Trade Flashcards
When was the slave trade abolished in Britain
1807
When was slave trading banned in the colonies
1834
Describe the transatlantic slave trade
British ships sailed to wes Africa and bought slaves spending as little time there as possible to limit the risk is disease in exchange for guns, beads, mirrors, knifes
Sail through the middle passage trying to avoid Poldrums to West Indies and sell slaves, load up with cotton sugar and tobacco then to bakc to England
Why was the slave trade abolished because of rivalry with France ?
Whatever position France took on slavery , Britain took the opposite position
France originally freed slaves in Haiti but Napoleon wanted to bring them back in 1799
So position changed
How much profit did the slave trade make up ?
Why was this useful ?
80% of Britain’s foreign income
4 million to 1 million by the end of 18TH century
Profits from this helped finance the industrial revolution as it created demand for guns
Where were the two major slaving ports in U.K.
Bristol and Liverpool
Who benefited from the slave trade ?
Slave traders
Plantation owners
Factory workers and ordinary people
Slaving ports
Evidence of slave trade creating jobs for ordinary people in U.K.
Birmingham had over 4000 gun makers with 100,000 guns a year going to slave traders
How did slave revolts contribute to the abolishment of slave trade ?
Haiti slave rebellions made owning a plantation dangerous and expensive .
Fear of revolts led to plantations being less economically viable
How did William Wilberforce help abolish the slave trade
Constant campaigning and sending bills to parliament
Pitt was his friend
Help by John Newton who used to captain a slave ship
How did financial cost contribute to the abolishment of the slave trade ?
1 in ten ships lost profits
Prices of slaves was going down as slaves were born on plantations
How did religious groups contribute to the abolishing of the slave trade ?
Quakers petitioned parliament in 1787
Pressure groups - pamphlets , posters
Effective grass roots campaign
Evangelists in Clapham
What was did the abolition of the slave trade act entail ?
Financial punishments
Ship taken off you and fined £100 for each slave
Over the years, you would be hanged
How did Britain adapt to new markets after the abolition of the slave trade ?
Slaving ports like Liverpool started producing soap
Trade increased in other areas like the US
Who didn’t benefit from the abolition of the slave trade ?
Plantation owners
Had to free slaves
Was the abolition of the slave trade largely effective ?
There were some incidences of illegal slave trading where slaves would be thrown off boats and boats would be set on fire to avoid being captured
What was mercantilism ?
A system to ensure that the colonies that the colonies would work to fund the wealthy empire
What did mercantilism lead to between countries ?
Wars over colonies
What did mercantilism provide for Britain ?
Raw materials for England
Market for British manufactured goods
Men and materials for British army
Why was mercantilism not good for colonies ?
They had a trade deficit which they had to make up for in silver and gold
Why did Adam smith not like Mercantilism ?
Ordinary people would benefit more from free trade as they could import cheaper food
How was free trade gradually introduced ?
1 Ireland 1779 granted to avoid conflict
2 anti corn league was founded by proponents of free trade 1838, corn laws ended in 1846 as agriculture could no longer satisfy national demand
3 Peel became prime minister in 1841 and abolished 1200 tariffs
When were navigation acts repealed
1849
Who supported Peel’s repeal of the navigation acts
Whigs
Adam smith
What did repealing the navigation acts entail ?
Colonial goods no longer needed to be carried on British ships
Certain goods did not have to go via English ports if they were being shipped somewhere else
European imports to British colonies no longer needed to go VIA Britain
How strictly were trade regulations enforced with the navigation acts in place ?
Originally - salutary neglect
Smuggling was rife
However after Britain wanted to create a large army in North America they were enforced more strictly to make the American colonies pay for their own protection
What was the effect on trade of repealing the navigation acts ?
Made trade more effective
Increased trade
Opened new markets outside colonies
1867 - £131 ‘million out of £181 million pounds worth of exports were to places outside empire
Who didn’t benefit from free trade ?
West Indian plantation owners
Sugar was bought from slave plantations in Brazil for cheaper than the the plantations in the West Indies where we banned slaves
Why was the repeal of the navigation acts significant in terms of defence ?
Free trade was effectively chosen over national defence as the aim of the navigation acts was to get more British ships so the navy could draw on them during war
What was the significance of free trade on ordinary people ?
Food was cheaper !
As it meant imports were cheaper with no tariffs
The repeal of the navigation acts signified the move from ____ to ______ ??
Protectionism to free trade with no tariffs :)
Did the abolition of the slave trade or repeal of navigation acts have bigger impact on patterns of trade ?
Repeal of navigation acts as it increased trade markets on a much larger scale and trade massively increased
However
Slave trade impact
Sugar trade
End of triangle trade
Disruption to slaving ports
Not great impact
New markets found
Sugar trade continued
Slaving ports diversified
Navigation act impact
Free trade established
International trade on mass scale with increased markets
Increased trade
Not great impact
Final act in move towards free trade
What is an entrepôt ?
