EMPIRE Flashcards
THREE WORD SUM
assertive, expansionist and belligerent
dom of scot acts
act of union 1707
declaration act 1720
based on experiences 1689-1713?
peacetime lessons of commercial expansion following treaty of Utrecht
upheld trading systems where?
N. AMERICA, AFRICA, PARTS OF ASIA, EVEN PENETRATED MEDITERRANEAN AND SPANISH EMPRIE IN S AMERICA
what ?/3 of gov revenue came from customs duties and harbour and shipping dues
2/3
private companies that led b expansion
The Ldn company, the Plymouth company, east India,
when Hong Kong ceded to B
Jan 1841 - chuanbi chuenpi convention
what was key to b expansion
profitability… surged synonymously with the commercial/ gluttonous attitudes/conventions of the time
b mad for addictive foreign substances, autonomy over people ect
gain power to the most limited resource: power (land, trade, goods, human resources)
what continued to make expansion possible
expositional growth
what made empire possible 6
1) SHOESTRING BUDGET
2) LED BY PRIVATISATION
3) COMMONWEALTH KICKSTARTED 1649
4) GAIN OF SURPLUS RESOURCES, EXPOSITIONAL GROWTH
5) ECON GROWTH - FUNDED MERCHANT DEVELOPMENT IN INT MARKETS
6) TERRITORIAL SEARCH - Ottoman Empire, CHINESE EMPIRE, MUGHAL EMPIRE - TRADING CONNECTIONS
BY 1914
exercised sovereignty directly over 60 colonies
5.2 mil natives
largest occidental empire since rome
treaty of Vienna 1815
established Austria Prussia Russia and GB as the leaders of europe
the ‘four’ should be those to decide the future of all the conquered territories
-ves for B - A. Smith, Wealth of nations 1937
colonies imposed heavy and unfair burdens on B taxpayers
distorted the allocation of investable funds
increased threats of war
no profitability of pol corruption at home
rise of free trade imperialism provided…
B Econ with profitable outlets for its “surplus” population, capital and commodities
an attack on imperialism by J. A. HOBSON
‘costly and ineffective alternative to social reform and as an obstacle to the structural changes required for the future vitality of the b economy
why needed to happen
impossible for B to dictate and dominate global trade without its role in international commerce
by 1913, ?% raw materials processed by the domestic industry came from abroad
90%
1860, imports such as imperial wheat, tea, cheese, tin, jute, oil seeds, rubber, non-tropical products
1/5 emanated from empire
L. COLLEY
LONDON ‘league apart from every other EU capital’ - chief trading port, financial centre and trading metropolis
The EIC, Levant C and Russia C supplied successive Govs with their most
substantial creditors
domestic and foreign trade supplied the bulk of
taxation
by 1720
b claimed authority over 1/2 a million men and women in N America, large parts of the WI, coastal settlements in India, outposts in Mediterranean
1850
zenith of its power
problem for peacetime policing of colonies
land forces insufficient and no technological superiority - 1799, guns, cannons, ammunition accounted for less than 5% of B’s land warfare budget
AM REV LINK
some linked causes
Parliaments abortive attempts to tax the colonies to pay for 10K troops to be stationed there
MORESO- early 1770s, only 4500 men available to enforce B rule over the vast expanses of Canada, the 13 colonies, Florida and the W frontier
start of 19th c customs and excise levies together supplied just over ??% of Gov revenue
just over 70% … 60%
at the outset of the seven years war what was Britains most important market
continental europe
absorb 4/5 of its domestic imports and re-exports, and supplied most of its imports
imports from the first 1/2 of the century from N. America increase almost ?fold
W.I imports more than
tea from EIC increased more than ?fold 1701-1751
4 fold
doubled
40 fold
exports to the colonies grew just as dramatically
1713 - B merchants shipped out some £32,400 worth of exports to the Carolinas
by 1739 - worth 7 x as more
??% of the increase in B commodity exports that occurred in the 6 decades after the Act of Union was sold to captive and colonial markets outside of Europe
95%
colonial imports vital to B’s B.O.P? WHAT IS B.O.P?
balance of payments…
as far as EURP trade was concerned
1750s - re-exports of colonial goods made up a total of ??% of total B exports
40%
tumultuous 1760s/1770s
authoritarian turn
sugar acts 1764 1765 stamp act Townshend duties 1767 tea act 1773 intolerable acts 1774 turn from a more permissive commercialist attitude towards the empire in earlier period towards a more coercive and authoritarian policies in wake of 7 years war
empire after 1780
characterised by a form of aristocratic military gov supporting a viceregal imperial style which emphasised hierarchy and racial subordination and by the patronage of indigenous landed elites
battle of plassey 1757
B defeated Nawah of Bengal and his French allies - left British East I company in control of Bengal and as the major military and political power of India
Treaty of Paris 1763
imp consequences for future of b empire
N. america - F’s future as a colonial power effectively ended with the recognition of B claims to Ruperts land - ceding of New France to britain - leave sizeable f speaking pop under B control - Louisiana to Spain
loss of the 13 colonies -
first to second empire transition
LOSS of at the time B’S MOST POPULOUS OVERSEAS POSSESSION
1783
relations increasingly strained due to resentment of the British parliament’s attempts to govern and tax American colonists without their consent
‘no taxation without administration’
violated ‘rights of englishmen’ - AM REV began as a rejection of parl authority and move towards self gov
B sent troops to reinforce direct rule - 1775 outbreak of war, US declared independence 1776 akn in Peace of Paris 1783
entry of fr and sp forces into war tipped military balance in AM’s favour
B shift attention away from USA to Asia, pacific, Africa
1776 Adam Smith wealth of nations
argued that redundant colonies should adopt free trade to replace old mercantilist policies that had characterised the first period of colonial expansion (protectionism of Spain and Portugal)
and ! the growth of trade between independent America and use after 1783 confirms that pol control not necessary for Econ success
constitutional act 1791
created the provinces of U. Canada and L. Canada to diffuse tensions between F and B communities
1812 war with America after
B tried to cut off American trade with France and boarded American ships to add them to the Royal Navy - after escalated tensions between B and US after napoleonic wars
1812 US declared war and invaded British Canada, B invaded US
1814 Treaty of Ghent - Canada future sep from US
Second B empire
after loss 13 colonies
B gov turned to America
1770 James cook claimed continent for britain and named it NSWALES both islands gained
aussi colonies profitable exporters of wool and gold - gold rushes in Victoria
interaction between indigenous MÃORI pop and europeans limited to the trading of goods
napoleonic wars 1804-1815
b challenged again by France - contest of ideologies and threat to invade B
10.5 mil spent on defence - questioned b’s ability to reconstruct their economy
poverty and misery with increased tax rates, high cost of living, high unemployment rates
26K LOST, 194K INJ
benefit only of ‘corrupt’ aristocracy - by female reform soc Manchester, embodied thoughts and sentiments of many ENG
B GAINS NAP WAR
GAIN 6 - inc st lucia malta
decline slavery
advent of industrial revolution - goods produced by slavery became less important to the b economy
cost of suppressing slave rebellions
slavery abolition act 1809 - full emancipation after a period of 4-6 years of ‘apprenticeship’
B gov cost of compensating slave owners - SLAVERY ABOLITION ACT 1833
INFORMAL EMPIRE
from end of NAP WARS
Dom through trade - economies of china, Argentina, siam
