History

THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE BRIISH EMPIRE

Motives for Empire

Religious:

• People's beliefs
• People wanted to spread the Christian religion

Social:

• Exploration
• They wanted more opportunities
• Growing desire especially among poorer people, to emigrate and start a new life
• They wanted to expand their influence abroad
• People's attitudes

Economics:

• To increase wealth
• Ton increase trade - Britain wanted raw materials for its manufacture
• Needed more customers to buy their products
• Money

Political:

• Rivalry 
• Military reasons - they wanted more soldiers
• To create allies
• More political power
• National Pride - Reputation/Power

From 1750 - 1900 in Britain:

• The population rose from 11 million - 40 million --> meaning more people to work - so better for economy
• Medicines and vaccinations were developing --> annual death rate reducing
• Transport was becoming faster --> easier communications
• More children were going to school --> more educated society
• Most men could now vote --> fairer society - but sexist

Impact of the Empire:

Health and Disease:

• Hospitals and dispensaries in the colonies provided medical care for Africans and indians
• The colonies carried disease overseas which killed millions of non-europeans

Communications:

• Railways were built in many British colonies they made it possible to carry huge quantities of goods
• Railways were built to take cheap raw materials to the ports - not to help colonised people

Agriculture:

• The empire provided food and raw materials for Britain, the British organised agriculture into plantations
• When the price of a cash crop fell, colonised people could face poverty + hunger. Low wages + brutality of labour gave out a bad image

Industry:

• White settlers began to build factories in the second half of the 19th century
• The demand for manufactured goods in colonies was too limited. There was little modern industry.

Missionaries:

• For many people Christianity provided answered to questions about evil. It offered the hope of spending the afterlife in heaven
• The missionaries thought that most non-European religions and cultures were worthless

Schools:

• The schools spread knowledge and British culture around the world, they saw education as the key to a good job.
• Only a tiny minority of children were educated, they only provided education for 4% of children

English language:

• The english language has brought huge advantages to countries that were once British colonies
• 'To give millions of people a knoowledge of English is to enslave them.'

SLAVERY AND ITS ABOLITION IN BRITAIN AND ITS EMPIRE

The Transatlantic Slave Trade involved three journeys each with the promise of a full cargo and a large profit.  This journey was called the Triangular Trade as it roughly resembled the shape of a triangle.  In reality the journey was more complicated with ships traveling from all over Europe carrying manufactured goods such as guns, cloth, beads and alcohol to different ports along the African coast to trade for captives.  The ships then sailed across the Atlantic to the Caribbean and Americas to trade the captives for goods such as sugar, tobacco, rum, rice and cotton. Finally the ships returned back to Europe to sell…