MWHA                         British Imperialism 

Objective:

• Analyze world economic patterns 1700 to 1850
• Distinguish between trading networks and empire, economic versus political imperialism
• Explain how the British took control over the Mughal Empire and the Rajput States

Set:

1. What was the original European motivation for establishing a presence in Asia?

They wanted to get Asian products directly without Muslim or Arab middlemen. The Portuguese, Dutch, French, and British also were trying to get around the Italian monopoly on trade in the Mediterranean Sea.  Catholic countries wanted to convert non Christians.

• What was the second motivation for Europeans to be in Asia?

They wanted to compete with other European countries by having colonies. Once the British Industrial Revolution started, they wanted easier and cheaper access to raw materials like cotton and they needed to expand overseas markets for textiles and other factory-made goods.  During most of the 19th century, the British navy dominated the ocean traffic throughout the world.

1. Why were the British first interested in coastal areas in India?

• Calcutta had deep water anchorage and a shipbuilding industry.
• Bengal had saltpeter and silks.
• Gujarat had cotton and indigo.
• Madras had yarn and sugar.
• Ceylon (Sri Lanka) had access to spices (especially nutmeg) from Dutch controlled East Indies.

Timeline of European Expansion Into the Indian Ocean Trade (the beginning of the period of "armed trade")

• 1498 - Vasco da Gama finalized the Portuguese royal ambitions to reach Calicut.
• 1500 - The Muslim Mughal Empire established in what is modern-day northern India. There also were Rajput States in the north and west. Rajputs were Hindu warriors.
• 1510 -The Portuguese established a sea fortress on Goa and become known for their cruel intolerance of non Christians.
• 1511 - Portuguese merchants visit the Banda Islands, the only place where nutmeg grew.  Nutmeg made a profit of 60,000% in Europe. (Source:  Nathaniel's Nutmeg by Giles Milton, Penguin, 2000.)
• 1571 - Ming Dynasty government switched to a silver standard for money.
• Spanish galleons carried silver from mines in Potosi (Bolivia) and Mexico to China.
• 1600 - East India Company was given a royal charter by the British government (Queen Elizabeth I).
• 1602 - Dutch East India Company established.  10,000 Dutch ships carried most of the goods from Asia to Europe.  Dutch merchants involved in trade with Japan.  When the Tokugawa shogun expelled foreigners, Dutch merchants were invited to stay at Nagasaki from 1641 until U.S. Admiral Perry showed up in 1857.
• 1606 - British investors back two colonies:  in Jamestown (Virginia) and Popham (Maine)
• 1612 - The Dutch established a colony on Manhattan mostly to trade for beaver fur, which was the rage in German states and imperial Russia for cape mantles.
• 1619 - The Dutch established a colony on Java; Chinese merchants dominated trade throughout Southeast Asia.  Nutmeg from the Banda Islands and pepper from south India, Java, and Malay states become the biggest profit making goods for European merchants.  Japanese pirates and mercenaries feared throughout the region.
• 1651  The British Parliament passed the Navigation Acts restricting British merchant ships to carry only British produced goods for trade.
• 1652 - The Dutch take the colony of South Africa away from the Portuguese.
• 1667 - Treaty of Breda signed by British and Dutch governments to exchange Run Island for Manhattan Island.  Run used to produce over 1/3 of a million pounds of nutmeg a year.
• 1720 - 1740 – The French India Company’s trade increased ten times to 400,000 British pounds a year; the British East India Company earned 800,000 British pounds.
• 1756 - Sir Robert Clive, the chief representative of the British East India company, took advantage of the French focus on the Seven Year’s War (1756 - 1763) to take over French-claimed territory in India. The Mughal emperor gave Clive the right to collect taxes in the lands around Calcutta.
• 1807 - British outlawed the sea trade of slaves from West Africa across the Atlantic Ocean.  British naval ships began to stop merchants from other countries from transporting slaves in the Atlantic Ocean.  (Remember the Amistad).
• 1815 - The British gave themselves control over South Africa while the Netherlands try to recover from the Napoleonic era.
• 1831 - 1835    The Beagle and its crew sailed around the world.
• 1833 - Slavery was abolished in all British controlled territory.