1. The Development Of Imperialism c1857-c1890 - Trade And Commerce

Question 1

In the 18th Century, how were trade and commerce regulated?

Answer 1

It was regulated through a system of ‘mercantilism’, whereby colonies had been obliged to send most of their produce to Britain, to buy British manufactured goods and use British ships for their imports and exports

Question 2

In the 19th century, how was the highly regulated protectionist system dismantled?

Answer 2

It was dismantled under the influence of new theories of free trade where it was argued that wealth was indefinitely expandable and freedom from commercial restrictions was the only way to maximise prosperity

Question 3

What was the importance of Britain being the World’s most foremost trading nation?

Question 4

What was the impact of free trade?

Question 5

What infrastructure was developed with trade?

Answer 5

• ships and shipping
• railways
• canals and rivers

Question 6

How were ships and shipping developed from trade?

Answer 6

• ‘Clippers’ (fast ships) were introduced sailed all over the world and were suited to low volume, high profit goods such as tea, opium and spices
• British iron hulled ocean ships were made more efficient by the development of the compound steam engine in 1850s
• steamship companies reduced the travel time from Britain to west Africa to less than 3 weeks
• the opening of the Suez Canal 1869 stimulated the construction of steam carriers

Question 7

What is an example of how ships and shipping was developed?

Answer 7

By the 1870s, several British companies sent steam-trading vessels up the Niger

Question 8

How were railways developed from trade?

Answer 8

• they opened up Canadian prairies
• they enabled Australia to export wheat and wool
• offered South Africa a chance to expand territory and interests beyond its interior
• they linked cotton and jute growing areas of north India with the mills of Bombay and Calcutta and enabled rice to reach ports for export

Question 9

How did canals and rivers develop from trade?

Answer 9

• focus of explorers quests to discover what lay behind the easily accessible coastal areas of Africa
• they were used to avoid hazardous stretches of water or provide waterways where there were none
• in Canada 1867, canals were deepened around the Great Lakes and well and canal was built to overcome height differences between Eyrie and Ontario

Question 10

What is invisible trade?

Answer 10

The provision of services or investment overseas

Question 11

What were the products of trade and commerce?

Answer 11

• agriculture
• mining
• Industry

Question 12

What was the benefit of agriculture?

Answer 12

• in tropical colonies, such as South Africa produced goods that were not available in Britain e.g. sugar, cocoa
• in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, there were vast tracts of land permitting the production of cheap foodstuffs and raw materials such as wool

Question 13

What was the benefit of mining?

Answer 13

• precious metals were exploited and became an important trading commodity e.g. tin in Niger and diamonds in Sierra Leone helped develop their colonies
• in 1886, gold deposits were found on Witwatersrand which prompted a gold rush for the Dutch Boer republic in the Transvaal
• the Transvaal gold mines required skilled labourers and over 30000 travelled there from Britain. This influx of immigrants encouraged British ambitions in the area
• gold was discovered in New South Wales, Australia in 1851 and by 1866, Victoria was producing £124mn worth of gold
• New South Wales produced a further £25mn worth of gold
• there was a wave of discoveries in 1880s around Kalgoorlie and Western Australia

Question 14

What did the result of British migrants to Transvaal encourage?

Answer 14

British ambitions in the area

Question 15

Why was their little industry development?

Answer 15

Many colonies had a small internal market and also could not compete in a world market with British manufacture e.g. Indian run mills couldn’t compete in price with imported British textiles

Question 16

What were the negatives of ships and shipping development?

Answer 16

The ships had a short life expectancy and were usually broken after 20 years of use

Question 17

What were the negative impacts of railway development?

Answer 17

Railways in colonies such as Canada, New Zealand and South Africa encroached upon indigenous lands, distrusted long standing ecologies and the displacement and removal of the indigenous

Question 18

What were the negative developments of agriculture?

Answer 18

• the production of goods was small scale
• farmers from indigenous populations were generally obliged to sell at whatever price they were offered and sometimes these fell very low
• products were grown on plantations run by the British and the indentured workers were often paid low wages for unpleasant work

Question 19

What were the negative developments of mining?

Answer 19

The Australian mines began to run dry in 1860s, after the first Australian gold rush, although there were a wave of later discoveries in the 1880s

Question 20

What were the negative developments of Industry?

Question 21

What were chartered companies?

Answer 21

A trading company would gain status, legal rights and privileges on award of a royal charter. Among its privileges were monopoly which would prevent any competitors from challenging its position. The company would also be granted permission to rule indirectly within its territory and where it operates

Question 22

What were chartered companies like before 1857?

Answer 22

• In the 17th century, India was the leading economy and the royal chartered EIC had been established
• by the 19th century, Britain had become the dominant trading power and free trade was made prominent and useful
• free trade and the rebellion brought an end of the EIC in 1857 however trading companies still remained influential in Africa into the late 19th century

Question 23

What was the initial role of chartered companies?

Answer 23

They had been the normal means of organising trade in the colonies until the government allowed trading to proceed at its own pace in the 1850s and 60s seeing competition between companies as successful capitalism

Question 24

How did the role of chartered companies change in the 1870s?

Answer 24

Britains economy faced challenges from the long depression and industrialisation from major powers, which led to the revival of the chartered company to extend British trade and control

Question 25

What were the key charters after 1881

Answer 25

• The north Borneo trading company received a charter for the purposes of administering the territory
• the national African company - permitted trade in the lands alongside the Niger and Benue rivers and also gave permission for expansion northwards
• the imperial British east Africa company
• the British South Africa company

Question 26

What was the primary purpose of trading companies?

Answer 26

To generate profit for shareholders in Britain