Britain's Empire Final

Anglo-Dutch merger

Result of Glorious Revolution of 1688 Dutch take the British crown Dutch get Indonesian spice trade British get Indian textile trade (calico) → the winners

Britain as an entrepôt

"in between post" Manufactured goods imported from India, then exported back out to Africa Tie to triangle trade

Robert Clive

(1725-1774) soldier and first British administrator of Bengal, who was one of the creators of British power in India. In his first governorship (1755-1760), he won the Battle of Plassey, which helped remove French from India and win control of Bengal for the EIC. In his second governorship (1764-67), he reorganized the British colony. He signed the Treaty of Allahabad (1765), which granted the East India Company the Diwani/tax rights to Bengal (= de facto government). The vast wealth that Clive acquired in India made him suspect in Great Britain, where he would be questioned in Parliament after the Bengali famine (1769-1773) in which 10 million Indians died. Members of Parliament feared that the EIC's higher taxes in Bengal contributed to the famine. Clive held responsible as an example of corruption, as the British government began its slow takeover of EIC affairs.

James Cook

(1728-1779) British naval captain, navigator, and explorer who conducted three expeditions to the Pacific to NZ and AU on an expedition sanctioned by the Royal Society. On his first voyage, he found and charted New Zealand and then sailed and discovered Australia.

Olaudah Equiano

(1745-1797) a self-proclaimed West African sold into slavery and later freed. Economic argument: more capitalist markets for free blacks than for slaves Autobiography: The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano; or, Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself (1789) raised awareness about the human toll of slavery--"Am I not a man and a brother?" Equiano was kidnapped, taken to the West Indies, then Virginia, and later settled in England, where he became an advocate of abolition as a leader of the abolitionist Sons of Africa.

Tea Act

(1773) The Act removed import duties on tea to inspire colonists to purchase tea from the EIC rather than from the Dutch. EIC can ship tea directly to the colonies without first landing it in England and to commission agents with the sole right to sell tea in the colonies. The act retained the duty on imported tea at its existing rate, but since the company was no longer required to pay an additional tax in England, the Tea Act effectively lowered the price of the East India Company's tea in the colonies. British thought that if they lowered the price of tea they could incentivize colonists to pay the tea tax while at the same time rescuing the EIC. However, colonists viewed that Act as establishing a monopoly on tea and as a threat to free trade. Across the colonies, merchants were urged not to sell tea. In some areas, colonists ensured that the tea was not offloaded from ships. In Boston, Governor Hutchinson made the fateful decision to offload the tea, leading to the Boston Tea Party and Britain's retaliatory actions in the form of the Intolerable Acts. *Demonstrated how the interests of one corner of the British empire--India--could influence actions taken in another--the 13 colonies.

Regulatory Act of 1773

(1773) the first intervention by the British government in the East India Company's internal affairs and marked the beginning of a takeover process that was completed in 1858. Cause: EIC's mismanagement of its Bengal lands, brought to a crisis by the threat of bankruptcy and the demand for a government loan The Act: established a Governor-General of Bengal who was given a seat in a council of four but no veto power ; established a Supreme Court of Judicature; limited the dividend until loan was repaid; made new lands were to be acquired on behalf of the Crown, not the EIC. In response to Clive

Wealth of Nations

(1776) Adam Smith's master work on how economic liberty, the free market, and free trade would increase the wealth of nations. Reduce trade barriers among countries Smith attacked British policy in the 13 colonies and argued that fighting to maintain colonial ties with America was not worth it and that Britain would spend more than it would reap from the colonies. Called for an imperial federation: colonies would get representation based on how much they contribute to the imperial treasury (using representation as an incentive to pay taxes) to promote closer transatlantic ties and via patronage better manage colonial legislators. Despised the mercantile system that at the time was the ethos of the empire: Britain sought to maximize its export of goods to its colonies and maximize its import of gold from colonies. As his free trade ethos were accepted by more and more legislators, Britain sought to promote free trade and used its Navy to open new markets for British goods (i.e. Opium War).

Zong Massacre

(1781) incident in which 131 slaves were thrown overboard for insurance money within sight of shore after a long sea journey. Roiled opinion in England and led to a court case between the insurer and the captain of the ship. The financial development of insurance on transatlantic cargo had played a key role in making Britain's global trading empire possible and profitable. The results of the first trial by the Lord Chief Justice the Earl of Mansfield were that the insurer was not required to pay the ship owners. After former slave Olaudah Equiano brought news of the slavery massacre to abolition advocate Granville Sharp, Sharp worked to have the slave ship's captain charged with murder, but was unsuccessful. The massacre would further the abolitionist campaign in Britain.

Pitt's India Act of 1784

(1784) act that established dual system of control by the British government and the East India Company: the EIC retained control of commerce and day-to-day administration but important political matters were reserved for a secret committee of three directors in direct touch with the British government Dual control lasted until 1858 The Act also stated that charter renewals must be preceded by parliamentary inquiry and gave the British government the right to recall the Governor-General at will.

Committee for the Black Poor

(1786) organization that collected alms for the black poor in London, many of whom were black loyalists who had left the U.S. after the Revolution. Got donations from British leaders, including PM William Pitt the Younger. Also helped poor blacks find jobs as sailors and sponsored immigration to Africa (Sierra Leone), offering 12 pounds to each person who went to Sierra Leone.

Sugar Boycott and anti-slavery

(1791) As British awareness grew of slavery's role in sugar production, consumers in England--led by women--reduced their sugar consumption or substituted sugar from free-labor India Economic pressure on West Indian planters Movement demonstrated the power of women to make a political statement with their pocketbook Consumer choice, globalized economy

Macartney Embassy

(1793) British envoy to convince the Chinese to relax their mercantilist canton system and interest the Chinese emperor in British manufactures. Instead of granting Macartney's trading requests, the Chinese emperor asserted that his empire was self-sufficient and that they granted the little trade that they did as a special favor. Macartney's failure to convince the Chinese to engage in trade with the British contributed to the British policy of producing opium in India and then selling it to China to correct the trade deficit. This resulted in the First Opium War when the Chinese cracked down on British merchants selling opium illegally in China.

