The British Empire & Industrial Revolution Flashcards
Why did the slave trade develope?
-Demand for sugar (sugar was cheaper than other sweeteners, delicacy for the rich, profitable, Britain developed a sweet tooth, sugar cane grew in the Caribbean)
-Shortage of indigenous labour (lack of immunity to British disease so they died and labour was needed)
-Shortage of British labour (not enough British people to work in the plantations, a lot of new land)
-Racial attitudes (Europeans saw Africans as better suited to work on the plantations, Africans were believed to be inferior)
-Religious justification (those in Africa could be treated as slaves, descendants of Canaan were slaves and they moved into Africa)
Stage 1 of the Triangular Trade
-Traders left Britain with ships loaded with manufactured goods such as cloth, weapons, metal work, alcohol, and other luxury items
-Ships would sail to West Africa
Stage 2 of the Triangular Trade
-Slave ships landed in West Africa and picked up African prisoners who had been captured by African chiefs
-They were taken across the Atlantic, the journey called the middle passage
Stage 3 of the Triangular Trade
-In the Caribbean and Americas the slaves would be traded with plantation owners in exchange for goods such as sugar tobacco cotton another valuable good
-The ship would return to Britain and sell materials there
-The process would then repeat
What made the triangle trade so profitable for the slave traders?
The products were cheaper in the Caribbean, but in Britain, they are more expensive so they made a profit
Treatment of enslaved people
-Punishments (flogged was tied to a pole sometimes naked, jail, whipped, beaten)
-Conditions (tied up with chains, not enough food, bad toilets, hot temperature, crowded on boats, smelly air)
-Psychological impact on enslaved people (depressed from being separated from family and friends)
-Attitudes towards enslaved people (treated as lower class, treated like objects, nobody cared about them, money was more important)
What was the EIC’s rule like?
-Mainly Negative
(Laws have no sanction, troubles, morals are corrupt, decay,famished and diseased people, made fake promises, destroying Indian cohesion, taking away rights)
Different causes of the Indian rebellion in 1857
-Greed of EIC
-they neglected the Indian public
-The British decided to convert everyone in India to Christianity
-The EIC were not a trading company anymore they were administering the country
-The Indians that were working for the EIC had to speak English and wear European clothes
-The Brits thought they were superior to the Indians and started to be racist
-there was a rumour about putting animal fat on the cartridges for the guns which people could not eat
How did the British deal with the Indian rebellion?
The British killed the Sepoys by putting them in front of a Canon and firing it
This would be very harsh and would make people not want to rebel
Why did Britain industrialise?
-population growth (demand for products increase, supply of workers increase)
-British Empire and trade (Raw materials from the Caribbean, India, North America and West Africa)
-raw materials (iron ore, coal)
-Gross in agriculture production (fatter animals, better crops through rotation, more food available)
-New ideas and inventions (spinning and weaving machines on steam power)
-Transport improvements (canals, railways, better road)
When was the battle of plassey
1857
Head of British in the battle of plassey
Robert Clive
When was the industrial revolution?
1750-1900
