Key Themes C1 Flashcards
Briefly outline how trade and commerce changed in the years 1857-1890
The systems of mercantilism (export>import) and protectionism (state protection by encouraging exports and discouraging imports through tariffs) were used heavily, but this switched to free trade as no one wanted to trade with anyone else as they feared they would strengthen the enemy.
Shipping
Fast ships for high profit goods e.g. tea, opium, spices, mail and poeple- Clippers.
Suez Canal made shipping easier 1869.
Steamships from the 1850s- bulky and heavy goods, less coal used, reduced travel time- to W. Africa.
Life expectancy only 20 years.
Railway
On indigenous land which disrupted ecologies & communities- forced removal of indigenous people.
Economic development ensured British control.
Canada mid 1860s- defence purposes, opened up prairies.
Largest single investment of the period in white settler colonies.
W.Africa- link between interior production areas and the sea.
Australia- enable export of wheat and wool.
S.Africa- chance to expand territory & commercial interests to the interior.
India- transfer troops, jute & cotton trade and allowed rice to reach ports for export- Bombay & Calcutta.
Invisible trade.
Canals and Rivers
Allowed explorers to see the interior of Africa.
Straightened, diverted and deepened rivers for trade- ecological effects.
Built to avoid dangerous waterways and provide them when there was none.
Canada 1867- deepened St Lawrence/ Great Lakes, built Welland Canal to overcome the height difference between Lake Eyrie and Ontario.
Agriculture
Indians worked on Carribean/S.African plantations.
Most colonies (bar India) already had agriculture.
Canada/Australia/NZ- produced cheaper food and raw materials.
Farmers forced to sell at any price offered & were paid low wages for hard work.
Mining
Tin mines closed in Cornwall- 30,000 British miners travelled to SA.
Multiple gold rushes in Australia- not used/sold by Australia but by Britain who got all the profit.
Kimberley Diamond Syndicate 1890.
1886 SA gold rush Transvaal.
Helped develop colonies.
Industry
Small internal markets w/ no real industry which couldn’t compete with British manufacture.
Underdeveloped areas able to quickly modernise bc of British capital & technology.
Independent economic development was stunted- Britain controlled and exploited economies.
India- large demand, Indian mills couldn’t keep up with Britain imported textiles, ran Indian textile industry out of business.
How did the growth of free trade impact the role of chartered companies?
Free trade brought the end of the East India Company as it was seen as more economically lucrative due to Britain’s dominant trading powers. However, trading companies remained influential in Africa into the late 19th century.
Why did chartered companies enjoy a renaissance towards the end of Chapter One?
Following British and American industrialisation, as well as the Long Depression, chartered companies were revived as a way of extending British control at no cost to the government. The purpose was to generate profit for shareholders in Britain which led to the exploitation of local people and environments.
Which factor was most significant in the development of the British Empire at the time?
Disraeli and the Conservatives as they involved the Suez Cabal which was extremely strategically important in securing India and making trading with the East more efficient.
