The Changing Nature and extent of trade Flashcards
What was a recurring theme behind British Economic Policy
large cost of maintaining land and sea froces across the globe
What replaced potectionist and mercantilist views toward trade?
Free trade
How much does the ship ‘lottery’ make in the triangular trade in 1789
12,090
How many ships set sail from liverpool in the 1790s every year for slaves?
120-130
how did william beckford benefit financially from the Slave Trade?
owned thousands of acres in Jamaica
what act ended Br role in Slave trade?
‘Slave Trade Act’ (1807)
There were many factors but what was a main influence of Br resignation from the Slave Trade?
Profit losses
Slave rebellions, losses to foreign privateers and diseases from tropical regions made ST less valuable
what % of ships lost its owner profit in the 18th century?
10%
What theory dominated economic thinking between 16th-18th century?
Mercantilism
Why was adopting free trade a particulalry slow process?
Because many wealthy landowners were MPs who proftted largely from mercantilism
When does Govt remove trade restiction and allow Free Trade in Ireland?
1779
What act in 1832 passed by the Whigs proves to be so important and why?
The ‘Representation of the People Act’
suffrage increaes to 60% more of pop
Manufacturers and consumers could now vote and preffered Free Trade
When were Mercantialism and Protectionism dismanlted?
And by whom
1841, by Sir Robert Peel as PM
How many tariffs were abolished between 1842-46 ?
1200
What was the most important expression of Mercantilistm
the Navigation Acts - passed between 1651-1673
What can the navigation acts be interpreted as ?
Preventing the development of more sophisticated colonial economics
Why was the ‘Imposition Act’ (1846) so problmatic ?
- it removed the Corn Laws and the sugar duties
- this meant that wealthy landowners were disadvantaged
- This caused party to split and Peel forced to resign
Sir Lord Russell favour of free-trade culminated in what?
The Repeal of the Navigation Acts in 1849
The Navigation Acts had an aim to increase the number of Br ships. What did this mean for the removal of the Act?
By dismantling the Acts, Russell and co effectively prioirtised free trade over national defence
What led the growth of the British Empire in the 1800s?
Traders, motivated by profit, not conquest
How many tonnes of opium were imported to China in 1839?
2,500
Many merchants were profitting heavily
By the 1840s, Br Govt was prepared to use warships and gather naval bases to protect its merhcants.
What is this known as?
‘Gunboat Diplomacy’
What did the Treaty of Nainking (1842) include?
Pay 12m in reparations and debts
Cede Hong Kong to British - not returned until 1997
Open ports to foreign traders - low import tariffs of 5%
Grant British citizens legal protections in China
What forced Shanghai to trade with middle men?
The Taiping Rebellion in 1850
What was the Shanghai Municipal Council?
American, French and Br mebers - Chinese cant sit - grew to govern the colonial city
What did Opium Imports increase to in 1880?
6,500 tonnes
Why was the Suez so important to Br?
By 1874, 75% of goods passing through were Br
Disralei had brought 44% of shares from the Khedive in 1875
How many slaves did Zanzibar trade annually by the 1830s?
50k
How did Br get drawn into Zanzibar?
to protect the slave trade - using RN when neccersary
Between 1850 - 1879 no of European and US ships docking at Zanzibar went from 65 ships + 18,877 tons to?
96 ships and 95,403 tons
Br viewed East Africa as little interest due to no large river system and requiring a lot of capital.
What povoked Br interest?
German Advancement through the East African German Trading Company
William Mackinnon’s ‘Britiahs East Africa Association’ never made any money - what was their record?
expenditure 85k, income was 35k
What was the significance in Britians East African Association?
provided a foothold for Br interests in East Africa as colonies in Africa’s interior was becoming idealised in order to safeguard the Nile
What did the 1890 treaty between Br and Ger disclose ?
setting up a British protectorate in Zanzibar and ending promised sultan independence; Zanzibaris not involved in discussion
In 1896, pro-Britain Sultaan died
Whas was the Br reaction?
Britain had preferred another candidate + bombarded city in ‘shortest war in history’, lasting 38 minutes
What did Zanzibar inadvertantly lead to?
‘Scramble for Africa’ had begun; Br govt establish series of East African protectorates and funded a railway from Mombasa to Uganda in 1896
Significance of Zanzibar?
Br now had an important entrepot in Zanzibar
First showing of ‘defensive imperialism’ in East Africa
‘Scramble for Africa’ was an important development in Br Empire
Signficance of WHW?
WHW had NO commercial value so demonstrates Br defensive imperialism
Shown by Lease - “for so long as Port Arthur shall remain in Russian hands”, Br retain control of WHW
Control of WHW lasted until 1930
Why did Russia want Port Arthur?
to gain a warm water port - lack of caused a loss in the Opium indutry for the Russians
What was the control over Central Asia reffered to
‘The Great Game’
Timeline of Promotion of Free Trade
1779 - Govt remove restrictions in Ireland
1830 - Whigs into power
1832 - ‘Rep of ppl Act’ - gives 60% more manufactuers and consumers right to vote
1841 - Cons back in, Peel removes 1,200 tariffs
1846 - ‘Imposition Act’ removes final two protectionist policies
1849 - Lord Russell removes P+M - ‘Repeal of Navigation Acts’
Facts for rapid growth of Singapore
1819, 400k worth of Sp dollars pass through
in 1824, 11m pass through
An increase of 2,700%
Impact of Singapre
Entreport
Shows how successful free trade policies can trump dutch protectionism
