3.Trade and commerce Flashcards
In the beggining of empire what was the trade policy
Mercantilism - colonies would sell their produce to Britain and buy manufactured goods,There were multiple goverment regulations over this
What % of British Trade came from its colonies?
20% imports
1/3 exports
1857-1890
How were profits maximised?
The development of infrastructure was based around Britain’s trade
What ships were used to trade in the empire
Clippers originally used,Small nimble boats used to carry smaller items e.g tea
-20 year life span
In the 1850s steamships became the norm as they were quicker than clippers and could carry more
Why were canals and rivers significant to trade in the empire
Internal river systems were an important means of transport for trading products and trying to figure out what lays behind costal areas
How was agriculture used in trade in the empire
Products were sold by the colonies at whatever price they could achieve- very cheap, much cheaper than in Europe
-Plantations - Indian ‘coolies’ sent to West Indies for 5 year periods - Indian Tea
-Raw imports from India
-Tea £24,000 in 1854 - £2,430,000 in 1876
-Raw Cotton £1,642,000 in 1854 - £5,875,000 in 1876
Mining
-Gold deposits found on the Witwatersrand in 1886
-30,000 skilled labourers from Britain traveled to Transvaal
-Diamonds later found established the Kimberly Diamond Syndicate in 1980
-Gold in Australia was producing £124 million, 1/3 world population
Industry
Little industry as they could not compete with the British. Colonies propelled to modernise due to buying British products. Large local demand in India but could not afford to open.
Height of British commercial Power
1870 - GNP was higher than that of Russia and China combined
(Merchant fleet carried half the world’s sea borne trade)
Finding Markets
-Between 1870-1914 40% of British Investments abroad went to imperial territories
-1879 - Germany introduces tariffs (tax)
-1881 - France introduce tariffs
-Britain need to use colonies to support its industries
What are chartered companies
A trading company would gain status and legal rights on behalf of a royal charter and would gain ‘monopoly’ to allow it to indirectly rule its territory
Why did the attitudes towards chartered companies change in the 1870s
The goverment allowed for trading to proceed at its own pace with competition between rival companies until the long depression where the idea of a chartered company was revived to extend control for the British at a minimal cost
After the policy of mercantilism what policy of trade was taken up by the British
Free trade-Trade that is left free from Goverment trading restrictions
Despite free trade being the policy what did the goverment still do
They were still active in supporting free trade agreements between countries,Usually using their navy to intimidate countries into signing the agreements
What were the opium wars
Two conflicts between Britan and China due to trade disagreements
