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 protectionist system dismantled?

Answer 2

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

Question 3

What is a protectionist?

Answer 3

Using tariffs - particularly duties on imported goods to regulate trade

Question 4

How did the British government support free trade?

Answer 4

They were willing to resort to threats and coercion to achieve free trade agreements

Question 5

What shows that other nations also supported free trade agreements and British trade dominance?

Answer 5

This support can be shown through china in the opium wars - the British navy was used to enforce British terms and economic dominance was therefore sustained by a limited application of force

Question 6

How were ships and shipping developed?

Answer 6

• ‘Clippers’ (fast ships) were introduced which sailed all over the world and were suited to transport 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 and the development of the triple expansion steam engine in the 1870s stimulated the construction of steam carriers

Question 7

How did railways benefit trade

Answer 7

• they opened up Canadian prairies
• they enabled Australia to export wheat and wool
• offered South Africa a chance to expand territory and commercial 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 8

How did canals and rivers develop from trade?

Answer 8

• focus of explorers quests to discover what lay behind the easily accessible coastal areas of Africa
• to facilitate trade, rivers sometimes had to be straightened, diverted and deepened
• they were used to avoid hazardous stretches of water or provide waterways where there were none
• in Canada 1867, canals were deepened around the St. Lawrence Great Lakes and the wellend canal was built to overcome height differences between Eyrie and Ontario

Question 9

What is invisible trade?

Answer 9

The provision of services or investment overseas

Question 10

What were the products of trade and commerce?

Answer 10

• agriculture
• mining
• Industry

Question 11

What was the benefit of agriculture?

Answer 11

• in tropical colonies, such as South Africa, they 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
• plantations

Question 12

What was the benefit of mining?

Answer 12

• 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 13

Why was there little industry development?

Answer 13

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 which led to the destruction of the Indian textile industry

Question 14

What were the negatives of ships and shipping development?

Answer 14

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

Question 15

What were the negative impacts of railway development?

Answer 15

Railways in colonies such as Canada, New Zealand and South Africa encroached upon indigenous lands, disrupted long standing ecologies and often led to the displacement and removal of the indigenous peoples

Question 16

What were the negative developments of agriculture?

Answer 16

• 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 17

What were the negative developments of mining?

Answer 17

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 18

What were chartered companies?

Answer 18

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 19

How were chartered companies importance reduced?

Answer 19

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 20

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

Answer 20

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 21

What were key charters in the late 19th century?

Answer 21

• 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 22

What was the primary purpose of trading companies?

Answer 22

To generate profit for shareholders in Britain

Question 23

How did colonies help to boost imperial trade and economic growth?

Answer 23

The colonies supplied foodstuff and raw materials which British industry converted into finished goods for export and the colonies often bought back. In the late 19th century, 20% of Britain’s imports came from its colonies

Question 24

What are examples of plantations?

Answer 24

• there were plantations for sisal in British east Africa and Tanganyika, for coffee and tea in Ceylon and BEA, for tea in India, for sugar in Mauritius and natal, for rubber and palm oil in Malaya and north Borneo, for coconuts in the Solomon Islands, sugar for Fiji and Queensland.