African Blockade

(1808-1870) Royal Navy effort to combat the slave trade. The Royal Navy's West African Squadron was established to combat the slave trade. At first, the Royal Navy only searched British ships but later bilateral treaties allowed the Royal Navy to stop many non-British merchant ships and search for slaves aboard. The United States, however, refused to give Britain permission to search its ships until 1841 when the U.S. Navy agreed to cooperate with the Royal Navy to combat the trade. Efforts to end the slave trade extended across the globe, including Palmerston's blockade of Brazil in 1848.

Charter Act of 1813

(1813) the Act renewed the Company's charter but broke the Company's trade monopoly in India (exceptions: tea trade, trade with China, monopolies on domestic products -- salt, opium, minerals) and allowed missionaries to enter British India. The decision to allow missionaries to enter British India was controversial and may have contributed to the Sepoy Rebellion, as many in India came to see British rule as a threat to their religion. The Act came after the Maratha wars, which severely indebted the East India Company.

David Livingstone

(1813-1873) Scottish missionary and explorer and Congregationalist minister Formative influence on Western attitudes toward Africa. He believed Africa needed to be commercialized before it could be Christianized. Commerce would provide an alternative to the slave trade/slavery. His travels across the African interior were made possible by quinine, which lowered Europeans' susceptibility to malaria. His explorations of the African interior, which included becoming the first European to cross Africa and discover Victoria Falls, were carefully covered by British newspapers, which made him a household name and deepened British interest in Africa.

Edward John Eyre

(1815-1901) controversial Jamaican governor. Eyre responded disproportionately by declaring martial law in the area, killing more than 400 innocent black civilians, including women and children, and arresting 300, many of whom were quickly tried and executed. Moreover, Eyre transported a black member of the Jamaican assembly, George William Gordon, to the martial law area and had him tried and executed even though he had nothing to do with the revolt. The Rebellion and the brutal British response resulted in a public debate in Great Britain. A Royal Commission investigated Eyre's actions and dismissed him. British society was split on Eyre's actions. Led by john Stuart Mill and John Bright, the Jamaica committee wanted Eyre prosecuted for murder. Others like Lord Tennyson and Charles Dickens and members of the racist Anthropological Society supported his Defense Fund and defended his harsh actions. He was not tried and his legal defense was paid for, thus escaping punishment for his cruelty.

Paul Julius Reuter

(1816-1899) German-born founder of the Reuters news agency. Founded Reuters in London to capitalize on the telegraph to transmit news immediately. Britain's position as the node for a telegraph empire that stretched across the world and connected its far-flung empire gave it an important position in the representation of world events and how the world received its news.

Richard Francis Burton

(1821-1890) English scholar/explorer and anthropologist who was the first European to explore forbidden Muslim cities. He published 43 volumes on his explorations and almost 30 volumes of translations, including an explicit version of Arabian Nights with sex and an appendix on pedophilia/pederasty in the tropics and ancient Greece, challenging British sexual mores. He served in the East India Company army and became a scholar of sex and race. He founded the Anthropological Society of England. Argued for polygenesis: human races originate from different species in contrast to Darwin's theory of evolution. Anthropologia (1873): discussions of sacred prostitution, sexual mores, and polygamy. His career illustrates how the British Empire promoted study of human difference and exposed elite members of British society to competing cultural views on sex AND race

Slavery Abolition Act

(1833) act of Parliament that abolished slavery in most British colonies, freeing more than 800,000 enslaved Africans in the Caribbean and South Africa as well as a small number in Canada. Followed Slave Trade Act in 1807, which ended the slave trade but did not change the status of those still enslaved. The Abolition Act came in response to widespread protests, including a sugar boycott from the West Indies, a public relations campaign, "Am I not a man and a brother?", and the publication of slave narratives that showed the British the horrors of slavery and their complicity in it by consuming goods produced by slaves.

Government of India Act of 1833

(1833) the Act of 1833 ended the Company's commercial operations, removing the Company's monopoly on trade between India and China. The East India Company became a chiefly bureaucratic, governing body. Also established a Board of Control that permitted Parliament to assert greater control over India and the East India Company. Made the Governor-General of Bengal the Governor-General of British India and established a Law Commission to formulate statute law. The Law Commission established the Indian Penal Code, a rational set of European laws external to India that was modeled on English common law but rationalized like the Napoleonic civil code and provided the basic legal code for other British colonies to this day. Tie to Macaulay

Slavery Abolition Act

(1833) the bill freed 800,000 slaves and granted British slaveowners £20 million in compensation. It enforced a period of enforced apprenticeship to appease slaveowners: 45 hours of unpaid labor a week for 4-6 years. Only children under 6 were freed immediately. But resistance from slaves to their delayed emancipation resulted in the system ending early in 1838. Moreover, the policy of enforced apprenticeship further worsened relations between planters and workers, especially as planters began to charge extortionate rent. In response, 20% of ex-slaves in Jamaica left plantations and set up freeholds and free villages, in which women retreated to household work.

First Opium War

(1839-1842) war between the Qing Dynasty and Britain Qing Dynasty's refusal to admit British manufactures' sale in China led the EIC to sell opium produced in India to merchants who sold it illegally in China. 1834: the EIC's monopoly on opium was removed, opening the market for more merchants to produce and sell opium 1839: Chinese governor tried to enforce the ban on the sale of opium by trapping British merchants and confiscating their opium 1840: British troops arrive 1842: War ended with the Treaty of Nanjing, the first of the unequal treaties between Britain and China. Treaty: China paid the British an indemnity, ceded the territory of Hong Kong, and agreed to establish a fair and reasonable tariff. The British extended their informal empire as British merchants were now allowed to trade in five treaty ports and with whomever they pleased and were protected by British laws when they were in China.

Treaty of Waitangi

(1840) pact between Great Britain and a number of New Zealand's Maori tribes. It purported to protect Maori rights and was the immediate basis of the British annexation of New Zealand. The treaty's three articles provided for: 1) the Maori signatories' acceptance of the British queen's sovereignty 2) the Crown's protection of Maori possessions, 3) full rights of British subjects for Maori tribesmen. Disagreements over the treaty and tensions between the growing pakeha population and dwindling Maori population would boil over into the New Zealand Wars of 1845-1872. Today the Treaty is seen as NZ's constitution and continues to govern relations between pakeha (whites) and Maori.

