British Empire: Key Concepts (Vocabulary Flashcards)

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards covering key people, places, events, and concepts related to the development, expansion, and governance of the British Empire as described in the notes.

Informal Empire

An empire built by private merchants under Crown protection, lacking direct political control.

Exploration and Piracy (16th–17th c.)

Early phase of British imperial expansion driven by privateering, with anti-Spanish Catholic motives in the Caribbean.

Drake

Sir Francis Drake; English privateer and navigator who attacked Spanish ships and aided early empire expansion.

Raleigh

Sir Walter Raleigh; explorer and founder of Virginia; organized early North American settlements.

Hawkins

Sir John Hawkins; English privateer involved in early slave trade and naval ventures.

Morgan

Sir Henry Morgan; privateer who captured Jamaica from the Spanish.

Jamaica

Caribbean colony known for sugar, rum, rice, and coffee; site of Port Royal and early piracy.

Virginia Company

Joint-stock company chartered to establish English settlements in Virginia (e.g., Jamestown).

Slavery (Atlantic)

System of forced labor transporting Africans to the Americas as part of the triangular trade.

Seven Years’ War (1756–63)

Global conflict shaping British dominance in Canada, India, and the Caribbean.

Loss of America

American War of Independence leading to the loss of the American colonies (finalized by 1782).

Australia as a penal colony

Late 18th-century settlement of Australia as a convict-based colony.

Tobacco (Virginia)

A major cash crop and staple export from Virginia and other North American colonies.

Triangular Trade

Atlantic trade network linking Europe, Africa, and the Americas with exchanged goods and enslaved people.

Manufactured goods (Africa)

European goods sent to Africa to purchase slaves; part of the triangular trade.

Slaves (Atlantic)

Africans forcibly transported to the Americas as part of the slave trade.

Guns, cloth, iron, beer

Common European trade goods transported to Africa during the triangular trade.

Sugar, molasses, rum

Caribbean commodities; sugar and molasses, with rum produced from sugar.

Proclamation Line of 1763

British rule barring colonial settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains after the Seven Years’ War.

Hudson’s Bay Company

Fur trading company with vast Canadian territories; key imperial actor.

Province of Quebec (1763)

British colonial province created after the Seven Years’ War, including much of present-day Canada.

The 13 Colonies

British settler colonies on the Atlantic seaboard that would become the United States.

Durham Reforms

Reforms following colonial uprisings in Canada (Durham Report) promoting union and ‘white empire’ privileges.

Abolition of the Atlantic slave trade (1807–1808)

Britain’s abolition of the transatlantic slave trade (Act of 1807; effective 1808).

Abolition of slavery in the British Empire (1833–1834)

Slavery abolished in British colonies with the Slavery Abolition Act (1833; effective 1834).

Dr Livingstone

Missionary/explorer promoting Christian evangelism and exploration in Africa.

Victorian imperialism

British imperial expansion under Queen Victoria, emphasizing trade and governance.

Opium Wars

Conflicts between Britain and China (1839–42; 1856–60) over opium trade and access to China.

Gunboat diplomacy

Use of naval power to pressure or force foreign policy decisions.

Hong Kong (colonial)

British possession acquired after the Opium Wars; key trading port leased to Britain.

Great Exhibition (1851)

World’s fair in London showcasing industrial and technological advances.

Crystal Palace

Glass-and-iron structure built to house the Great Exhibition.

Empress of India

Title granted to Queen Victoria symbolising British rule over India after 1876.

The Raj

Direct British rule over India from 1858 to 1947 following the end of the East India Company.

Maxim gun

Early automatic machine gun; used by British forces in Africa’s colonial campaigns.

Zulu War (1879)

Conflict between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom ending in Zulu defeat.

Battle of Ulundi

Final British victory in the Zulu War (1879) at Ulundi.

Matabele (Ndebele)

Southern African kingdom; involved in conflicts with the British, leading to the Matabele War.

Rhodesia

Southern Africa territory named after Cecil Rhodes; British-controlled region.

Cecil Rhodes

British imperialist and businessman who promoted expansion in southern Africa.

King Leopold II

Belgian king who personally controlled the Congo Free State and exploited its people.

Scramble for Africa

Late 19th-century European competition to claim African territories.

Omdurman

1898 battle in Sudan where British-Kitchener forces defeated the Mahdist state.

Gordon of Khartoum

British general killed defending Khartoum during the Mahdist uprising.

Egypt and the Sudan

British political and military influence over Egypt and Sudan, including control of strategic routes.

Suez Canal

Vital waterway connecting the Mediterranean to the Red Sea; key route to India.

Dominions

Self-governing territories within the British Empire (e.g., Australia, Canada, New Zealand).