Treaty of Nanjing and the supplementary treaties that took from the Qing control over its tariffs and over foreigners on its soil. British investment in Argentina's railroads and meat trade shows economic control without formal colonies.

Resistance is the larger part. You study the Taiping Rebellion, with its Christian-influenced vision and radical social program, the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and the end of East India Company rule, and the Boxer Uprising in north China. In Africa you look at the Zulu victory at Isandlwana and eventual defeat, the Xhosa cattle-killing of 1856-1857, and the Mahdist state in Sudan, destroyed at Omdurman in 1898. In North America you examine the Ghost Dance and the massacre at Wounded Knee. A comparison question asks what several of these movements shared: religious or prophetic visions of renewal in the face of outside pressure. An invented placard from a north China village in 1900 gives you a short source to identify.

The quiz has twelve questions with explanations for every option. The flashcards fix the key terms: extraterritoriality, treaty ports, spheres of influence, the British Raj and more. The written work offers eight open questions to answer by hand, including causation and comparison questions of the kind used in short-answer questions and long essays. The oral exam lets you explain these developments aloud, one question at a time, with brief feedback at the end.

Use it after studying Unit 6 or in spring review before the May exam, together with the category's 1750-1900 material, which covers the causes of new imperialism and its economic effects.

Explain the causes of the Opium Wars and the effects of the unequal treaties on Qing sovereignty
Describe economic imperialism without formal colonies, using British investment in Argentina
Explain the causes and outcomes of the Taiping Rebellion, the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and the Boxer Uprising
Describe African and Native American resistance: Zulu, Xhosa, Mahdist Sudan, the Ghost Dance
Compare religious and millenarian responses to outside pressure

Practice material written by Zestly, based on the College Board AP World History: Modern course framework, Unit 6 (Consequences of Industrialization): state expansion, Indigenous responses to state expansion, economic imperialism. The village placard is invented for practice.

Sample question

What was the primary economic motivation for the British Empire to begin smuggling opium into China during the early 19th century?

To establish a permanent military base in the Yangtze River delta
To reverse a massive trade deficit caused by the British demand for Chinese tea
To force the Qing government to adopt Western banking standards
To gain exclusive access to the Chinese silk and porcelain manufacturing sectors

See the answer

To reverse a massive trade deficit caused by the British demand for Chinese tea

Britain faced a severe trade imbalance because China required payment in silver for tea, silk, and porcelain. Opium smuggling was the mechanism used to drain silver back out of China to balance this deficit.

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