Treaty of Nanjing

(1842) treaty that ended the First Opium War and the first of the unequal treaties between Britain and China. In the treaty, China paid the British an indemnity, ceded the territory of Hong Kong, and agreed to establish a fair and reasonable tariff. The British extended their informal empire as British merchants were now allowed to trade in five treaty ports and with whomever they pleased and were protected by British laws when they were in China. The treaty was a result of British gunboat diplomacy to support its trading empire. Note that the treaty did not result in the legalization of opium in China even though Britain would continue to export opium to China from India until 1920. China paid the British back for seized opium Did not legalize opium Result: British informal empire expanded and British citizens were protected by British laws when they were in China See First Opium War

Irish Famine

(1845-1849) also called the Irish Potato famine. Because produce from Irish farms, especially grains, was increasingly headed toward Britain, the Irish increasingly turned to potatoes as their primary food. The Irish reliance on potatoes coupled with the growth in the Irish population resulted in famine. About 1 million people died from starvation and 1.5 million emigrated to Britain, settler colonies, and the US. British PM Robert Peel ignored classical liberal orthodoxy to distribute £100,000 of American wheat in Ireland and repealed the Corn Laws to remove trade barriers. He allowed Irish grains still to be exported to Britain even during famine. He was replaced by a Liberal PM who also allowed Irish exports to Britain and refused to intervene in the economy.

George Goldie

(1846-1925) British colonial administrator, organizer of a chartered company (Royal Niger Company, 1886) that established British rule on the Niger River, who was chiefly responsible for the development of northern Nigeria into an orderly and prosperous British protectorate. Like Cecil Rhodes, Goldie managed to gain British support and protection for his commercial ventures, with Great Britain making Nigeria a British protectorate in 1900 after he was first given a monopoly in 1879. His efforts further illustrate the outsized role that individuals and private enterprise played in shaping British policy in Africa.

Cecil Rhodes

(1853-1902) financier, statesman, and empire-builder of British South Africa, PM of the Cape Colony (1890-1896) and organizer of the giant mining company De Beers Consolidated Mines (1880). Advocate for railway to connect South Africa to Egypt and he wanted to bring Africa under Anglo-Saxon rule. He used his influence and money to expand British rule in Africa, often dragging along reluctant policymakers. For example, after gold was found in the Transvaal, he was given a charter to create a private army to use on behalf of the British South Africa Company. Thanks to the Maxim gun and superior British weaponry, he created Rhodesia above Transvaal and eventually convinced British rulers to make Rhodesia a British protectorate in 1889 after he received mining rights.

Sepoy Rebellion

(1857) also known as the Indian Mutiny, a widespread but unsuccessful rebellion against British rule in India. Began in the form of a mutiny of sepoys (Indian soldiers) in the EIC's army and spread from there. The rebellion began when rumor spread that new cartridges were greased with pork fat or beef fat (no-nos for Hindu and Muslim soldiers who would be required to bite into the cartridges to fire their weapons). Caused by long resentments: British-style reforms, harsh land taxes, fears of British efforts to impose Christianity, loss of upward mobility, decrease in real wages (Streets article) Atrocities committed on both sides. Murders of British women and children enraged the British public, enabled by cheaper newspapers and the telegraph. In the end, British revenge far outweighed the original crimes: civilians were killed, hundreds of Sepoys were bayoneted or fired from cannons. The conflict led the British to establish direct control in the form of the Raj and led them to reorganize their Indian armies, adopting more troops from the groups that remained loyal to the British during the Rebellion.

Karl Pearson

(1857-1936) British statistician and prominent proponent of eugenics. He wanted the successful to breed more and wanted to limit the breeding of the unfit.

Royal Proclamation of 1858

(1858) in the wake of the Sepoy Rebellion, which had been partly the result of Indian fears of religious interference, Queen Victoria announced a new policy of religious non-interference in India: that people of all faiths should be treated equally and fairly before the law and that urged British subjects to not engage in missionary activities to convert Indian subjects. She declared that British missionaries would not be permitted to proselytize to Indians. While her powers were limited, her proclamation signaled a shift in British policy in India as the British Raj now sought to rule with a light hand and not interfere with the religious beliefs of its Indian subjects. British evangelicals viewed the announcement as undermining the moral authority of the empire.

Indian Penal Code

(1861) based on Thomas Babington Macaulay's original draft of the code, it drew on English common law but rationalized it like the Napoleonic civil code. It remains in use today with only minor changes. It served as a model for criminal codes throughout the British Empire. Section 377, however, criminalizes homosexual activities and is being reviewed by the Indian Supreme Court. In contrast to the hopes of Warren Hastings, the law code was based more on English common law than on ancient Indian laws.

Section 377 of Indian Penal Code

(1861) introduced during the British rule of India, section 377 criminalizes homosexual sexual activities. The statute reflects Victorian moral strictures and the increased criminalization of homosexuality during the period. Replicated around the empire. Uganda today. In India, Section 377 is being reviewed by the Indian Supreme Court and has the potential to change.

Contagious Diseases Act

(1864 in UK) series of laws meant to protect British soldiers from STDs by making prostitutes undergo inspection for STDs Result: galvanized Victorian feminist movement. Women who passed inspections got licenses attesting to their healthiness, thus helping British soldiers avoid contamination. STDs and venereal diseases were a major problem for British soldiers, who were generally unmarried, because it took a large portion of them out of action and drained British resources. The bill was first introduced in British colonies (e.g. Gibraltar, Malta, Hong Kong, and India) before it was passed in the UK. John Stuart Mill disagreed with bill: it places the onus on women to prove healthiness and by feminists like Josephine Butler for condoning prostitution. A feminist movement led by Josephine Butler got the Contagious Diseases Act repealed first in the UK in 1886 and then in India. To secure its repeal in India, Butler made an anti-imperial argument: she argued that British rule hurt Indian women more than it helped as British soldiers had lured women into prostitution and so degraded them.

