Imperialism in Asia: British India, China's Opium Wars and Meiji Japan

Grade 10 Social Studies Worksheet

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Cards A to D. Card A, a summary in our words, written today, from the UK Parliament's Living Heritage site: A charter of 1813 asserted the Crown's sovereignty over the East India Company's territories in India. Card B, a summary in our words, written today, from the same site: In 1857 Indians rose in revolt against what the site calls high-handed and oppressive Company rule, especially its insensitivity toward their religions. Hindu and Muslim soldiers objected to cartridges rumored to be greased with fat from animals that were forbidden or sacred in their religions. Card C, a summary in our words, written today, from the same site: The Company's army regained control with what the site calls excessively brutal action. Card D, a summary in our words, written today, from the same site: The Government of India Act of 1858 ended Company rule. The Crown took over the Company's possessions and armed forces under a Secretary of State for India and a viceroy.

2. 1.

   Card B names the cartridge rumor and insensitivity toward religion. Ari calls the rumor the cause of the revolt. What do the cards support?

   • The rumor was unimportant, since a rumor is a belief and not an event with real effects
   • Religion was a pretext, since the revolt was really about the cartridges and a rumor of grease
   • The rumor was a spark within a wider oppressive rule that card B names as the grievance
   • The rumor was the sole cause, since card B names it as the reason Hindu and Muslim soldiers objected
3. 2.

   Card B says the cartridges were "rumored" to be greased with fat. Bo asks whether it matters that this was a rumor.

   • No, since the rumor was true, because card B names the animals whose fat was involved
   • No, since a false rumor cannot cause an event and a cause has to be an established fact
   • Yes, since a rumor shows the soldiers were lying about their grievance to justify a revolt
   • Yes: soldiers acted on the belief, so it can matter whether or not the greasing is proved
4. 3.

   Esme asks which statement about the causes of 1857 fits card B best.

   • The cartridges were the sole cause, since the soldiers' objection is the revolt's first stated event
   • The cartridges outweighed the rule, since the soldiers rose when the cartridges appeared in 1857
   • The cartridges can be set aside, since a rumor is not an event and Company rule explains the revolt
   • Card B gives lasting conditions and a trigger, the cartridges, and does not rank their weight
5. 4.

   Card C reports that the Company's army regained control with "excessively brutal action," on Parliament's own site. Jun asks what the wording shows.

   • A British government source now says the response went too far; it gives no detail or numbers
   • Nothing, since a word chosen today is an opinion and cannot report what happened in 1857
   • The scale of the losses, since the word excessive means that very large numbers were affected
   • That Parliament approved the action, since the site is Parliament's own and speaks for it
6. 5.

   Card B calls Company rule "high-handed and oppressive." Kira says a British site must be biased toward Indians. What is the sound reply?

   • The site criticizes Company rule, so it is not simply pro-British; fairness needs other sources
   • The claim is wrong, since a Parliament site is neutral about the empire's history and its wars
   • The claim is right, since a source that criticizes Britain's own rule has to be taking a side
   • The claim cannot be tested, since a modern site is shaped by the present and cannot be compared
7. 6.

   Luz wants Indian voices on the revolt of 1857. Which source would add them?

   • A modern textbook summary of the revolt, since it collects what many Indians said at the time
   • The Government of India Act of 1858, since it responded directly to the revolt by Indian soldiers
   • Letters or proclamations written by Indian soldiers or leaders in 1857, since they speak for themselves
   • Reports written by Company army officers in 1857, since officers saw the revolt up close
8. 7.

   Card D: the Crown took over under a Secretary of State and a viceroy. Milo says India was now ruled by Indians. What does the card show?

   • The Company ruled beside the Crown, since the Company's army was kept under its old officers
   • Indians ruled, since the Crown replaced the company against which Indians had risen in revolt
   • Rule passed from a company to the Crown under British officials; the card names no Indian share
   • Nothing changed, since the Company's possessions and army were simply renamed Crown property
9. 8.

   Card B dates the revolt to 1857 and card D the Act to 1858. Pia says the revolt caused the Act. What do the dates allow?

   • They show the cause, since the Act followed the revolt within a year and addressed Company rule
   • The Act came a year after the revolt, which fits a link, but the cards do not state a cause
   • They rule out a link, since a year is too long for a law to follow an event in India and Britain
   • The Act was passed first, since the Crown's sovereignty dated from 1813 and the Act confirmed it
10. 9.

    Ren says the revolt of 1857 was mainly a religious conflict between Hindus and Muslims. What does card B suggest?

    • The claim is wrong, since the revolt had no connection to religion and was about pay and rank
    • Hindu and Muslim soldiers both objected to the cartridges, which points away from that claim
    • The claim is right, since religion is named in card B as the center of the grievance and the revolt
    • The claim cannot be tested, since card B does not count the soldiers of each religion who rose
11. 10.

    Tala says Company rule ended because it was brutal. What do cards C and D support?

    • Brutality ended the Company's army, since card D says the Crown took over its armed forces in 1858
    • Brutal action regained control in 1857 and the Act ended Company rule in 1858, unlinked in the cards
    • The claim is wrong, since the Company's army won the revolt and winning rules out later blame
    • The claim is right, since card C reports brutality and card D reports the end of the Company