imperialism timeline

  • East India company

    The East India Company was an English and later British joint-stock company founded in 1600. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies, and later with Qing China.
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    Matthew C. Perry in Japan

    On July 8, 1853, American Commodore Matthew Perry led his four ships into the harbor at Tokyo Bay, seeking to re-establish for the first time in over 200 years regular trade and discourse between Japan and the western world.
  • Monroe Doctrine

    The Monroe Doctrine is the best known U.S. policy toward the Western Hemisphere. Buried in a routine annual message delivered to Congress by President James Monroe in December 1823, the doctrine warns European nations that the United States would not tolerate further colonization or puppet monarchs.
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    Great Trek

    The Great Trek was a movement of Dutch-speaking colonists up into the interior of southern Africa in search of land where they could establish their own homeland, independent of British rule.
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    Opium Wars

    The Opium Wars were two wars waged between the Qing dynasty and Western powers in the mid-19th century. The First Opium War, fought in 1839–1842 between the Qing and Great Britain, was triggered by the dynasty's campaign against the British merchants who sold opium to Chinese merchants.
  • Treaty of Nanjing

    The Treaty of Nanking was a peace treaty which ended the First Opium War between the United Kingdom and China on 29 August 1842. It was the first of what the Chinese later called the unequal treaties.
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    • David Livingstone missionary work

    Livingstone became convinced of his mission to reach new peoples in the interior of Africa and introduce them to Christianity, as well as freeing them from slavery. It was this which inspired his explorations. In 1849 and 1851, he travelled across the Kalahari, on the second trip sighting the upper Zambezi River.
  • Treaty of Kanagawa

    Convention of Kanagawa or Kanagawa Treaty, Japan–US Treaty of Peace and Amity was a treaty signed between the United States and the Tokugawa shogunate on March 31, 1854.
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    Sepoy rebellion

    Indian Mutiny, also called Sepoy Mutiny or First War of Independence, widespread but unsuccessful rebellion against British rule in India in 1857–59. Begun in Meerut by Indian troops (sepoys) in the service of the British East India Company, it spread to Delhi, Agra, Kanpur, and Lucknow.
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    Queen Victoria crowned Empress of India

    About: In 1877, Benjamin Disraeli, Conservative Prime Minister, had Queen Victoria proclaimed as Empress of India. India was already under crown control after 1858, but this title was a gesture to link the monarchy with the empire further and bind India more closely to Britain.
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    British Raj founded

    The British Raj was the rule by the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent from 1858 to 1947. The rule is also called Crown rule in India, or direct rule in India.
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    Suez Canal built

    The Suez Canal is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez. It is often considered to define the border between Africa and Asia. Constructed by the Suez Canal Company between 1859 and 1869, it officially opened on 17 November 1869.
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    Boer War

    The First Boer War (Afrikaans: Eerste Vryheidsoorlog, literally "First Freedom War"), 1880-1881, also known as the First Anglo-Boer War, the Transvaal War or the Transvaal Rebellion, was a war fought from 16 December 1880 until 23 March 1881 between the United Kingdom and Boers of the Transvaal (as the South African
  • Panama Canal built

    The Panama Canal is an artificial 82 km waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit for maritime trade.
  • Indian National Congress formed

    The Indian National Congress is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Empire in Asia and Africa.
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    open door policy

    What was the Open Door policy? The Open Door policy was a statement of principles initiated by the United States in 1899 and 1900. It called for protection of equal privileges for all countries trading with China and for the support of Chinese territorial and administrative integrity
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    Boxer Rebellion

    The Boxer Rebellion was an uprising against foreigners that occurred in China about 1900, begun by peasants but eventually supported by the government. A Chinese secret society known as the Boxers embarked on a violent campaign to drive all foreigners from China.
  • Roosevelt Corollary

    The Roosevelt Corollary of December 1904 stated that the United States would intervene as a last resort to ensure that other nations in the Western Hemisphere fulfilled their obligations to international creditors, and did not violate the rights of the United States or invite “foreign aggression to the detriment of the
  • Revolution of 1911

    The 1911 Revolution, also known as the Chinese Revolution or the Xinhai Revolution, was a revolution that overthrew China's last imperial dynasty and established the Republic of China.