Scramble for Africa

(1881-1914) the mass colonization of Africa by European states. About 1/3 of Africa became British. Large variety of reasons for expansion but included the fear of being surpassed by other European powers, protecting India, and acquiring sources for raw materials (→ EXTRACTIVE), including rubber, copper, cotton, and diamonds. Largely began with the Berlin Conference 1884 when Leopold II of Belgium recognized as head of the Congo river basin (but not Belgium, just Leopold II) Portugal controlled Angola and Mozambique; Belgium took over the giant Congo region; Germany in southern Africa. Britain and France, the big winners, gained new territory in West Africa, and Britain built a network of colonies in East Africa running from South Africa to Egypt. The French occupation of Morocco and the Italian conquest of Tripoli, after 1900, completed the process. Only Ethiopia remained fully free, defeating an Italian force in 1896. In many cases, British policymakers actually resisted expanding but were compelled to do so by patriotic fervor at home and lobbying from British explorers, such as Cecil Rhodes, abroad.

Ilbert Bill Controversy

(1884) a controversial measure proposed in 1883 to allow senior Indian magistrates to preside over cases involving British subjects in India. This measure produced an outcry in the Anglo-Indian community because white women feared that Indian judges would side with Indian men accused of sexual violence. The controversy over whether Indian or other colonial laws should apply to British subjects was not new: men like Macaulay believed in equal treatment before the law while others disagreed, particularly the Anglo-Indian community. This fear demonstrates the role that race and gender played in British public opinion, as Indians were often depicted as being violent towards women, who in Victorian society were especially esteemed and seen as weak and in need of defending. Also illustrates the difficulty the British had in deciding how to govern their colonies and the differences in governance between white settler colonies and PoC colonies. Compromise: Indian judges could preside over case but a British subject could claim a jury be half American or British when trial presided over by Indian magistrates. The controversy surrounding the Ilbert Bill contributed to the formation of the Indian National Congress and calls for reform.

Berlin Conference

(1884) regulated European colonization and set in motion the Scramble for Africa. The Conference recognized Belgian King Leopold II's claims of the Congo River Basin. At the time of the Conference, leaders were still unaware of the many human rights abuses occurring in the Congo, including enforced labor and mass atrocities. However, efforts of British activists and a combined journalist and celebrity reform campaign raised awareness around the issue and led Belgian legislators to take over control of the Congo from the king. The Conference set in motion the Scramble for Africa as each state sought to grab territory in Africa partly because they did not want any other state to become particularly powerful.

Land Alienation Act

(1900) law passed by the British Raj to prohibit the sale of lands to anyone other than a member of a registered "agricultural tribe" in Punjab. Punjab was one of the chief military recruiting regions for the British Army in India and so the British were eager to limit its economic transformation and social reorganization. This reform followed earlier efforts to organize the Punjab based on tribal units called zails because as a predominantly Muslim region caste did not exist in the Punjab. The Land Alienation Act further organized Punjab society and politics based on "tribe" and helped to establish privileged tribes who supported British policies. The agricultural tribes gained and wielded power in the province with the British Raj's support. Illustrates how the British sought to more formally organize Indian society based upon the existing social order but in the process managed to create artificial differences and ruling powers invested in the success of the British Raj.

J. A. Hobson's "Imperialism: A Study"

(1902) written at the end of the Boer War. He wrote about the economics of imperialism, distinguishing between imperialism (Africa) and colonialism. Imperialism for him refers to expansion of late nineteenth century, especially in Africa. Distinct from settler colonization. Believed British economy lost from imperialism, especially the poor, while special interests (Jews) won: armaments-makers, manufacturers, and financiers who pulled the strings (conspiracy thinking). As a new Liberal, he called for social reform and redistribution, encouraging domestic consumption over reliance on empire.

neo-Europes and microbial imperialism

European flora and fauna to other parts of the world temperate zones: US east coast southeastern Australia New Zealand even to subtropical Queensland Non-temperate are likely to be more ethnically diverse Joseph Banks: president of Royal Society, 1778-1820 Collected specimens in AU AU was "thinly inhabited"

Morant Bay Rebellion

(October 1865) began with a protest march led by a black pastor to the courthouse to protest disenfranchisement and poverty. Volunteer militia shot marchers after they threw stones at soldiers, killing 7. Protestors then attacked and burned the courthouse, killing 18. Jamaican governor Edward John Eyre declared martial law, killing more than 400 innocent black civilians, including women and children, and arresting 300, many of whom were quickly tried and executed. Eyre tried and executed an innocent black member of the Jamaican assembly, George William Gordon. The Rebellion and British response resulted in a public debate and the increase of scientific racism. A Royal Commission investigated and dismissed Eyre's actions. Led by J.S. Mill and John Bright, the Jamaica Committee wanted Eyre prosecuted for murder. Others like Lord Tennyson and Charles Dickens and members of the racist Anthropological Society supported his Defense Fund and defended his harsh actions. He was not tried and his legal defense was paid for, thus escaping punishment for his cruelty.

Second British Empire

(after 1783) after the loss of the American colonies, the center of the British Empire shifted from an Atlantic one to one centered in India. The new empire was more ethnically and religiously diverse.

Social Darwinism

(end of 19th century) although Darwin himself was not a racist and in fact believed that whites and blacks shared a common ancestor (monogenesis), many used the language of natural selection and survival of the fittest to argue for white racial superiority. For example, Franics Galton, Darwin's cousin and son-in-law, coined the term "eugenics" and argued for both positive--encourage the fit to breed--and negative--discourage unfit from breeding--eugenics.

Microbial imperialism

Europeans had built up immunological defenses due to close association with animals from farming. Australians had limited contact with animals (dingos) and so had fewer immune defenses. e.g. In NZ, Maori had only dogs and limited agriculture and highly susceptible

How British differentiated, categorized, and manipulated people they ruled

1) Gurkhas and Sikhs - warrior races. 2) Strengthening of the caste and tribal system (in Punjab), respectively. 3) Indian Civil Service - British needed to win consent of governed to a certain extent and in India they did this by privileging different castes and classes of people to win their support for the regime and help the British govern more indirectly.

How is Empire to be governed? Justly or practically?

