5: Economic Transformation and Nation-Building - 1800-1900
- Page ID
- 147161
- Examine how nation-building and the industrial revolution intensified racism globally
- Analyze the various forms of resistance to increasing racism
- How did the Industrial Revolution affect different regions politically, economically, and socially?
- What were obstacles in building nation states?
- How were nation states constructed around racial inclusion and exclusion?
The last two hundred years of human history are also the story of the Industrial Revolution and its effects. For most peasants in the world, life in 1100 CE was not that different from that of a similar peasant living in the same place 200 years earlier or later. However, technology, industrialization, and urbanization created a world that is considerably different today than it was 200 years ago. This economic modernization, known as the Industrial Revolution, transformed all aspects of society. Liberalism and nationalism, both ideas from the Atlantic Revolutions, continued to be important. In liberalism, governments have constitutions that grant elected officials real political power and guarantee equality under the law. More and more countries created governments with the trappings of liberalism, but oligarchies continued to dominate these societies. Profound social and economic changes also resulted in the emergence of new ideas. As workers in the industrialized world faced hardships, they found socialism more appealing.
The Industrial Revolution had a profound effect on race relations. New governments were formed to promote economic modernization. Oftentimes, these governments used new technologies to create nation-states that included and excluded individuals based on their race. A new form of racism justified European domination which sought to “prove” through "scientific" racism that Europeans were inherently superior biologically to Africans and Asians. A new global economic system based on labor exploitation was constructed based along racial lines. The industrialized world, which included parts of western Europe, the USA, and Japan, required substantial amounts primary products or agricultural goods and minerals. It was primarily non-whites who produced these products mostly as slaves, plantation debt-peons, or low-paid laborers. Africa, Latin America and most of Asia had to produce products such as palm oil or peanuts which were sold at low prices in return for higher-priced manufactured goods from the industrialized world. Although the trans-Atlantic slave trade was abolished, primary products continued to be produced using African slaves in both the Americas and Africa itself. At the same time, there was fierce resistance to this new system. This resistance included litigation by the Cherokees in the USA, a Mayan rebellion in Mexico, and an anti-imperialist independence movement in India.
- 5.1: The First and Second Industrial Revolutions
- During the 1800s, the global had become transformed economically largely due to new innovations. While some areas became producers of manufactured goods, other areas produced primary products.
- 5.2: Cultural and Political Effects of the Industrial Revolution in the Industrialized World
- Economic modernization transformed social structures and generated new tensions in the industrialized world. Governments in the industrialized world came up with solutions to new problems or face unrest.
- 5.3: The Effects of the Industrial Revolution on Africa (1800-1850)
- The Industrial Revolution transformed Africa economically, politically, and culturally. Africa became a major producer of primary products that were essential to sustain economic modernization in Europe. Although the Atlantic slave trade diminished, enslavement and coerced labor increased.
- 5.4: The Industrial Revolution and Nation - Building in the Americas - The USA as an Emerging Power
- The USA in the early 1800s was both a primary product producer and an emerging industrial power. It was also a nation the provided democracy to some but excluded all non-whites.
- 5.5: The Industrial Revolution and Nation-Building in the Americas - Mexico in Crisis
- During the 1800s, Mexico faced one crisis after another due to economic and political instability. Despite a much more inclusive political system, poverty and political coups were rampant.
- 5.6: The Industrial Revolution and Nation-Building in the Americas - The South American Model Republic Falters
- At first Chile was regarded as a model Spanish American republic with a stable government and economic prosperity. By 1900, Chile had become an economically underdeveloped primary product producer.
- 5.7: Illiberal Modernization - Germany
- By 1900, Germany was one of the most economically developed countries in the world. It was also fairly stable, but its institutions were authoritarian.
- 5.8: Illiberal Modernizers - Japan
- Within a very short period Japan underwent an industrial revolution. As with Germany, Japan had the trappings of a liberal government but with authoritarian institutions.
- 5.9: Effects of the Industrial Revolution on India
- The Industrial Revolution brought greater unity to India. Increased primary product production also resulted in increased poverty and growing societal tensions.
- 5.10: Chapter Summary and Key Terms
- The industrial revolutions brought about major global economic transformations. Western Europe, the United States and Japan underwent economic modernization, while much of Asia, Africa, and Latin America were geared toward primary product production. Nation-states were formed which used new technologies to include and exclude people based on race.
Thumbnail: Two Chilean peasants during the 1800s, Inquilinos of Chile by Claudio Gay, in the Public Domain