Modern Empires

A Reader

Edited by Bonnie G. Smith

Based on the central role that the study of documents plays in the history classroom, Modern Empires: A Reader presents the history of modern empires across the globe from the late fifteenth century to the present. The anthology's chronological, geographical, and thematic range offers special pedagogical benefits in light of the growing attention to the history of empire. Featuring voices from all levels of society and all parts of the world, this book stresses the complexity of empires when seen from multiple points of view. The introduction provides a thorough synopsis of the rise and fall of empires and also presents themes on which to base class discussions: Are empires chaotic systems or do they lead to systems of world governance? Are empires agents of integration and civilization or agents of violence and destruction? What is the nature of individual participation in empire? What is the role of resistance in the evolution of empire?

The selection of sources in Modern Empires portrays an imperial panorama and charts its wide-ranging effects on individual nations and the unfolding history of the world. Providing the most comprehensive and up-to-date collection of documents from modern empires around the world, Modern Empires: A Reader makes explicit the connections between imperialism and modern globalization.

Modern Empires

A Reader

Edited by Bonnie G. Smith

Description

Based on the central role that the study of documents plays in the history classroom, Modern Empires: A Reader presents the history of modern empires across the globe from the late fifteenth century to the present. The anthology's chronological, geographical, and thematic range offers special pedagogical benefits in light of the growing attention to the history of empire. Featuring voices from all levels of society and all parts of the world, this book stresses the complexity of empires when seen from multiple points of view. The introduction provides a thorough synopsis of the rise and fall of empires and also presents themes on which to base class discussions: Are empires chaotic systems or do they lead to systems of world governance? Are empires agents of integration and civilization or agents of violence and destruction? What is the nature of individual participation in empire? What is the role of resistance in the evolution of empire?

The selection of sources in Modern Empires portrays an imperial panorama and charts its wide-ranging effects on individual nations and the unfolding history of the world. Providing the most comprehensive and up-to-date collection of documents from modern empires around the world, Modern Empires: A Reader makes explicit the connections between imperialism and modern globalization.

Modern Empires

A Reader

Edited by Bonnie G. Smith

Acknowledgments
About the Author
List of Maps

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER ONE: THE FERMENT OF EMPIRES, c. 1400-1550
'Aka-ad-Din 'Ata-Malik Juyiani, History of the World Conqueror (1200s)
Shihab al-'Umari, Account of Mansa Musa's Pilgrimage (1330)
Ma Huan, Overall Survey of the Ocean's Shores (1433)
Nestor-Iskander, "Nicolo Barbaro surgeon, Diary" (1500)
Sultan Selim of Ottoman Empire, Letter to Shah Ismail (1514)
Muhammed ibn Ahmed ibn Iyas, An Account of the Ottoman Conquest of Egypt in the year A.H. 922 (A.D. 1514) (1520)
Konstantin Mihailovic, Memoirs of a Janissary (1462)
Zahir al-Din Babur, Memoirs of Babur or The Baburnama (1530)
Gomes Eanes de Zurara, The Chronicle of the Discovery and Conquest of Guinea (1450)
Duarte Pacheco Pereira, Esmeraldo de situ orbis (Guide to Global Navigation (1505)
Bernardino de Sahagun, Florentine Codex: General History of the Things in Spain (1545)

CHAPTER TWO: IBERIANS AND OTHERS TAKE TO THE SEAS
Christopher Columbus, Letter to the King and Queen of Spain (1494)
Pope Alexander VI, Treaty of Tordesillas (1494)
Albrecht Dürer, Journal of a Voyage to Venice and the Low Countries (1520)
Bartolomé de Las Casas, "Thirty Very Juridicial Propositions" (1522)
Bernal Díaz del Castillo, The True History of the Conquest of New Spain (1568)
Antonio Pigafetta, The First Voyage around the World by Magellan (1534)
Garcilaso de la Vega (El Inca), "The Origins of the Incas," from Royal Commentaries of the Incas (1609)
José de Acosta, Natural and Moral History of the Indies (1590)
Seyyidi 'Ali Re'is, The Mirror of Kingdoms (1550)
Aurelio Scetti, Journal of Aurelio Scetti: A Florentine Galley Slave at Lepanto (1565)
Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Memorandum on the Korean Expedition (1582)
Manoel Severim de Faria, "Suggestion for Handling Orphans" (1655)

