Transcript British Imperialism

POLITICAL MOTIVES

Indust. Rev. was a major factor
 Cotton
factories needed improved raw materials
and India had those resources, in cheap supply
 This led to expansion into India

Opp. To increase trading opportunities
 Sought
to open up new trade routes
 Hunt for new markets increased as the massmanufac. Of new goods in the indust. Rev.
increased the amt of trading
COMPETITION FOR POWER

Benjamin Disraeli
 Jewish
prime minister of Britain
 Brought India and the Suez Canal under Brit. Empi.
Control
 Promoted the glory of an empire on which “the sun
never sets”

Marquess of Salisbury
 Also
promoted Disraeli’s ideas
The idea of Imperial glory reflecting on a gov’t was
a clear motivating factor for EU Imperialism of the
19th century.
 Justification and motivation


Belief that the Christian religion and EU forms of gov’t,
education, and law would improve the lives of
indigineous peoples of Africa, Asia, and Australia
 Therefore

it was seen as a duty to spread EU civilization
Major Eu powers divided up Africa w/o any African
leaders present

The EU leaders believed they were better, and that
the African ideas were unimportant.
CONSERVATIVE IMPERIALISM

Is necessary to preserve existing social orders
in more developed countries, to secure trade,
markets, maintain employment and capital
exports, and channel the energies and social
conflicts of the British onto foreign countries.
 Very
strong assumption of Western superiority- both
racial and ideaological.
LIBERAL IMPERIALISM
Policy choice, not inevitable consequence of
capitalism
 Increasing the concentration of wealth in richer
countries leads to under-consumption for the
mass of people.

 Overseas
expansion reduces the costs, and ups
new consumption(although this is not inevitable)
POLITICAL IMPERIALISM
Simply a manifestation of the balance of power
 Is the process by which nations try to achieve a
favorable change in the status quo
 Purpose is to decrease the strategic and
political vulnerability of the nation

SOCIAL-PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES ON
IMPERIALISM

Objectless expansion, a pattern simply learned
from the behavior of other nations
 Industrialized
into the domestic and political
processes of a state by a “warrior class”
 This
class is created because of the need for defense ,
but, over time the class will manufacture reasons to
perpetuate its existence

Usually through the manipulation of crises.
BRITISH IMPERIALISM IN EGYPT
Entrepreneurs and capitalists looked to
engineering projects in Egypt
 Muhammad Ali came as officer of reoccupation
 Fought to gain governorship and found an
independent kingdom
 Abolished tax-farming, forced peasants to sell
cotton for pittance and replaced craft guilds with
slate factories
 Under free-trade banner, Britain imposed the price
of contrived friendship on Sultan

By 1860s Ali’s private interests were removed
from economy
 Cotton exports quadrupled in price and doubled in
quantity
 By 1870s Egypt had railways and a telegraph
network
 Modernization underway and independence from
Britain in sight but by 1882, Egypt under British
control again
 Enfeeblement of Ottomans forced Britain to give it
up

IMPERIALISM IN INDIA

Regional Politics



Before GB, Mughal rule was stable
It was giving way to separate states
British took advantage




Made alliances with states
Fought with French and Dutch for Indian territory
Crown and head of EIT Co. didn’t want more land, it was individuals
Nov. 1st, 1858 --- Queen Victoria declares India
under British crown

East India Trade Co.



Formed under Elizabeth I
Owned warehouses and trading posts in India
17th & 18th C

Sales in London up to £2 million
Cotton and spice trade

20-30 ships per year


Flora Annie Webster Steel

The Complete Indian Housekeeper and Cook
Typical housekeeping book

Describes typical Indian life


Lived in India for 12 yrs

Wrote books regarding Indian culture as well as British
GROWTH OF AUSTRALIA

In 1768 the British government
planned a South Pacific
expedition
Led by Captain James Cook
 His maps and descriptions of
Australia's eastern coast inspired
the first settlements


1788: British ships arrived at
Australia
They carried over 700 British
convicts
 First European settlers


Over time, the settlement grew




More prison ships arrived, and later ships containing
British citizens
Colony growth => Growth of Britain's control
Britain laid claim to the entire continent in 1829
The wealthy in Europe invested in profitable
opportunities in other countries


Investments were made in the construction of
railroads, ports, and utilities
Allowed settlers to buy European rails


Developed sources of cheap food and raw materials
Native people (the aborigines) were decimated by
expanding Western society

Throughout the 1800s, civilization spread vastly
across the continent

Large growth due to:

Sheep and cattle ranching
 Discovery of gold
 Expanding immigration
By 1859, six colonies were fully established
 Decided it was best to be unified
 In 1901 the colonies became a nation of the British
commonwealth, quickly and peacefully

BRITISH IMPERIALISM AND CANADA

Government
 Acts
of Union of 1840, united the Lower Canada
colony(French-speakers) and the Upper
Canada(English- speakers), forming the Province of
Canada
 In July 1, 1867, British North America Act created
the Dominion of Canada
 Resulted in:
 Postal
System(1868)
 National Banking Act(1871)
 The first railway system, Intercolonial (1876)
ECONOMY

Fur trade
 Expansion
led to the first transcontinental railroad
Canadian Pacific Railway
• Timber trade (St. John River, New
Brunswick, Ottawa River)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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Bayly, C. A. Atlas of the British Empire. New York: Facts on File, 1989. 67,
73,137-41,145,189+. Print.
"Canada - British Rule to 1867." HowStuffWorks. Web. 03 Mar. 2012.
<http://history.howstuffworks.com/canadian-history/history-ofcanada4.htm>.
Dolce, Laura. "Australia and the World." Australia. New York: Chelsea House,
1990. 15-19. Print.
Galbraith, Catherine Atwater., and Rama Mehta. India, Now and through
Time. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1980. Print.
Marshall, Peter. "The British Presence in India in the 18th Century." BBC
News. BBC, 17 Feb. 2011. Web.
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/empire_seapower/east_india_01.sht
ml>.
McKay, John P. "The West and the World." A History of Western Society.
Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 2007. 850+. Print.