Where ships of all nations can dock without paying taxes of tariffs on their cargos
When was Singapore established as an Entrepôt
1819
Who established Singapore ?
How did this come about ?
Why?
Stamford Raffles rented it in 1819
To undermine Dutch prominence in the area and so the trade route to China was made more effective and cheaper
Why was Singapore so successful ?
How did the location enable this ?
No tariffs meant that Singapore eclipsed other ports in the region
Businesses set up headquarters there and were taxed lightly
It was half way between India and China and was useful as you could buy Chinese goods without going to China and the Chinese could buy opium there
What did Singapore demonstrate to Robert peel ?
Free trade is very successful !
What was the initial problem with trade with the Chinese ?
Britain wanted to see manufactured goods to the Chinese in exchange for tea , silk and porcelain
But the Chinese wanted gold and silver
This led to a negative balance of trade for Britain !
How did the British solve the problem of having a negative balance of trade with China ?
Smuggling and selling opium made produced in India
This reversed the balance of trade and silver bullion flooded out of china
Stats on opium imports when British were illegally smuggling it ? (2)
1839 - imports reached 2553 tons
Estimated the between 4 and 12 million Chinese people were regular users by mid 19th century
How did the Chinese respond to the British initially smuggling opium ?
Chinese blockade 1839
Blockades canton and burned 1000 tons of opium
How did the British respond to the Chinese blockade of 1839
First Opium war
Sent in the Navy which destroyed the Chinese navy and put the British in the position to dictate terms
They seized Hong Kong in 1841 and as this grew as an entrepôt, the British pressured for more territories
Was Hong Kong successful?
Evidence ?
What did this mean ?
Successful entrepôt as it was a secure location for large vessels to offload cargo without paying tariffs
Population from Hong Kong grew 15,000 to 300,000 from 1841 to 1900
Meant British government put pressure on the Chinese for more treaties
What was the treaty of Nanking ?
When was it
1842
UNEQUAL TREATY
Chinese had to cede the island of Hong Kong
Pay 6 million for destroyed opium
3 million to merchants in Canton
12 million to cover cost of war
Paid within 3 years at 5% interest to late payments
Open ports of shangai Ningpo … to foreign traders with low tariffs of 5%
British citizens got legal protection in China
When was Shanghai opened as a trading port
1842
Why was the opening up the port of Shanghai important ?
Location - situated on mouth of Yangtze so if opened up the interior of China which was previously inaccessible
As well as coastal trade !
Britain could trade with anyone rather than just Hong Kong monopoly
Americans and French established settlements there
What did Shanghai mean for opium ?
6500 tons by 1880
Grew more steadily
Why was the Suez Canal’s location significant ?
Meant that the route to Far East would be quicker for traders who would no longer have to go around the bottom of Africa
What was the impact of the opening of the Suez Canal over time ?
For Britain specifically ?
Britain began to use it more frequently
By 1974, 3/4 of tonnage that passed through was British
It was only practical for steam ships so the amount of steam ships increased
1868-1874- steam tonnage from British ships increased 178%
When was the Khedive’s shares of the Canal purchased and how ?
1875
British PM Disraeli bought it after the Khedive had become bankrupted
For 4,000,000 borrowing money from the Rothschild family
Without consulting parliament
What was the significance of the purchase of Suez Canal shares in 1875 ?
Geo political motivations
Evidence of Britain acting otherwise another European power would
Worried french may start putting restrictions on British shipping
Methods - buying ! Rather than seizing !
Was the investment in the Suez Canal by the British successful ?
Yes
Dividends increased from 4.7% to 33 % in the first five years
When was the acquisition of Zanzibar ?
1890
What were the motivations behind the acquisition of Zanzibar?
‘Scramble for Africa’
1884-1885
European powers want territory so the others couldn’t have it
Wanted to watch the Germans as it was opposite German East Africa
But officially it was to put an end to Arab run slave trade
How was Zanzibar acquired?
Bismarck 1890 treaty formalised who got what
Germany gave up in Zanzibar in exchange for small island by Germany
Zanzibaris not involved in negotiations
What was the significance of the acquisition of Zanzibar
Shift in empire’s motivations from financial to geo political and wanting to “paint the map red”
Did the British run Zanzibar ?
Protectorate status
So it was cheaper
But there was no doubt as to who was in charge
How much of Africa was claimed by European powers by 1900
90%
When did the British lease Weihaiwei
1898
Why did the British lease Weihaiwei?
Britain wanted to keep an eye on Russian fleet at port Arthur
Why does the lease of Weihaiwei signify the decline of British empire
It lost money as a desperate attempt to spy on rivals
Demonstrates its decline as Britain were no longer motivated by trade and profit but were beginning to waste money in military and power relations which was long term unsustainable