CHAPTER THREE: COMPETITION FOR EMPIRE EXPANDS
Cornelis Matelieff de Jonge, Discourse on the State and Trade of the Indies (1607)
Instructions for the Virginia Colony (1606)
Fernandes Vieira, Instructions on How to Manage a Sugar Mill and Estate (1663)
Richard Ligon, A True and Exact History of the Island of Barbados (1657)
"Oath of Allegiance Russians Administered to Bratsk Native Leaders" (1642)
Manchu Head-Shaving Decree (1644)
Dzengseo, "My Service in the Army" (1680)
Mi'kmaq Observations on the French (1677)
"Declaration of the Indian Juan" (1681)
Chiefs of the Six Nations, The Laws of the Confederacy (1900)
Eyliya Çelebi, Narrative of Travels (1850)
Antera Duke, Diary (1788)

CHAPTER FOUR: EVERYDAY LIFE AMID IMPERIAL GROWTH
Tasting the New Food
Pedro de Cieza de León, "Taxation and the Incas" from Chronicles of the Incas (1540)
Alonzo Ortiz, Letter to his wife (1571)
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, "The Reply to Sor Philothea" (1691)
Sheikh Mahmud Hosson, Mulla Abdul Ghafur, and others, Petition against the East India Company (1700)
Lady Mary WortleyMontagu, Letter (1717)
Thomas Bluett, Some Memoirs of the Life of Job, the Son of Solomon, the High Priest of Boonda in Africa; Who was a Slave About Two Years in Maryland; and Afterwards Being Brought to England, was Set Free, and Sent to His Native Land in the Year 1734 (1734)
Jorge Juan and Antonio de Ulloa, Voyage to South America (1748)
Mary Jemison, Autobiography (1825)
Robert Clive, Letter on the Battle of Plassey (1757), and Parliamentary Testimony on Customs in India (1772)
James Cook, Journal (1779)
Potemkin, Memorandum on the Annexation of the Crimea (1783)

CHAPTER FIVE: REVOLT AGAINST EMPIRE
Voltaire, Essai sur les moeurs et l'esprit des nation (1756)
John Adams, "Instructions of the Town of Braintree, Massachusetts on the Stamp Act" (1765)
Adam Smith, "The Cost of Empire" from The Wealth of Nations (1776)
Fukang'an, Lama Kyiron Hutuktu, and Panchen Lama representative, "29 Regulations for Reorganizing Tibet" (1792)
José Antonio de Areche, "All Must Die" (1781)
'Abd-al-Rahman 'al-Jabarti, Diary (1798)
Mirza Abu Talib Khan, "Vindication of the Liberties of the Asiatic Women" (1801)
Haitian Constitution of 1801 (1801)
Drummer Vargas, Diary (1817)
Augustin de Iturbide, Plan of Iguala (1821)
Governor Arthur Philip of Australia, Letter to Under-Secretary Nepean (1788)
James Monroe, Seventh Annual Address to Congress (The Monroe Doctrine) (1823)

CHAPTER SIX: CONFRONTATION, INDUSTRIALIZATION, AND IMPERIAL KNOWLEDGE c. 1815-1870
Sir Robert Wilson, A Sketch of the Military and Political Power of Russia (1817)
Cherokee Women, "Petition" (1818)
Address of the Honorable S. F. Austin, Delivered at Louisville, Kentucky (1836)
Commissioner Lin, Letter to Queen Victoria (1839)
Mohan Lal, The Life of Dost Mohammed Khan, with his Political Proceedings Towards the English, Russian and Persian Governments (1846)
Decrees from the Ottoman Tanzimat (1856)
Prince Aleksandr Bariatinskii, Letter to Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolaevich Viceregent of the Caucasus (1862)
U.S. Commodore Matthew Perry, Diary Accounts (1854)
French Committee Report on Senegal (1857)
Petitions to Governor of Jaimaica and colonial missionary society (1849)
Anonymous, Circular letter (1857)
Victor Hugo, Letter on the Sacking of the Summer Palace (1861)

