In this video Heimler walks through Unit 4 Topic 6 in the AP World History curriculum. This topic is all about how growing empires (land-based and sea-based) experienced resistance to their rule from within and from without.
The Portuguese were made to contend with Queen Ana Nzinga of Ndonga. The Russians dealt with uprisings of serfs (Cossack Rebellion). The Mughal empire was brought to an end by the Maratha rebellion. The Spanish contended with the Pueblo Revolt. And the British had to come to terms with the misty of their enslaved workers in the Stono Rebellion.
If you have any questions, leave them below and Heimler will answer forthwithly.
Content
0.089 -> Hi and welcome back to Heimler’s History.
1.34 -> We’re still in Unit 4 of our AP World History
curriculum, and if you need to catch up, you
4.401 -> can check out the playlist linked in the description
below.
7.34 -> In this video we’re going to talk about
how as empires grew during this time period,
11.47 -> which is to say 1450-1750, they experienced
resistance to their influence.
16.39 -> Some resistance came from the empire’s own
people, some resistance came from the colonies
21.28 -> established by these empires.
22.28 -> Basically it boils down to this: mo’ territory,
mo’ problems.
25.65 -> Let’s get to it.
26.65 -> So we’re going to talk about two flavors
of resistance to imperial expansion.
29.949 -> The first is the general resistance that any
empire would face when it conquers people.
33.5 -> The second is a specific kind of resistance
that came from the enslaved communities of
37.579 -> the empire.
38.579 -> So let’s start with the general resistance
we can observe during this period.
40.76 -> As Portugal expanded its empire into Africa,
they experienced resistance from some of their
44.899 -> allies.
45.899 -> One of their allies was the ruler of Ndongo,
Queen Ana Nzinga.
48.77 -> Her kingdom was plagued by slave raids from
Portugal and attacks from neighboring tribes.
52.469 -> So she entered an agreement with Portugal
in which the Portuguese agreed to cease the
56.77 -> slave raids and offer protection against her
neighboring tribes.
59.92 -> And this isn’t something you’ll be tested
on, but I can’t help myself but mention
63.329 -> it.
64.329 -> During her talks with the Portuguese, Queen
Nzinga proved herself to be a pretty powerful
67.159 -> woman.
68.159 -> The Portuguese brought in chairs for themselves
and a mat for her to sit on.
71.749 -> This, of course, was the way they communicated
social dominance.
75.74 -> Seeing the arrangement, Queen Nzinga ordered
one of her servants to get down on all fours
79.649 -> and act as a makeshift chair for her.
81.319 -> And from that makeshift chair, she talked
diplomacy with the Portuguese representatives.
86.06 -> Mmmm.
87.06 -> That’s some tasty sauce right there.
88.371 -> But even after their agreement was made, the
Portuguese couldn’t help themselves from
91.859 -> continuing to take land from her kingdom.
93.659 -> So she allied with the Dutch and incited a
rebellion against the Portuguese and continued
97.319 -> to resist their influence for decades.
98.869 -> Okay, let’s look at some Russian resistance.
101.159 -> You may recall that Russian peasants who worked
the land were known as serfs.
104.469 -> They were tied to land owned by the nobles
and provided labor without pay or with next
108.899 -> to no pay.
109.899 -> The serfs were practically slaves because
whenever the land was sold, the serfs were
112.579 -> sold along with it.
113.579 -> And as you can imagine, a system like this
could only go on so long.
116.679 -> And in 1774 there was a fierce show of resistance
to it.
120.169 -> Southwest of Moscow near the Black Sea there
was a haven for runaway serfs.
123.759 -> These folks were called Cossacks and they
happened to be skilled fighters.
127.469 -> Well, in 1774, they rose up in rebellion against
the system of serfdom perpetuated by Catherine
132.94 -> the Great.
133.94 -> And this became known as the Pugachev Rebellion.
135.84 -> This group of serfs managed to gain some ground,
but eventually they were crushed by the superior
140.379 -> power of the Russian state.
141.959 -> As a consequence, Catherine clamped down even
harder on serfs in order to prevent another
146.81 -> uprising.
147.81 -> Something similar happened in the Mughal Empire,
except it was fueled by religion.
150.819 -> Recall that the Mughal emperors were Muslim
but the majority of the Indian people were
155.53 -> Hindu.
156.53 -> Eventually there was group of Hindu warriors
called Maratha who rose up to resist what
159.719 -> they felt was an invasion of their beliefs.
161.89 -> In this case, the uprising was successful.
164.54 -> They brought the Mughal Empire to an end and
established the Maratha Empire in its place.
169.16 -> Over in the Americas there were similar uprisings
against empires.
171.769 -> You know I’m starting to think that as a
general rule, people don’t like being conquered.
176.84 -> In the Spanish colonies of North America,
the Pueblo and Apache Indians fought against
182.359 -> the Spanish in what became known as the Pueblo
Revolt.
185.209 -> The Indians had grown tired of the Spanish
trying to force conversions to Christianity
188.74 -> and so they killed hundreds of Spanish colonizers
and burned their churches to boot.
193.01 -> However, about ten years later, the Spanish
came right back and reconquered the territory.
197.49 -> In the British colonies, we have what’s
called Metacom’s War.
200.29 -> This was the final large-scale attempt of
the natives of North America to rid their
204.5 -> land of the British.
205.569 -> The British, however, won a decisive victory
and subjugated many of the remaining natives.
209.97 -> And since we’re here in North America, let’s
talk about the more specific flavor of resistance
213.92 -> to imperial expansion, namely, the rebellion
of enslaved people.
217.079 -> African slaves had been growing in number
in the British colonies for years.
220.65 -> And the general attitude of their enslavers
was this: enslaved people, because they are
224.921 -> a lower order of human being, are content
with their servitude.
228.049 -> But the Stono Rebellion of 1739 kind of put
the kibosh on all that kind of thinking.
233.17 -> Twenty enslaved people gathered at the Stono
River in South Carolina.
236.959 -> Fed up with the conditions of their servitude,
they raided a warehouse where they killed
240.43 -> the white workers and put their heads on the
steps outside.
243.989 -> They moved through towns killing white people
as they went.
246.499 -> And all the while they were chanting, “liberty.”
250.389 -> Eventually this little gather grew to about
100 and they fought with the British for a
254.079 -> week.
255.079 -> Ultimately the British won, and as a result
they made life much harder for their enslaved
258.65 -> workforce.
259.65 -> So that’s the differents kind of resistance
to imperial expansion that you need to know.
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