1) Macaulay and the Indian Penal Code - sought to apply English common law in an Indian context 2) Responsible government - white settler colonies Australia and New Zealand had been granted the privilege of responsible government and so allowed to write their own laws and, besides a governor appointed by the Crown, rule without British interference. This led these colonies to adapt voting reforms and pursue suffrage reforms before the British. 3) Oriental Despotism - many British observers like John Stuart Mill believed that India was not prepared to rule on its own and that British rule needed to be fitted to the Indian history of despotic rule. 4) British citizens in Empire privileged or not? - Ilbert Bill controversy over whether Indian laws and Indian judges would apply to British citizens in India; compromise reached that allowed British citizens to request a half-British or American jury when facing trial in India. Within British treaty ports in China after the First Opium War, British citizens were under British, not Chinese, law. 5) British sought to balance governing interests with moral concerns - while banning the practice of the ritual immolation of widows and raising the age of consent, the British also wanted to maintain Hinduism and limit the influence of missionaries, especially after the Sepoy Rebellion. Also female circumcision in Africa.

Stamp Act, 1765

1765 Tax on newspapers/knowledge Unpopular with 13 Colonies

Treaty of Allahabad, 1765

1765, Granted the EIC the diwani (the tax rights) for Bengal Robert Clive achieved this Mimics tax farming of France EIC becomes de facto government British corruption in their collection of taxes may have worsened a famine, resulting in British reassessment of the EIC and the Regulatory Act of 1773.

The EIC Colleges

1800: College of Fort William in Calcutta, train Indians for EIC 1806: Haileybury College (East India Company College), Hertfordshire, train English for EIC

Slave rebellions in Caribbean and Abolition

1816: Barbados slave rebellion 1823: Demarara slave rebellion, 250 killed in police response English missionary tried and found guilty for incitement Christmas 1831 Jamaica slave rebellion, which resulted in martial law. Began with passive disobedience: refuse to work until paid but then turned violent. +500 slaves dead, 14 whites killed. Missionaries conveyed treatment of slaves to England and British anti-slavery societies' efforts to slaves. For example, James Sharp's campaign of passive disobedience resulted in the 1831 Jamaica Slave Rebellion, for which he was tried.

Black suffrage and self-rule example, Dominica

1834: Slavery end 1838: Black majority in legislative assembly 1865: Colonial Office takes over half of seats and makes them white majority 1896: Dominica becomes Crown colony and is no longer governed by assembly elected by Dominicans (did not enjoy responsible government)

Example of gunboat diplomacy and British power David Pacifico and Athens

1847: Jewish man attacked by anti-Semites 1850: Lord Palmerston sends fleet to blockade Athens/Greece British power follows the British peoples all across globe Informal empire

Home Rule: Ireland

1886: First Home Rule bill, rejected by Commons. Liberal Unionists walk out 1893: Second Home Rule bill (rejected by the Lords) 1913-14: Third Home Rule bill Some wanted independence in early 1800s, but the debate shifted to self-government within the UK like the responsible government granted white settler colonies. The long fight for Irish Home Rule influenced Indian thinkers. The failure to pass Home Rule earlier and continued strained relations with Great Britain resulted in Ireland breaking off and becoming an independent republic without the monarch as head of state.

Effects of the Seven Years' War on the British Empire

Acquisition and integration of Canada into the empire. Quebec Act of 1774 permitted Quebecois to practice Catholicism and participate in the government after an oath of allegiance to the Crown. This increased fears in the 13 Colonies of a Catholic takeover, though the Act helped ensure that Canada did not join the rebellion. Gains in India: French renounced colonial ambitions in India, allowing expansion of EIC Gains in West Indies: some handed back to appease British West Indies planters and keep the price of sugar expensive (competing interests of Empire) Money woes: ballooning deficit led Great Britain to impose taxes on the 13 colonies (i.e. Sugar Act and the Tea Act); American boycotts in response to these actions demonstrated the interconnectivity of trade within the Empire and how efforts to boost one end (tea from EIC) could lead to protests elsewhere

Australia: settler colony

After American independence, British needed a new penal colony: AU. When British established Sydney, there were 1-1.5 million native Australians. Because the natives were not farmers, the British believed they did not have ideas of property and so treated Australia as terra nullius (no man's land). Due to sympathy for the aboriginals in Westminster, lands were set aside for aboriginals and settlers were technically supposed to make sure that lands were unoccupied before land grants would be issued. The policy of terra nullius would not be renounced until 1972. AU's status as a convict colony created a more acute democratic spirit as universal male suffrage was introduced there long before it would be imported to Britain. (1855-58)

Anthropology and empire

Anthropology as a subject emerged in the late 19th century as imperials around the world studied colonized peoples. Their research let loose information about difference, especially cultural difference. Differences in how cultures viewed sex challenged domestic assumptions of sex as being culturally constructed. Richard Francis Burton Note: this information was mostly available to high class men, not everyday people

Belich's "Replenishing the Earth"

Belich argues that a settler revolution, the process by which Englishmen left England, settled elsewhere, and repopulated, transformed the world. The "Anglo World" of English-speaking countries--specifically white settler colonies--the United States and British dominions underwent dramatic population growth, transforming the demographic makeup of huge population. Belich argues that Britain's settler colonies allowed British industrialization to continue as they were able to outsource supply needs to other countries, such as Ireland, and opened up new markets for British goods.

Strategic Islands

Britain's interconnected, oceanic empire was connected by strategic islands that protected British shipping lanes and provided British steamships with coaling stations as they made their way around the world. Example: the Falkland Islands were re-taken by the British in the 1830s to make navigation of Cape Horn less dangerous. Debate: does trade follow the flag? Some islands were acquired for strategic reasons and then became a useful trading spot or vice versa. e.g. Falkland Islands, Seychelles, Malta, etc.

John Bright

British 19th century politician and reformer who fought for free trade, lower grain prices, and parliamentary reform. Critic of the British Empire, arguing that free trade was more prosperous and that if Britain must keep an empire, then morality should guide its policy. He believed that empire was too expensive and took away money that could be spent on charity and benefitting the poor in England.

General Charles George Gordon

British general who became a national hero for his exploits in China and his ill-fated defense of Khartoum against the Mahdists. He was a celebrated figure in Great Britain with a large statue put up in his honor in Trafalgar Square. His exploits reached the British public and illustrate how the British Empire was depicted as a chivalrous, masculine project to British viewers back home. His ill-fated defense of Khartoum prompted a popular outcry in Great Britain and around the British Empire for British armies to come to his defense or carry out retribution on the Mahdists against Gladstone's wishes. British settler colonies, such as New South Wales, actually volunteered troops in the Mahdist War, illustrating the potential for a global British military force. The popular British outcry during the war marked a turning point in imperial sentiment around 1880: more people cared about the empire and were eager to support intervention.

