The British Empire, The British Empire,
1815 - 70 1815 - 70
The British Empire in 1815 The British Empire in 1815
Main characteristics:
It was hardly a uniform association;
It had no single constitution, religion, language or system of law;
The colonies of the empire had very
little in common with each other
except their link with Britain;
The British Empire in 1815 The British Empire in 1815
There was wide variation in the forms of rule:
India was ruled by a private charter company;
Canada was ruled by an all-powerful Governor appointed by the British government;
Ascension Island was ruled by a Captain
in the Royal Navy.
The British Empire in 1815 The British Empire in 1815
The major decisions regarding the Empire were taken by the Colonial Office, a small sub-branch of the War Office;
The British government was normally too concerned with domestic politics to play a leading role in colonial affairs;
Apathy was the normal state of
affairs.
The British Empire in 1815 The British Empire in 1815
Only in matters concerning
TRADE the British government
had a coherent policy in 1815.
The British Empire in 1815 The British Empire in 1815
The Navigations Acts ensured
that all of a colony’s imports
and exports were carried by
British ships.
The British Empire in 1815 The British Empire in 1815
British goods were given a monopoly in colonial markets.
The colonies were only allowed
to export goods not produced
in Britain.
The British Empire in 1815 The British Empire in 1815
Protective tariffs were used to freeze out foreign goods.
There is no doubt that the
colonies of the British Empire
existed primarily for the benefit of
the British economy, at the
expense of their own social,
economic and political
development.
The British Empire in 1815 The British Empire in 1815
The disparate Empire served three important functions:
1.
it conferred great-power status
on Britain as the world’s major
colonial power;
The British Empire in 1815 The British Empire in 1815
2.
the Empire provided Britain with
reliable sources of food and raw
materials and a captive market
for British exports (in 1815
Britain imported 31% of its food
and 61% of its raw materials);
The British Empire in 1815 The British Empire in 1815
3.
the Empire provided the Royal
Navy with a large number of
important naval bases from
which it was able to dominate the
sea lanes of the world.
The Changing Empire The Changing Empire
Between 1815 and 1870 there were important changes within the Empire.
Britain increased by an
average of about 100,000
square miles per year during
this period.
The Changing Empire The Changing Empire
This huge increase in the extent of the Empire was not the result of a co-ordinated policy of conquest by the British government!
In many cases new territories
were acquired ‘defensively’ – to
protect areas already under
British control.
The Changing Empire The Changing Empire
In the period up to 1870 the
majority of British industrialists
and traders who were involved
in import and export had their
eyes set on a world rather than
an imperial market.
The Changing Empire The Changing Empire
Trade outside the Empire was increasing far more rapidly than trade within the Empire.
The major new fields of British
investment outside the Empire
were the USA, Latin America
and the far East.
The Changing Empire The Changing Empire
This led to a shift in attitudes towards the future of the Empire.
Increasingly, questions were
raised in Britain about the need to
maintain the Old Colonial System
which, it was argued, had outlived
its usefulness.
The Changing Empire The Changing Empire
A movement of free traders viewed the mercantilist system as out of step with the trend of times.
It was against this background
that significant changes to British
imperial rule were brought about
between 1815 and 1870.
The Changing Empire The Changing Empire
The major political change was
the granting of responsible
self-government to the
settlement colonies.
The Changing Empire The Changing Empire
The major economic reform
was the abandonment of
protectionism.
The Changing Empire The Changing Empire
The most important social reform was the
ABOLITION OF SLAVERY.
The beginning of slavery for Europeans
At the end of the 14th century Europeans started to take people from Africa against their will.
Initially they were mainly used as servants for the rich.
The Europeans justified the taking of slaves by
arguing that they were providing an opportunity for Africans to become Christians.
By the 17th century the removal of slaves from Africa became a holy cause that had the full support of the Christian Church.
The Abolition of Slavery The Abolition of Slavery
The British had used slaves in
North America since the
seventeenth century.
