Britain: losing and gaining an empire, 1763–1914

A Nation

Consists of people who speak a common language, share a common religion, with a clear geographical location. 

The British Empire

Consisted of people with very different languages, religions and political institutions, scattered around the world. 

Three Main Schools of Thought, When It Comes To Studying Empire

Top Down - The Study of the institutions of the Empire

Bottom Up - Examines the Empire from the perspective of the ruled

World View - Sets the development of imperialism within the context of international relations

How do the British view their Empire?

Saw their rule as civilised and beneficial to the people that they governed, despite the fact that many people saw it as a tyranny

Interpretations of the Empire by recent historians

Post Modern → Middle Ground

Niall Ferguson believs we did good and important things such as:

• The English Language

• English forms of land ownership

• Banking

How did the Victorians view their Empire?

• That it’s powerful and great

• That it’s given “good things“ to other

• That the British are doing these countries and land a helping hand and worth.

Why did the British want an Empire?

How did the British Empire develop?

1. key motivations behind Britain's expansion during the age of empire?

2. How did Britain's colonization strategies differ between regions?

3. What lasting impacts did the British Empire have on global trade and politics?

4. How does the documentary portray the ethical implications of imperialism?

5. What role did the British Empire play in shaping modern cultural identities across its former colonies?

1 - Economic interest. Glocal influence. Competition with European powers. Trade. Resources

2 - Settlement colonies (N.America). Trade focused (India).

3 - Legal systems. Language. Governance. 

4- Exploitation. Draining resources. Indigenous peoples.

5- Mixed and complicated. Ranging from admiration to resentment.

Timeline

Why is Sir Walter Raleigh significant?

The Life and exploration of Raleigh:

• Born c.1554 – Devon

• 1569 – Fought in the wars of Religion in France

• 1580 – Fought against Irish rebels in Ireland

• 1585 – Sponsors the first colony in America, Roanoke Island (now North Carolina)

• 1592 – Goes on expedition to find ‘El Dorado’ (Venezuela)

• 1597 – Explore the Azores (Portugal)

• 1616 – Leads a second failed expedition to ‘El Dorado’

• 1618 – Executed at the tower of London

1584-89 – Attempt to establish a colony at Roanoke Island

What happened at Roanoke?

The voyage to Roanoke Island

First Encounters:

• The colonists landed at the villages of Pomeiooc, Aquascogoc, and Secotan.

• At Aquascogoc a native American stole a silver cup from the English. Their reaction was to set fire to the village and surrounding corn fields.

• At Secotan, the English wore full armour but were welcomed.

Roanoke - Settlement:

• July 1585, the English captain Grenville wanted to settle, but knew it would only work if the Native Americans agreed.

• The chief of the local tribe, Chief Wingina, was recovering from a war wound and would visit a few weeks later.

• Throughout the winter of 1585-86 the English grew hungry and the traps that the natives helped the English to build, the English could not work.

Roanoke - End

• Chief Wingina decided that there was not enough food and the only option was the wipe out the English Settlement.

• The English caught word and attacked first.

• June 1 1586 English attack the village and behead Chief Wingina. The English colony was now safe.

• June 10 1586 the English abandon the colony due to poor relations with natives.

Relations between the British and Native Americans

Jamestown 1607 – Why was it a success?

14 May 1607 – Arrival at Jamestown

James I became King of England following the death of Elizabeth I in 1603. In 1606 he gave permission for a group of businessmen to set up the Virginia Company. Their aim was to sail to Virginia, establish a settlement, and see if the land was fit to grow crops. They were also to look for gold.

How did Britain go about colonising the ‘New World’?

What was the process of colonisation?

• In 1607, the Virginia Company established at Jamestown the first permanent English colony in North America. William Kelso writes that Jamestown "is where the British Empire began ... this was the first colony in the British Empire."​

• In 1624, the colony was placed under royal jurisdiction and England’s presence in North America began to expand along the coastline of Virginia and New England.​

• By the 18th Century, Britain’s greatest colonial rival in North America was France and in 1763, the British acquired the French colonial possessions in North America.​

• From the 1770’s Britain’s North American colonies began to rebel and America gained independence in 1783.​

Why did British settlers move to the New World?

Colonists generally emigrated to the New World ‘for gold and silver and temporal profit’ Francis Bacon

• The colony of Virginia was founded in 1607, named for Queen Elizabeth I, the so-called Virgin Queen.

• Over the course of the 17^th Century, more and more settlers left Britain, some seeking work, some land and some religious freedom.

• These new colonies were founded by white settlers choosing to migrate, which has led to characterisations of the colonisation of America as a phenomenon achieved by migration rather than conquest.

The Mayflower

One of the most famous groups of people to settle in America arrived in November 1620 on a ship called the ‘Mayflower’. They were mainly puritans (strict Christians) who had left Britain in search of religious freedom.

Who were the European settlers?

What are the statistics?

1620-1640 – 20,000 migrants arrived in the New World

1730 – population was around 629,000

1783 – 1.5 million people

1800 – 5 million

What was the aim of early immigrants?

Early migrants were young, male and single, but as the colonies became more established, more families began to emigrate.

By 1759, there were 13 colonies, mostly thriving, the largest populations by the mid-eighteenth century were to be found in the tobacco growing colonies of Virginia and Maryland.

The aim of those travelling to America was not to adapt or take on a different way of life, but rather to transfer the British way of life to America, this led to the colonies becoming known as ‘plantations’ as the British people ‘transplanted’ their way of life to the colonies.

It is worth noting that Britain also used America as a prison colony – a dumping ground for the most undesirable people from overcrowded British prisons.