Richard Cobden

British politician best known for his successful fight for repeal of the Corn Laws and defense of free trade. He and John Bright both believed that free trade would result in the reduction of armaments and the promotion of international peace. He was a critic of British policy in China and the liberal interventionism espoused by Lord Palmerston but was defeated thanks to the popularity of Palmerston's foreign policy. Liberal anti-interventionist (dove)

Lord Palmerston

British whig-liberal politician during the mid-19th century (1807-1865) who was a proponent of liberal interventionism. As Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister, he used British naval might to project British power abroad, open new markets to British trade, and protect British interests. He pursued anti-Russian policies on the border of India to protect British control of India. As PM, he ended the Crimean War. He used gunboat diplomacy to secure concessions from China. In 1850, he used British naval might to blockade Athens/Greece after an anti-Semitic Greek mob attacked a British citizen there, arguing that Britain must protect her citizens across the world.

Who is making policy in the Empire?

Example of Australasia: while the government in Westminster may order the settlers to treat aboriginals fairly, settlers and administrators on the ground may behave differently and undermine policy. Example of Rhodes: entrepreneurial businessman seizes territory on his own accord and waits for the British government to recognize it and incorporate his holdings into the empire.

J.R. Seeley

English essayist and historian in the 19th century. He felt ambivalent about the threat and promise of the United States. The US was still English in race and character because they were the #1 destination for Irish/Scottish/British migrants during this period. He believed that the the size of the U.S. might challenge to smaller Great Britain. Like Seeley, many in Britain were grappling with the United States' growing power during this period and looked to the U.S. as a potential federation model for the British Empire.

Thomas Babington Macaulay

English whig politician and historian who founded the Whig interpretation of history (justice, virtue). He oversaw the Law Commission in England, which would enact the Indian Penal Code. He believed that laws should apply equally to Indian and British subjects, an unpopular opinion amongst Anglo-Indians (Ilbert Bill controversy). Wrote "Minute on Indian Education" in 1835, in which he argued for educating Indians in English (language of commerce) and believed that Indians were capable of learning (what he believed to be more important) European works. Believed that education would prepare Indians to rule their own country and contribute to British rule as civil servants in the meantime. → Wanted to create a high class political Indian with English morality and thought

What is empire for?

Examples: 1) Adam Smith argued that empire is for producing surplus wealth for the home country and if a territory takes away from the metropole's wealth, then it should be abandoned. 2) John Bright argued that empire is a moral instrument that can be used to spread civilization. Tie to Enlightenment theories of savagery → barbarism → civilization

Interconnectedness of British Empire and British society

Examples: 1) tea - the Tea Act. 2) Sugar - protests against slavery in the West Indies with non-consumption in Britain. 3) Telegraph, steam-shipping lanes, and the imperial penny post - unprecedented access to imperial news and privileged position in the transmission of news to the world

Antagonism of economic and imperial interests

Examples: Adam Smith's discussion of the American colonies as being a drain on imperial resources and his proposed form of colonial union (how much each colonial territory gave to the imperial treasury should determine its level of representation);

First British Empire Second British Empire

First about Atlantic, ends with Treaty of Paris (1783-84) Second is about India

Empire is "a particular form of domination or control between two units set apart in a hierarchical, inequitable relationship, more precisely a composite state in which a metropole dominates a periphery to the disadvantage of the periphery." Ronald Grigor Suny

Focus on: Inequitable in relationship Metropole dominates Atlantic Colonies Molasses Act, Sugar Act Equiano: slavery for British consumer India Pitt's India Act of 1784 Government Act of 1833 Counter-example: Australia and New Zealand Granted responsible government, benefited from Royal Navy protection and led the way in electoral reform, surpassing the metropole

British Empire and railways

Great Britain led the way in industrialization, using raw materials from its colonies in its textile factories and utilizing its coal mines to power this economic transformation. One aspect of the transformation was the introduction of railways, which connected British cities and towns to ports to export British manufactured goods. Trains played an integral part in Britain's new industrial economy and spread to its colonies and its friendly economic rival the United States. In Argentina, an important destination for British investment at the turn of the 20th century, the British invested heavily in a rail network to help transform the country's economy and benefit British economic interests.

"Imperialism in the industrial era is a process whereby agents of an expanding society gain inordinate influence or control over the vitals of weaker societies by 'dollar' and 'gun-boat' diplomacy, ideological suasion, conquest and rule, or by planting colonies of its own people abroad. The object is to shape or reshape them in its own interest and more or less in its own image." Ronald Robinson

Gun-boat diplomacy Liberal interventionist vs. liberal anti-interventionist Lord Palmerston

Martial Races

Gurkha (Anglo-Nepalese war, 1814-16) Sikh (Anglo-Sikh wars, 1845-46, Punjab in 1848-49) Scottish Highlanders After the Sepoy Rebellion of 1857, the British classified Indian castes as martial and non-martial. The groups like the Gurkhas and the Sikhs who fought alongside the British in the war were deemed martial while those that fought against GB were deemed non-martial. Before the Sepoy Rebellion, the Sikhs had been defeated by the British; their effectiveness in battle, use of European techniques, dignity in defeat, and their monotheistic religion impressed the British who then integrated them into the army. Because the Sikhs were new to the army, they did not have any long-running tensions with Great Britain that would cause them to mutiny (unaware of long-run pay decline, their religion did not care about pork or beef fat, and they were not proselytized to by British missionaries). The Sikhs stayed loyal to the British during the war (British thought for money, wanted to be on side of victors, sought revenge against Mughals, and the caste system was not strong amongst Sikhs). The Gurkhas from Nepal fought with the British during the Sepoy Rebellion because they felt racially superior to Sepoys and did not adhere to caste system. Side note: Nepal-Britain Treaty, 1923 established Nepal as a fully independent nation

Indian Diaspora

Indian workers and indentured servants moved throughout the British Empire and settled around the world, creating Indian communities across the empire. e.g. Indian workers constructed the Uganda Railway (1896) in today's Kenya. Others South Africa, the Caribbean. Many stayed even in the face of racial discrimination because their economic fortunes were better outside India in many cases Metcalf: India was unique in British Empire as its second center and having its own sub-imperialism as Indians settled around the world and Indian soldiers served throughout the empire.

