Trade and Commerce 1857-90

Question 1

What is a cornucopia?

Answer 1

An abundant supply of good things.

Question 2

What is mercantilism?

Answer 2

A system of regulations governing trade.

Question 3

What is protectionism?

Answer 3

Using tariffs to regulate trade.

Question 4

Why was Britain able to benefit from free trade?

Answer 4

Britain was the world’s foremost trading nation, and was active in achieving free trade agreements. They were prepared to use threat and coercion to achieve this - ‘imperialism of free trade’.

Question 5

What was Britain’s industrial position by 1857?

Answer 5

They were the most industrially developed country in the world, with factories producing heavy iron goods and textiles for a global market, due to the industrial revolution. This made Britain more dependant on imports.

Question 6

What was the significance of free trade on Britain 1857-90 (4)?

Answer 6

1) The creation of an ‘industrial empire’, through a growth in imperial trade and investment.
2) London became the world’s financial capital.
3) Technological advancements in railways, steamships, and other infrastructure in colonies and Britain.
4) British exploitation of colonial materials, which Britain would be use to manufacture goods, before selling them back to given colony, often at a fixed price.

Question 7

How did Britain develop the infrastructure of trade (4)?

Answer 7

1) More efficient cargo ships were built for carrying goods.
2) Ports and harbours were extended and developed to accept large quantities of shipping and reduce delays in loading and unloading goods.
3) Railway systems were developed.
4) Rivers and canals were extended, modified or built to save time and reduce costs.

Question 8

What were clipper ships?

Answer 8

Fast sail ships, suited with transporting low volume goods, e.g. tea and opium. They had a short life expectancy (around 20 years), and rapidly declined in number after the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869.

Question 9

What type of ships did Britain use for bulky/heavy goods?

Answer 9

Steamships.

Question 10

How did British investment in railways increase control in her colonies (4)?

Answer 10

1) Opened up the Canadian prairies.
2) Enabled the exportation of goods.
3) Provided a link between a country’s interior factories and the ports.
4) Allowed for ease in transportation of military forces.

Question 11

What were the drawbacks of the development of railways to indigenous populations (3)?

Answer 11

1) Railways often encroached on indigenous lands.
2) Railways disrupted long-standing ecologies and communities.
3) Railways often led to the displacement and forced removal of indigenous peoples.

Question 12

What is invisible trade?

Answer 12

The provision of services or investment overseas.

Question 13

How did Britain develop rivers and canals to facilitate trade (2)?

Answer 13

1) Rivers were straightened, diverted, and deepened.
2) Canals were built to avoid hazardous stretches of water or to provide waterways where there are none.

Question 14

What agricultural goods did tropical colonies (e.g. South Africa) produce for Britain (6)?

Answer 14

Goods not available in Britain, such as sugar, coffee, cocoa, groundnuts, copra, and palm oil.

Question 15

What were ‘coolies’?

Answer 15

Indian labourers.

Question 16

What was Britain’s main import from India?

Answer 16

Tea, which was the cheapest and most popular drink in Britain by the end of the 19th century.

Question 17

Who were the Boers?

Answer 17

The Dutch population who had settled in South Africa in the 1600s.

Question 18

When and why was a gold rush triggered in South Africa in 1886?

Answer 18

In 1886, gold deposits were found on the Witwatersrand, promoting a gold rush to the previously struggling, poor, Boer republic of the Transvaal.

Question 19

What were the consequences of the South African gold rush in 1886 (2)?

Answer 19

1) An influx of 30,000 British migrants.
2) The discovery of diamonds in Kimberly.

Question 20

How much gold was produced in Victoria, Australia in 1866?

Answer 20

£124 million worth of gold.

Question 21

Why was there limited industrial developments in colonies?

Answer 21

Because many had a very small internal market, and could not compete in a world market with Britain.

Question 22

What was the main advantage and disadvantage of the British system of commerce for her colonies 1857-90?

Answer 22

1) Undeveloped areas were propelled to modernise, thanks to British capital and technology.
2) Independent economic development was curbed by British control and exploitation.

Question 23

What were chartered companies?

Answer 23

A trading company with status, legal rights and privileges on the award of a royal charter. They were also granted permission to rule indirectly within its territory of occupation.

Question 24

What was the Long Depression?

Answer 24

A worldwide economic slump 1873-1896. Prices fell and trade slumped.

Question 25

Why was the idea of chartered companies in Africa revived after the Long Depression?

Answer 25

It was a way of extending British trade and control, at no cost to the government.

Question 26

Who were the 3 chartered companies in Africa and when were they granted their charter?

Answer 26

1) The Royal Niger Company (1886).
2) The Imperial British East Africa Company (1888).
3) The British South Africa Company (1889).

Question 27

What was the main drawback of chartered company rule to the colonies?

Answer 27

The primary purpose of trading companies was to generate profit for British shareholders, often leading to ruthless exploitation of local people and environments.

Question 28

When was the Imperial Federation League founded and what did it aim to do?

Answer 28

It was founded in 1884, to promote colonial unity and internal imperial tariff preference.