CHAPTER SEVEN: THE BIG PUSH: IMPERIALISM AT THE END OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
Anthony Trollope, "The Diamond Fields of South Africa" (1877)
General Act of the Berlin West Africa Congress (1885)
Hamad bin Muhammad bin Jumah bin Rajab bin Muhammad bin Sa'id al-Murghabi (Tippu Tip), Autobiography (1907)
Mokshodayani Mukhopadhyay, "The Bengali Babu" (1882)
Jules Ferry, Debate in the Chamber of Deputies (1884)
Liliuokalani, Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen (1896)
Fadhma Amrouche, My Life Story (1890)
Christian Lautherborn, Letter to his sister and brother-in-law (1889)
William II, Kaiser of Germany, Speech to the North German Regatta Association (1901)
Jan Smuts, Letter to W. T. Stead (1902)
Stories of Japanese Heroes of Empire: Nogi Maresuke
Sergei Witte, Memoirs (1915)

CHAPTER EIGHT: INCREASED EXPANSION, INCREASED RESISTANCE
Jamal al-Din al-Afghani, "Plan for Islamic Unity" (1884)
David Starr Jordan, "Imperial Democracy" (1898)
Malan Boxer Proclamation (1900)
Zitkala-Sa, Essay (1900)
Roger Casement, Correspondence and Report from His Majesty's Counsel at Boma Respecting the Administration of the Independent State of the Congo (1903)
Count Shigenobu Okuma, "The Rise of Japan Was Not Unexpected" (1904)
Margarethe von Eckenbrecher, "Stormy Weather" (1908)
Petition of the Native and Coloured Women of the Province of the Orange Free State, "Petition" (1912)
Qui Jin, An Address to Two Hundred Million Countrywomen
Rudyard Kipling, "The Widow at Winsor" (1892)
Sun Yat-sen, The Purpose of our Revolution (1905)
Wassily Kandinsky, Concerning the Spiritual in Art (1911)

CHAPTER NINE: WORLD WAR I AND ITS AFTERMATH
Zachary Stoyanoff, Autobiography (1913)
Proclamation of the Young Turks (1908)
W. E. B. Dubois, The Negro (1915)
Two Letters from Indian Soldiers on the Western Front (1915)
Nar Diouf and Ibrahima Thiam, Oral Testimony (1982)
Buchi Emecheta, The Little Slave Girl (1980)
The Wartime Division of the Middle East Map
The Syrian Congress, "Resolution of the General Syrian Congress at Damascus" (1919)
Covenant of the League of Nations, Article 22 (1919)
John and Alice Dewey, Letters from China and Japan (1920)
Sarojini Naidu, "The Agony and Shame of the Punjab" (1920)
Mustafa Kemal, Speech to the Assembly (1925)

CHAPTER TEN: IMPERIAL EXPANSION AND ECONOMIC DOWNTURN IN THE INTERWAR YEARS
Khwaja Hasan Nizami, "Creating the Modern Muslim Woman" (1922)
Mohandas Gandhi, Answers to Interview Questions from Drew Pearson (1924)
Calvin Coolidge, Intervention in Nicaragua (1926)
Golda Meir, My Life (1977)
Tu Bin Tran, Memoir (1920)
A. Nicoué, Le Phare du Dahomey (1933)
Adolf Hitler, Speech (1937)
Jomo Kenyatta, Facing Mount Kenya (1937)
Japanese Statement to the League of Nations (1932)
Haile Selassie, Appeal to the League of Nations (1936)
Imperial Army Draft, "The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere" (1942)

