Goals and Objectives
By the end of the lesson, students will understand the reasons and methods for French intervention and colonization of Vietnam. Students will be able to assess the early influence of the Catholic church in Vietnam, discuss the ways and means of French conquest, and the reflect on the reasons and outcomes of colonization.
Content Standards
10.4 Students analyze patterns of global change in the era of New Imperialism in at least two of the following regions or countries: Africa, Southeast Asia, China, India, Latin America, and the Philippines.
- Describe the rise of industrial economies and their link to imperialism and colonial-ism (e.g., the role played by national security and strategic advantage; moral issues raised by the search for national hegemony, Social Darwinism, and the missionary impulse; material issues such as land, resources, and technology).
- Discuss the locations of the colonial rule of such nations as England, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Russia, Spain, Portugal, and the United States.
- Explain imperialism from the perspective of the colonizers and the colonized and the varied immediate and long-term responses by the people under colonial rule.
- Describe the independence struggles of the colonized regions of the world, including the roles of leaders, such as Sun Yat-sen in China, and the roles of ideology and religion.
Vocabulary
Key terms will be taught within the body of the lesson. The teacher will describe key terms within the lecture, students will define the terms in their guided notes and use them in their double-entry journal. Key terms include:
- Cochin China
- Tongking
- proselytize
- treaty
- protectorate
- markets
- quoc-ngu
Lesson Introduction
Communication Strategy (storytelling) - The teacher will read descriptions of Cochin Chino (southern Vietnam) and Tongking (northern Vietnam) from a seventeenth century priest and a seventeenth century trader (see Lesson Resources below for the book in which these descriptions are recorded). The teacher will then ask the students what characteristics of Vietnam these explorers thought were attractive and why European nations would be interested in Vietnam.
Content Delivery
Presentation Strategy (lecture) - The teacher will present a lecture on the conquest of Vietnam by the French. The lecture will cover the French conquest of Tonking (northern Vietnam) and Cochin China (southern Vietnam), and explore the reasons for French intervention. During the lecture, students will complete Guided Notes.
Student Engagement
Interaction and Communication Strategies (primary source analysis and double-entry journal) - The teacher will create centers of learning on life in Colonial Vietnam using readings from Colonialism Experienced: Vietnamese Writings on Colonialism, 1900-1931 (Truong Buu Lam). At each center, students will explore the primary source readings and complete a double entry journal for each. For the journal entries, the students will choose pertinent passages from the text and write key phrases from the text on the left-hand side of the journal. On the right-hand side, they will write down their thoughts on the passage including how it shaped Vietnamese religion, politics and culture.
Resources for Centers
Lesson Closure
Communication Strategy (thumbs-up/thumbs-down) - Ask the students a series of questions on French intervention and conquest of Vietnam and life under colonial rule. Have the students put their thumbs up if they know the answer, or thumbs down if they do not. Call on students for answers. Or, ask yes/no questions and have students put their thumbs up if their answer is "yes" and thumbs down if their answer is "no."
Assessment
Entry-Level - At the beginning of the lesson, the teacher will access prior knowledge by asking students what aspects of Vietnam, according to the written accounts, would be attractive to foreigners.
Formative - During the lesson, the teacher will glance at the information students are writing on their guided notes to assess the knowledge they are forming of French intervention in Vietnam.
Summative - At the end of the lesson, the teacher will read and grade students' double-entry journal to assess their understanding of French colonialism in Vietnam.
Formative - During the lesson, the teacher will glance at the information students are writing on their guided notes to assess the knowledge they are forming of French intervention in Vietnam.
Summative - At the end of the lesson, the teacher will read and grade students' double-entry journal to assess their understanding of French colonialism in Vietnam.
Lesson Resources
Books
Dommen, A.J. (2001). The Indochinese Experience of the French and the Americans: Nationalism and Communism in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. Bloomington, IN; Indiana University Press
Dror, O. & Taylor, K.W. (2006). Views of Seventeenth-Century Vietnam: Christoforo Borri on Cochinchina & Samuel Baron on Tonkin. Ithaca, NY; Cornell Southeast Asia Program Publications.
SarDesai, D.R. (2005). Vietnam: Past and Present, 4th edition. Cambridge, MA; Westview Press.
Tana, L. (1998). Nguyen Cochinchina: Southern Vietnam in the Seventeenth and Eightennth Centuries. Ithaca, NY; Cornell Southeast Program Publications
Websites
GlobalEdge: Vietnam History
Alpha History: The Conquest and Colonization in Vietnam
Country Studies: Vietnam Under French Rule
1861 French Conquest of Saigon
The Lessons of Colonialism
French Defeat
The French in Indochina
Videos
Vietnam Before 1954
Timelines
French Colonization TimeToast
Dommen, A.J. (2001). The Indochinese Experience of the French and the Americans: Nationalism and Communism in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. Bloomington, IN; Indiana University Press
Dror, O. & Taylor, K.W. (2006). Views of Seventeenth-Century Vietnam: Christoforo Borri on Cochinchina & Samuel Baron on Tonkin. Ithaca, NY; Cornell Southeast Asia Program Publications.
SarDesai, D.R. (2005). Vietnam: Past and Present, 4th edition. Cambridge, MA; Westview Press.
Tana, L. (1998). Nguyen Cochinchina: Southern Vietnam in the Seventeenth and Eightennth Centuries. Ithaca, NY; Cornell Southeast Program Publications
Websites
GlobalEdge: Vietnam History
Alpha History: The Conquest and Colonization in Vietnam
Country Studies: Vietnam Under French Rule
1861 French Conquest of Saigon
The Lessons of Colonialism
French Defeat
The French in Indochina
Videos
Vietnam Before 1954
Timelines
French Colonization TimeToast