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To get a better understanding of some of the "tools of empire" that emerged from European industrialization, read the chapter on Steamboat Imperialism from Daniel Headrick's Power over Peoples. You will find this in the "Course Reserves" on the course ELMS page.
Another useful treatment of this topic is a brief introductory essay on Industrialization and Western Global Hegemony by Yale University historian, Stuart B. Swartz. Read this and think about how this treatment differs from that of Headrick, at least in emphasis.
Come to your discussion section prepared to discuss the examination. For your portfolio, submit a paragraph examining Headrick's claims for the significance of steam technology for the European conquests of the nineteenth century. Submit another paragraph or two contrasting Headrick's and Schwartz's treatment of the topic of technology and imperialism.