The Boxer Rebellion: A Document-Based Question Exercise
Image Source
Keppler, U. J. (1900). The real trouble will come with the "Wake" [Lithograph]. In Puck. Retrieved from
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2006681445/
Keppler, U. J. (1900). The real trouble will come with the "Wake" [Lithograph]. In Puck. Retrieved from
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2006681445/
What motivations led the foreign powers to become involved in the boxer Rebellion in China ?
The purpose of this website is to provide all the necessary tools and resources to answer the above question regarding the Boxer Rebellion. Justification for the document choices has also been provided. This DBQ project is recommended for an AP World or US History class. Some of the readings are a tad lengthy and some are more complex, otherwise I would also recommend the exercise for a 11/12 grade Social Studies course.
Using the 14 included documents, students should be able to identify and critique the reasons/motivating factors that led France, Great Britain, Germany, and the United States to involve themselves in an internal rebellion movement that originally began as a protest against Manchu Qing rule in China. The Boxer Rebellion can be labeled a cornerstone event in the age of Imperialism for it represents both the growth of Nationalism as well as the scramble for power by the industrialized West and Japan. Understanding the viewpoints and motivations of the parties involved can aid in understanding both some of the eventual causes of World War I and the later struggles for independence that dominated the first half of the twentieth century.
As an extra exercise, students may be able to begin to complicate US involvement as a result of some citizen opposition as well as views towards immigrant Chinese.
If being used as part of the overall module students are advised to also incorporate references to each of the following in their answer: Unequal Treaties, Most-Favored Nation Status, Opium, Taiping Rebellion.