The Key is ____?

A lot of Cooper and Burbank’s tenth chapter highlight race and the divisions that it caused in the empires of the nineteenth century.

Britain was heavily involved in the Trans-Atlantic slave trade and even had slaves within their own empire. The mention of William Wilberforce reminds me of the 2006 film Amazing Grace. Fortunately, because of abolitionists and protests of the slaves themselves, the slave trade was outlawed in 1807 and slaves within the British Empire became illegal in 1833. France’s abolishment, according to Cooper and Burbank, was not as quick. Napoleon restored slavery in 1802 and it “took a…revolutionary situation,” an antislavery movement, and a rebellion in the French Caribbean to achieve emancipation. Next, the ‘more-invested’ Spanish empire, greatly benefitted from slave labor and their colonies faced civil wars in the 1860 and 80s; abolition wasn’t accomplished fully until 1890. Certainly, the mindset of empires was changing from territorial acquisition, to aggressive exploitation of inhabitants.

Even further, Cooper and Burbank take time to talk about the ventures of up and coming Japan, the Ottomans, and British India. Most notable, Britain hugely exploited the Indians. In the nineteenth century they viewed even the Indian elites and their culture harsher than before. They pushed English language, institutions, and Protestant or Catholic missionaries.

The next area of racism seen in this century is even given a name—“The Scramble for Africa.” Within 20 years, much of Africa was colonized by Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, Spain, and Portugal. The Africans were viewed as barbaric, outposts which “provided an imperial presence and a piece of the trading action at low cost to the state” were positioned within the territory, and their chiefs could be dismissed by a white official; their land was overtaken.

Obviously, racial discrimination was prevalent in the nineteenth century. Even the United States began invading Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines, and trying to take control. Thankfully, finally, changes were made and emancipation was established in each of the areas, although the process was faster for some and slower for others.

In their conclusion, Cooper and Burbank state that “The nineteenth century is often seen as the time…when race came to be a key, if not the key, division among humankind." 

Would you say this is the case after reading their chapter? 

What are the other, if any, “key” divisions involved?