CHAPTER ELEVEN: WORLD WAR II AND THE GROWING CALL FOR INDEPENDENCE
Muhammad Ali Jinnah, "Divide India; Create Pakistan" (1940)
Mohandas Gandhi, Quit India Declaration (1942)
Testimony of a Comfort Woman on Sex Slavery during the War
Ho Chi Minh, Declaration of Vietnamese Independence (1945)
United Nations, Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)
Experience of Communal Violence at the Partition of India (1947)
Mao Zedong, Address to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (1949)
People's Court in Prague, Indictment of Milada Horáková (1950)
Frantz Fanon, Black Skin, White Masks (1952)
Ngugi wa Thiong', In the House of the Interpreter: A Memoir (2012)
General Fernand Gambiez, Testimony in the military trial of General Challe and Zeller (1961)
Emma Mashinini, Strikes Have Followed Me All My Life (1989)

CHAPTER TWELVE: THE RISE OF FREE NATIONS AND THE AFTERLIFE OF EMPIRE
President Sukharno of Indonesia, Speech at the Opening of the Bandung Conference (1955)
Gamal Abdel Nasser, Speech on the Nationalization of the Suez Canal (1956)
Statue of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (1961)
Fidel Castro, "Second Declaration of Havana" (1962)
Enoch Powell, "Rivers of Blood Speech" (1968)
Philip Caputo, A Rumor of War (1979)
Aytollah Ruhollah Khomeini, "The Uprising of Khurdad" (1979)
Fadwa Tuqan, Mountainous Journey (1985)
Tsitsi Dangarembga, Nervous Conditions (1988)
Nelson Mandela, "New Year message from the ANC President Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela to the people of South Africa for 1992" (1991)
Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos, "The Word and the Silence" (1995)

Bibliography

Modern Empires

A Reader

Edited by Bonnie G. Smith

Author Information

Bonnie G. Smith is Board of Governors Distinguished Professor of History Emerita at Rutgers University. She is the author of several books, including Women's Studies: The Basics (2013) and Europe in the Contemporary World: 1900 to Present: A Narrative History with Documents (2007). She is also the coauthor, along with Lynn Hunt and Thomas R. Martin, of The Making of the West: A Concise History (2013), and the general editor of the four-volume Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History (OUP, 2008), which won the American Library Association Outstanding Reference Work Award.

Modern Empires

A Reader

Edited by Bonnie G. Smith

Reviews and Awards

"Modern Empires far surpasses anything similar that I have seen before. As an annotated collection of documents on empire from the fifteenth century to the present, it is a volume that every instructor of world history should possess and that students in any class focusing on empire should be assigned to read. It includes classic sources and also obscure but very powerful stories and histories told from many angles. Because Smith reads 'empire' broadly--but not without clarity--she presents us with a plethora of perspectives."--Trevor R. Getz, San Francisco State University

"Modern Empires is a thorough and fascinating collection of primary sources, perfect for anyone interested in the connections between imperialism and modern globalization. The individual voices contained within provide windows to the past and reveal imperialism's lasting legacy in today's world."--Kris Alexanderson, University of the Pacific

"Modern Empires offers a clear, well-written synthetic analysis of current scholarship on modern imperialism in a global context from the late fifteenth century to the present. Combining narrative with primary sources, it would work well for introductory world and global history courses and also for upper-division courses with a more directed focus on imperialism. The collection of sources that Smith has put together is unrivaled, particularly for imperialism courses, while the analytical introductions alone make assigning this text worthwhile."--Darcie Fontaine, University of South Florida

"Smith provides readers with a refreshingly new and comprehensive look at the global phenomenon of empire, giving voice to western and non-western actors alike. The chapter overviews and well-chosen primary sources provide excellent opportunities for comparative analysis across a range of time periods and themes and should generate lively and fruitful classroom discussions."--Kenneth Orosz, Buffalo State College