The Abolition of Slavery The Abolition of Slavery
The system operated in the following way:
African slaves were sold to British slave traders in West African ports.
They were transported across the Atlantic by ship in horrific conditions.
Then they were sold in the West
Indies or North America at auction
to the highest bidder.
The Abolition of Slavery The Abolition of Slavery
Between 18 and 25 million
people were forced to leave
Africa in this way during the
era of legalised slavery.
Human cost
The transatlantic slave trade resulted in a vast and as yet still unknown loss of life for African captives both in and outside of America.
Approximately 8 million Africans were killed during their storage, shipment and initial landing in the New World.
The amount of life lost in the actual
procurement of slaves remains a mystery but may equal or exceed the amount
actually enslaved.
These figures would indicate the total
number of deaths at around 16 million.
Fuel to the fire
In letters written by the Manikongo, Nzinga Mbemba Affonso, to the King Joao III of
Portugal, he writes that Portuguese
merchandise flowing in is what is fuelling the trade in Africans.
He requests the King of Portugal to stop
sending merchandise but should only send missionaries.
In one of his letter he writes:
"Each day the traders are kidnapping our people—children of this country, sons of
our nobles and vassals, even people of our own family.
This corruption and depravity are so widespread that our land is entirely depopulated.
We need in this kingdom only priests and schoolteachers, and no merchandise,
unless it is wine and flour for Mass.
It is our wish that this Kingdom not be a
place for the trade or transport of slaves."
The Abolition of Slavery The Abolition of Slavery
The injustice of slavery was under attack by the late-eighteen century.
Humanitarian reformers, church
missionary societies, and radical
writers formed an effective ant-
slavery pressure group, led by
WILLIAM WILBERFORCE, a Tory
MP.
The Abolition of Slavery The Abolition of Slavery
The British government soon bowed to this pressure and introduced several measures designed to end the slave trade.
The trading of slaves by British
citizens in Africa was made illegal
in 1807.
The Abolition of Slavery The Abolition of Slavery
In an attempt to prevent foreign slavers
taking over from where the British had
left, the movement of slaves on the high
seas was made an offence in maritime law
in 1811.
The Abolition of Slavery The Abolition of Slavery
In 1819 a register of all existing slaves was drawn up by Britain so that any illegal
additions could subsequently be traced.
The Abolition of Slavery The Abolition of Slavery
In 1830 2,600 anti-slavery petitions were presented to parliament.
In 1831 there was an unsuccessful uprising
by slaves in Jamaica which resulted in 500
deaths.
The Abolition of Slavery
The Abolition of Slavery
1761 Portugal abolishes slavery in mainland
Portugal and in Portuguese possessions in India, but not Brazil or Africa
1794 France abolishes slavery (partly-abortively)
1804 France re-legalizes slavery
1807 Great Britain abolishes slave trade within and to the British Empire
1811 Spain abolishes slavery at home and in all colonies except Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Santo Domingo
1813 Argentina abolishes slavery
1821 Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela abolish slavery
1823 Chile abolishes slavery
1824 The Federal Republic of Central America abolishes slavery
1829 Mexico abolishes slavery
1831 Bolivia abolishes slavery
1833 British Empire abolishes slavery
1842 Uruguay abolishes slavery
1848 Slavery abolished in all French and Danish colonies
1854 Venezuela abolishes slavery
1863 Slavery abolished in Dutch colonies
1865 United States abolishes slavery
1869 Portugal abolishes slavery in the African colonies
1886 Cuba abolishes slavery
1888 Brazil abolishes slavery
1894 Korea abolishes slavery
1905 Siam (Thailand) abolishes slavery
1906 China abolishes slavery
1923 Afghanistan abolishes slavery
1942 Ethiopia abolishes slavery
1958 Bhutan abolishes slavery
1962 Saudi Arabia abolishes slavery
1963 United Arab Emirates abolishes slavery
1970 Oman abolishes slavery
1981 Mauritania abolishes slavery
