Chartered companies

Question 1

What were chartered companies

Answer 1

• commercial organisations that were granted privileges, status and legal rights by the
  government, usually summarised in a royal charter.
  -> Among its privileges were monopolies which would prevent any
  competition.
• created by influential merchants who joined together to exploit financial and business opportunites.
• In many ways these companies shaped imperial policy more than the politicians in London by negotiating treaties with native peoples, annexing land and securing resources.

Question 2

Why did chartered companies become important again from the 1870s

Answer 2

• Attitudes changed in the 1870s when Britain’s economic supremacy faced challenges in the form of European
  and American industrialisation and the onset of the economic depression (Long Depression).
• The idea of the Chartered companies was revived as a way of extending Britain’s trade and control.

Question 3

What was the Long Depression of the 1870s

Answer 3

• worldwide economic slump 1873-1896.
• prices fell and trade slumped.
  -> while manufacturers experienced falling profits and investment.

Question 4

What was the Imperial Federation League

Answer 4

• founded in Britain in 1884, set up to promote colonial unity and support for Chartered Companies.
• It rapidly established branches throughout the county to try and attract support from the business community.

Question 5

What was the North Borneo Trading Company (NBTC)

Answer 5

• 1881, the Company received a charter for the purpose of administrating the territory.
• North Borneo benefitted from deposits of coal, iron and copper and had coffee and tobacco plantations.
• represented key strategic site for Britain in the South China Sea and as a mid-point between India and Hong
  Kong.
• main figure was Alfred Dent, used Sikh soldiers to establish control in the area.
• Slavery was removed and railways were built to support trade.

Question 6

What was the Royal Niger Company (RNC)

Answer 6

• George Goldie founded the company and pushed the government for a charter.
  -> finally given one in 1886 to protect trade from the growing German and French influence as a result of the Berlin Conference.
• The Companies main area of interest was the Niger River basin in West Africa, it had over 30 trading posts along the river
• mainly traded for palm oil (used for lubricating machinery in factories among other things) and cocoa.
• The Company secured its interests by making treaties with local chiefs which gave the company access to trade
  in return for offering protection to the local rules. They made over 400 such treaties.
• seized land in order to control all aspects of the production and trade of palm oil, cocoa and coffee by establishing their own plantations.
• The charter was revoked in 1900 but by this point Goldie had established British control in what became the colony of Nigeria.

Question 7

What was the Imperial British East Africa Company (IBEAC)

Answer 7

• granted a charter in 1888 largely as a response to growing German interest in East Africa.
  -> founded by William Mackinnon who had made his money in shipping.
  -> He was not motivated by power or money but rather by spreading Christianity and ‘civilisation’.
• Its area of interest was what was to become the British colonies of Uganda and Kenya as well as Zanzibar
• aimed to facilitate the introduction of tea and coffee plantations in the region.
• The company made treaties with local chiefs to gain access to land and open up trade.
• made plans to build a railway to improve trade with the interior of East Africa.
  -> This would eventually
  connect Lake Victoria with Mombasa on the coast (Lunatic Line).
• ultimately failed in its financial aim to develop British trading and commercial interests in the area and its charter was revoked in 1894.
  -> However, it had established control in Kenya and Uganda.

Question 8

What was the British South Africa Company (BSAC)

Answer 8

• set up by Cecil Rhodes who had made his wealth from the diamond and gold mines in the area.
  -> He was influential and persuaded the gov to grant him a charter to expand British control in the region.
• Its main area of interest was lands north of the Cape Colony and the Boer republic of the Transvaal.
• hoped to mine for gold, diamonds, coal, copper and iron ore.
  -> hoped the wealth from these minerals could be reinvested to pay for new infrastructure to aid British settlement in the region.
• used force to secure its interests. A ‘Pioneer Column’ of soldiers marched into native lands and demanded
  the right to mine in the area. They established Fort Salisbury to protect its interests.
• Treaties were also signed with local rulers to gain access to the mineral wealth.
• Rhodes wanted power to bring ‘uncivilised’ cultures together under the Union Jack
• The areas of land they seized would eventually become the colony of Rhodesia (Zimbabwe).