1886 and 1893 Home Rule Bills

Introduced by the Liberal PM William Gladstone, the bill was rejected by the House of Commons and resulted in a split in the Liberal Party. Another one in 1893 that failed in the House of Lords. If the First Home Rule bill of 1886 had passed, Irish would have enjoyed taxation without representation with regards to imperial issues. They would have had control over internal affairs, but no MPs to Parliament, so no vote on foreign affairs or taxes related to imperial issues. If the Second Home Rule Bill of 1893, which would have sent Irish MPs to Parliament, had passed, the Irish would have been able to vote on internal British affairs while the British would have had no influence on internal Irish affairs. This potential outcome has resulted in continued calls for "Home Rule All Round," giving each constituent nation in the UK a separate Parliament to govern internal affairs. Today, that is still not yet the case.

Financial innovations and the growth of the British Empire

Joint-stock: buy shares in a company Stock exchanges: buy the stocks for join-stock companies State banks (from Bank of Amsterdam): Bank of England Chartered monopoly trading companies: EIC Britain's stock exchanges, state bank secured payment as banknotes were backed up by specie and strengthened British trade. Joint-stock companies like the British East India Company helped colonize new areas for Great Britain and expanded Britain's trade; that these companies were often state-sanctioned monopolies lowered risk and helped them get off the ground. Ship insurance allowed merchants to take on the risk of launching expeditions across the Atlantic.

Imperial Preference System

Joseph Chamberlain, early 1900s; proposed tariff policy in the British Empire in which members of the empire would grant one another preferential tariff rates while maintaining tariffs on goods from countries outside of the system. Proponents hoped that the system would help tie the empire closer together, especially as the Dominions gained more autonomy and began to act separately from GB. Supporters of free trade, however, wanted British trade to compete outside the system as well and did not want tariffs on outside members.

Sir William Jones

Judge on Supreme Court of Bengal from 1783 Founded Asiatick Society, 1783 Discovered common Indo-European linguistic history Proposed the Indian ancient laws for Raj

Festival of Empire, 1911

London festival to celebrate the coronation of King George V. It included exhibitions from across the empire, making millions British citizens aware of their far-flung holdings. It contained 3/4 size replicas of Parliaments from New Zealand, Australia, and Canada, celebrating the white settler colonies' burgeoning democracies. It included an Indian exhibition staffed by young Indians studying abroad in London

Different interests in different colonies

Molasses Act, 1733 6d. per gallon tax on molasses imported into 13 Colonies from non-British colonies Plantation owners in West Indies happy West Indies owners wanted Martinique & Guadeloupe to stay French so that they'd be higher tax and not competitive in the American market Sugar Act, 1764 3d. per gallon of molasses and more anti-smuggling protection Merchants can be tried -- unhappy Less smuggling -- plantation owners happy because they again have monopoly on market North American vs. West Indian Stamp Act, 1765 Tax on newspapers/knowledge Direct taxation on US Colonies -- US angry Writers angry Taxation without representation Virtual representation arguments To pay for Seven Years War of soldiers staying in US Tea Act, 1773 EIC can sell directly to colonies Bad for American merchants between London to 13 Colonies Good for EIC, did not consider America Reducing consumer choice for Americans and still keeping tax on tea North America vs. Indian Tie to Regulatory Act of 1773

Ottobah Cugoano

Moral argument, 1787 Born in Africa and kidnapped at the age of 13 into slavery, Cugoano was transported to the West Indies and then brought to England where he would play a critical role in the abolition movement Published book: "Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil and Wicked Traffic of the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species." Makes philosophical and moral arguments against slavery, attacking the colonial conquest of the Americas and slavery. If Britain did not end slavery, God would smite them for their immoral sins, an argument that would commonly be used to attack Britain's empire, including by John Bright. The book was widely read and contributed to the abolition movement which culminated in the end of the slave trade in 1807 and the abolition of slavery in 1833.

Liberalism and the Irish Famine

Peel broke with liberal orthodoxy to distribute £100,000 of American wheat in Ireland and repeal the Corn Laws to alleviate the famine. But had to sacrifice office and oversee the breakup of the Tory Party. Other liberal leaders were fine doing nothing. Lord John Russel, a Whig PM believed that landowners would intervene to help tenant farmers. Charles Edward Trevalyan, a student of Malthus, saw Irish famine as a mechanism for reducing surplus population and did not intervene to stop pre-contracted shipments of Irish wheat from Ireland to GB.

Fox's India Bill, 1783

Proposed a new board of governors Passed in the Commons, not Lords George dismissed Fox's ministry; appointed Pitt (see Pitt's India Act, 1784). Charles James Fox's radical measure to transfer the control of British India to seven commissioners was defeated by the influence of King George III in the House of Lords.

Victorianism

Propriety Respectability Piety Sexual restraint (1837-1901) era of increasing moral strictures around sex, alcohol, and more. These moral strictures were strongest in the middle class, who were not exposed to the research of anthropologists like Burton and who were not in contact with more risqué portraits of life outside Great Britain. Victorian morality influenced the policies enacted by Britain in its colonies and how the colonies viewed violence against women during the Sepoy Rebellion. Also the moral indignation of the British public to British soldiers' partaking in prostitution and homosexuality in the colonies.

Loyalists after the American War for Independence

Some abandoned the US for other colonies (e.g. Canada and Caribbean). Others, including black loyalists who had run away to join the British Army and gain their freedom, went to the new colony of Sierra Leone in Africa after first moving to England. Many of the loyal colonists were rewarded for their loyalty with tracts of land in Canada and elsewhere, helping to transform Canada from a predominantly French-speaking area to a mix and populating Britain's growing Empire.