7 Years War with France

By the mid-1700’s Britain and France had the largest presence in the America’s, between 1754 and 1763 the two sides fought for dominance, this is known in America as the French and Indian war and in Britain it is known as the Seven Years War.

Rivalry between Britain and France

“Every Briton ought to know about the ambitious views of France, her eternal thirst after world domination, and her continual attacks on the property of her neighbours. Our trade, our liberty, our country, and all the rest of Europe, are in constant danger from the common enemy, France, that would, if possible, swallow up the whole world.”

An extract from the Critical Review, a British journal published in 1756.

Brief timeline

April 18th, 1775

• The battles of Lexington and Concord begins.

January 1776

• Famous writer Thomas Paine writes the pamphlet Common Sense.

July 4th, 1776

• Declaration of Independence is approved by Congress.

August 1776

• British armies defeat George Washington's armies on Long Island, New York.

December 1776

• Washington and his troops surprise and drive away the British from Trenton, New Jersey.

October 17th, 1777

• The Americans mark their first major victory of the war at the end of the battle of Saratoga. 1778 and 1779

  • -George Rogers Clark seizes British posts in present-day Illinois.

  • -John Paul Jones raids the British ports.

  1780

  • The Patriots use the guerrilla warfare to kill several British and run away without being seen.

  1781

  • The Battle of Yorktown begins and causes the Americans to go one step closer to independence.

  September 3rd, 1783

  • The Treaty of Paris is signed.

  • The American Revolution ends.

  4^th Feb 1789 

  • George Washington becomes the first President of the United States

  1791

  • The French Revolution begins.

‘No taxation without representation’

What did trade with the 13 colonies look like?

How did government policy evolve?

Colonies were dependent trading partners which supplied the mother country with raw materials and allowed Britain to export more than they imported (positive balance of trade).

Protectionist and mercantilist (designed to obtain advantageous trading relationships with colonies while protecting British producers from competition).

→

Free trade (the government aimed to increase the overall volume of trade by reducing taxes, and used diplomacy or force to make other countries do the same).

Underpinned by the Navigation Acts:

• Colonial goods could only be carried on English built and owned ships.

• Certain goods (e.g. tobacco) had to be shipped into an English port, even if they were eventually being shipped to another European country.

• European imports to British colonies had to be shipped via Britain first.

• Navigation Act of 1660 – ¾ of a ships crew had to be English.

• Navigation Act of 1663 – All European goods going to America had to be shipped through England first, and carried only in English ships.

The Navigation Acts and salutary neglect (Taxation)

• Before 1763, mercantilism was not strictly enforced in America under the policy of Salutary neglect.

• However, in 1763, the British decided to create a large standing army in North America to deter France from further conflict – essentially taxing the North American colonists to defend themselves.

• In addition the Royal Navy was used to enforce the Navigation Acts and began seizing ships and their cargos.

• This was a cause of tension.

Mercantilism

A policy of government intervention to ensure that the value of exports is more than the value of imports, known as a positive balance of trade. The objective was to acquire gold or silver bullion.

Salutary neglect 

The ‘light touch’ approach by the British to American government and tax collection until the 1760s. Under this system, the Navigation Acts were not too strictly enforced and the local management and setting of local taxes rested in the hands of governors and local assemblies.

How were the American colonies run (representation)?

Taxes: The Sugar Act 1764 and Stamp Act 1765

Why wasn’t the Boston Massacre the start of the revolution?

• The repeal of the Townshend Duties

• The existence of a significant number of loyalists in the colonies.

• The lack of unity between the colonists.

Patriots

• ⅓

• Drawn from the colonial elite.

• Gulf between rich and poor

Loyalists

• ⅓

• Accepted Britain's right to tax the colonies.

• Many were agents of the crown.

What happened during The Boston Tea Party, 1773?

What were The Intolerable Acts, 1774?

• As a consequence of the Boston Tea Party Closure of the port of Boston from 1 June 1774, until all the tea was paid for.

• The charter of the colony was revised to allow the governor to appoint and remove most officials.

• Allowing the transfer of murder trials to England if deemed necessary.

Giving more powers to military commanders to arrange the quartering of their troops.

The formation of the Continental Congress (September 1774) (P.75)

172 years after the establishment of the first permanent British settlement in the New World

On 19^th April 1775, British redcoats exchanged fire for the first time with armed American colonists. The British Empire had begun to tear itself apart.

The “Shot Heard Round the World” 1775

• The British soldiers had been sent to Concord to confiscate arms from colonial militias whose loyalty to the British crown had come into doubt. 

• Paul Revere, William Dawes, and Israel Bissell warned the colonists that, “The Red Coats are coming.” Not the British, they were all British at that time.

• The first two battles of the American Revolution were fought at Lexington and Concord, when the American militia met up with British forces.

• The Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia to discuss the next move of the colonists. 

• They appointed George Washington as commander of the colonial army. 

• War with Great Britain was imminent.

Why did tensions between the colonists and British reach a point of no return between 1770 and 1775?

Enlightenment Influences:
John Locke – Social Contract

• He wrote Two Treatises of Government  in 1690. 

• He believed the purpose of government was to protect people’s natural rights.  He said government should protect, “his life, liberty, and property—against the injuries and attempts of other men.”

• His idea:  The true basis of government was a social contract between people and their government. If the government didn’t respect people’s rights, it could be overthrown.

• In exchange protection, people gave government the power to rule on their behalf.  We call this idea the “consent of the governed.”

• Lasting Impact: the idea that government could be overthrown if it failed to respect people’s rights had wide influence and was ultimately echoed in the American Declaration of Independence.

What was discussed at ‘The Second Continental Congress’?

The Declaration of Independence (P.76)

The role of Thomas Paine: Common Sense (P.77)