Movie Night Extra Credit

QUOTE 1: British General - “God has endowed the British race with a worldwide empire that they may execute His sovereign purpose in the world. The victories you will have over the heathens are the victories of the nobler soul in man.”
Question #1: What does this quote say about how British viewed their role as colonizers? Was this perception valid? Explain.
- This quote explains how the British thought that they were colonizing Africa for their religion. They believed that their Lord wanted the British to colonize Africa in order to expand their massive empire. I don't think that this perception was valid, because I don't think God really wanted them to do this. I think He wanted the British to keep peace with all the territories around them, and let the other countries have their freedom.

QUOTE 2: Harry - “I sometimes wonder what a godforsaken desert in the middle of nowhere has to do with Her Majesty the queen.” Question #2: Why is Harry questioning the idea of colonization? Why is he looking at it differently than everyone else? What does this belief force Harry into doing?
- Harry is questioning the idea of colonization, because he is starting to wonder if this is what God really wants them to do. I also think he is trying to figure out why the Queen would want to take over small desert areas that would be of no help to the colonization and flourishing of the British empire. He thinks that Britain should let countries have their freedom, rather than suffering in every-day life under British rule. This belief leads Harry to not shoot incoming natives when they are being attacked in the desert because he believes not every one should be brutilized due to the British Empire's greed.

QUOTE 3: British Soldier - "Avoid drinking local water and spirits "avoid local barrooms and brothels and, above all, remember, you're a Christian soldier." Question #3: What does this say about the lands that the British were colonizing? What did the soldiers have to look forward to? Why are their religious beliefs brought into question?
-This says that the lands the British were colonizing were very poor. They didn't have clean drinking water, good sanitation, laws governing the actions of the natives in these areas, and no religious foundations or beliefs. The soldiers didn't have anything to look forward to. All they did was eat, sleep and wage war against other regions they were trying to take over and colonize. Their religious beliefs are brought into question, because the Queen knew of the mockeries that are inside some of the regions and the brothels and barrooms may shift the soldiers' mind. If the soldiers started to visit the filthy areas of the region, they would be thinking about sex and alcohol before taking action for God and the Queen, so she wanted them to stay focused on the mission.

QUOTE 4: Desert Trader - “They're like children. They have no concept of gratitude or loyalty. That's something you British don't understand. You come here, trying to civilize them with your Christian values.” Question #4: What does this quote say about the people in the colonized areas? What were some drawbacks dealing with these people? Why did the British feel they could (and had the right to)change people who were already set in their ways?
-This quote says that people in colonized areas don't believe in Christianity or have loyalty to anyone but themselves! The British are trying to be courteous to them and teach them to be civilized, but they don't want to learn to be civilized! They are only doing the work for British in order to not get beaten or punished. The African people still believe in their own religion and don't care about Christianity. Some drawbacks were that the African people didn't understand the British language, the British work ethic and the British day to day activities in regards to work. They also purposely disobeyed the British foreman and tried to overthrow the British work force by being defiant and belligerent. British rulers believed they had the right to change people because they had overthrown their region/country. Now that Britain was the ruler, the people in that area are forced to follow their rules and religious beliefs.

QUOTE 5: Abu Fatma - “You English walk too proudly on the earth.” What does Abu mean by this statement? Do you think he looks at Harry as a typical Englishman? Do you feel Abu agrees with what the British were doing in Africa?
- Abu is saying in this statement, that England walks too proud on the Earth and doesn't recognize or respect the freedom and religion of other nations. I think he looks at Harry differently than other English men and women. Abu believes Harry thinks as he does! Harry and Abu believe people in Africa shouldn't have to obey the British rules and laws and change what they have been doing for hundreds of years. He looks at Harry as if he was one of African descent. I feel that Abu hates what the British are doing in Africa, and wants to punish them all for their horrible deeds.

Critical Thinking: Think back to the scene where Jack shoots the young boy during their first encounter in Africa. Why did the boy not follow Jack’s orders? Do you think the boy knew he would die if he continued to load his gun? Was Jack justified in shooting the boy? Would you have done the same thing? Jack felt remorse after shooting him, why? Would you have? When the people started throwing stones at the soldiers, do you think it was because Jack shot the boy or some larger reason? Explain.
-I think that the boy didn't follow Jack's orders, because he knew that he had the support of his own people right behind him. The boy didn't think that Jack would shoot his gun at him, because he though Jack was a coward and wouldn't shoot anyone. Jack was justified in shooting the boy, because Jack would have died if he hadn't shot the boy. If I was in Jack's position I would've done the exact same thing, in order to save myself from death. I believe Jack felt remorse after shooting him, because he knew that he didn't deserve to die at such a young age. If I was in that position, I would feel total remorse and guilt for my actions too. I believe that the people started throwing rocks at the soldiers, not solely because of Jack's shooting of the boy, but Britain's actions as a whole. Throwing stones at the British was a small punishment from the African people, and a communication tool to tell the British they were hated! The Africans were trying to tell the British that they should stop all of their violent actions immediately.

Simulation Questions

1. Two historical accuracies of the stimualtion were that the "Europeans" had to increase the amout of people and time to colonize depending on the size and importance of the colony. India, America, and Canada were the most successful colonies.
2. The advantages for our group were that we were small and basically knew where everyone was the entire time, but the drawback was that we couldn't colonize as much territory due to the fact that we only had 7 people.
3. We didn't really need to communicate via cell phones because we didn't split up, we couldn't because we wouldn't have had enough people to colonize a territory.
4. We didn't have any conflicts with the other countries because they obviously had WAY more people so we kind of gave up quickly. In other words, we didn't communicate at all with our competition really at all.