Enlightenment theories of civilization/historical progress

Stadial theory of history: Hunting → pasturage →agriculture and PROPERTY → commerce, civilization savagery → barbarism → civilisation Tie to terra nullius Extirpation, inevitability: civilisation triumphs over savagery

"An empire in the classic sense is usually believed, first, to expand its control by conquest or coercion, and, second, to control the political loyalty of the territories it subjugates. It may rule these subject lands directly or it may install compliant native leaders who will govern on its behalf, but it is not just an alliance system among equal partners. Note that the first qualification for empire refers to the historical process by which it is formed, whereas the second describes its ongoing structure." Charles Maier

Start with conquest, then loyalty NZ and AU India

Nabob

The British term from nawab An upstart, Indianized, nouveau-riche e.g. Robert Clive

New Zealand: settler colony

Unlike Australia, New Zealand was never treated as terra nullius; Maori property rights were recognized in treaties and never disowned. British control established when Maori chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, which established a British governor, made Maori British subjects, and recognized Maori property rights. Reasons for British recognition of Maori property rights include: Maori had agriculture (Polynesian sweet potatoes), were warlike (Musket Wars of 1807-1842; later introduction of potatoes let more tribesmen fight). NZ environment transformed by European introduction of plants and animals Maori suffered from European diseases, especially venereal disease; easier for whites to out-populate the Maori. While the subsequent war between the pakeha and Maori would further deplete Maori manpower, the Maori population has rebounded and relations have improved.

Imperialism is "the sustained effort to assimilate a country or region to the political, economic or cultural system of another power." John Darwin

Victorianism CD Acts: 1864-69 Streets: anti-homosexuality, ban of sati

Canton system

Western trade restricted to Guangzhou (= Canton) In part leads to First Opium War

Liberal Interventionism/Gunboat Diplomacy

belief in the use or threatened use of force to advance the free market and free trade. The belief was held by British leaders like Lord Palmerston who used the Royal Navy in conflicts across the world to promote British interests and protect British trade. e.g. Athens blockade in 1850

Mercantilism

economic policy that sought to maximize the export of goods and the import of specie (or gold and silver). The goal was to run a trade surplus with the help of the British Royal Navy defending Britain's sea lanes to its colonies and tariffs limiting trade to countries outside the British Empire. Colonies were seen as markets for British goods and their trade with other countries limited as well as their industrialization (13 colonies). Mercantilism replaced by free trade after Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations. However, even under this new policy, the British Royal Navy played a key role in forcibly opening markets to trade (e.g. China) and defending shipping lanes.

Telegraph and the British Empire

improved British communication with her colonies as information could reach Britain and be sent out in a much shorter time than had been possible with steamships. Britain's position as a major maritime power with island holdings around the world allowed Britain to lay cables connecting her colonies and staying in close contact with India. Islands like Malta and Gibraltar helped connect Britain to India and remain in contact. British acquisitions and seizure of the Suez Canal were partly related to her need to remain in close administrative contact with India. Demonstrates network aspects of British Empire

the Falklands

islands off the Argentine coast that were re-acquired by the British in the 1830s in order to provide a coaling station for British ships as they rounded Cape Horn and made their way into the Pacific. As a maritime empire, the British Empire was reliant on island territories stretching across the globe where its ships could refuel and where telegraph lines could be laid to connect its far-flung territories. Even after the empire effectively ceased to exist, the Falklands with its small population decided to remain British. But the decision to withdraw Britain's naval squadron in the area and the passage of the British Nationality Act in 1981 that narrowed rights of immigration to England and ensured that most Falklanders would not have British citizenship led Argentina to believe that Britain would not come to the aid of the Falklands in the event of an invasion. Unfortunately for the Argentinians, Margaret Thatcher organized a successful naval expedition to re-take the island, encouraging patriotic sentiment in Great Britain.

Sir Robert Peel

liberal (but Conservative Party) PM who distributed £100,000 of American wheat in Ireland and repealed the Corn Laws in response to the Irish Potato Famine. His decision to forego classical liberal orthodoxy and directly intervene on behalf of famine victims as well as his decision to repeal the Corn Laws split the Conservative Party and resulted in the end of his political career. However, he continued to allow Irish farmers to export their grains to Great Britain during the famine.

Pax Britannica

period in the 19th century when Britain's power was at its height and Europe saw few wars. During this period, the Royal Navy served as the world's policeman and projected British power across the globe.

Triangular Trade

system of trade between Great Britain and the American colonies. Arms, textiles, and wines were shipped from Europe to Africa Slaves from Africa to the Americas Sugar and coffee from the Americas to Europe Even more complicated, growing global trade that undermined mercantilism. In the late 1600s, the English became the chief transatlantic slavers, acquiring slaves from African merchants and shipping them across the deadly Middle Passage. Labor-intensive sugar plantations in the Caribbean led to huge demand for slaves and sugar became an increasingly large part of the British economy. The Triangle Trade had a direct effect on the British at home: more tea and sugar

Warren Hastings

the first British governor-general of India who dominated Indian affairs from 1772 to 1785 and was impeached (though acquitted) on his return to England. As governor-general, he was interested in Indian culture, encouraged employees to establish Sanskrit law books (and use ancient Indian laws as a basis for new regime), established Madrassa to train Indians in Persian, Arabic, and Islamic law, and wanted to rule India through Indian ideas and culture. Led by Edmund Burke who wanted to improve the welfare of Indians, Hastings was impeached (though acquitted) as a scapegoat for mismanagement and personal corruption. His trial led to a re-evaluation of British policy in India.

How Voting in Great Britain Was Affected by Actions of Colonies

universal male suffrage in AU 1855: South Australia 1857: Victoria 1858: New South Wales before Second Reform Act, 1867, ~20% of men in UK had vote after Third Reform Act, 1884, ~60% of men in UK Ballot Act, 1872 Established the secret ballot in UK Female suffrage 1893: NZ 1895: South AU 1918, UK limited 1928: UK universal NZ: Pakeha plural vote, up to 3 votes per white man Settler colonies Australia and New Zealand led the way in voting reform. Unlike India and Britain's Caribbean colonies, where proponents of representative government like John Stuart Mill opposed representative government for India, Australia and New Zealand had been granted responsible government. AU and NZ had their own legislature and be relatively self-governing (only a British governor). AU led adopted universal male suffrage and a secret ballot in 1856 ("Australian ballot") and women's suffrage. Moreover, New Zealand was unique in that it set aside seats for Maori in 1867 (so Maori achieved universal voting before pakeha) and then instituted universal suffrage abolishing property requirements in 1879, setting New Zealand apart from Australia (which did not extend voting rights to aboriginals) and India. Voting advancements in Australia and New Zealand put pressure on Great Britain to reform, contributing to Britain's passage of universal male suffrage in 1918 and female suffrage in 1928.