The British Empire

The British Empire

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Mrs Adam 2021-2022

Learn about the British Empire

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Begining of the British Empire

Over time, the British would claim more and more territories. This sometimes meant fighting with other European nations to take over their colonies.Over the course of the 17th and 18th centuries, England gained major colonies in North America and further south in the West Indies, today known as the Caribbean Islands. Here, the climate was perfect for growing crops like sugar and tobacco, so they set up farms known as plantations. Trading settlements were also created in India by a company called the East India Company. It allowed England to control of the trade of luxury goods like spices, cotton, silk and tea from India and China, and it even influenced politics.

The 16th Century is often referred to as the ‘Age of Discovery‘ – new thinking about the world and better shipbuilding led to more exploration and the discovery of new lands.Britain wanted more land overseas where it could build new communities, known as colonies. These colonies would provide England with valuable materials, like metals, sugar and tobacco, which they could also sell to other countries.The colonies also offered money-making opportunities for wealthy Englishmen and provided England’s poor and unemployed with new places to live and new jobs.

The years 1775-1783 were a turning point in British history, as the nation lost a huge part of its empire in the American War of Independence. Feeling ‘American’ rather than ‘British’, and resentful of sending money back to Britain, 13 colonies in North America united and fought to be free from British rule. With the help of Spain, France and the Netherlands, they won the war, and gained independence, becoming the United States of America. This marked the end of what is now called the ‘First British Empire’.

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The expansion of the British empire

Although Britain had lost a huge part of its North American territories, it claimed new lands in the late 18th Century and early 19th Century, forming the ‘Second British Empire‘. Colonies were founded in parts of Australia, and later Trinidad and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), Singapore and Hong Kong (China) as well as other parts of Asia.

Between 1815 and 1914, a period referred to as Britain's "imperial century" , around 26 million km2 of territory and roughly 400 million people were added to the British Empire. Unchallenged at sea, Britain adopted the role of global policeman, a state of affairs later known as the Pax Britannica. Alongside the formal control it exerted over its own colonies, Britain's dominant position in world trade meant that it effectively controlled the economies of many countries, such as China, Argentina. In 1877, Queen Victoria was proclaimed impress of India by her prime minister.

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Over the next decades the remaining colonies continued to push for independence. After the Second World War, Britain no longer had the wealth or strength to manage an empire overseas. Many colonies had fought for the British during the war (although people of colour were mainly given low-rank positions), and were making their own plans for independence.In 1947, India won its independence, and from the 1950s to 1980s, African colonies also fought for and won their independence. The last significant British colony, Hong Kong, was returned to China in 1997.

The decline of the British Empire

Over the course of the 20th century, Britain’s empire broke down in stages. After the First World War (1914-1918) there was a feeling of ‘nationalism’ sweeping the globe, whereby countries should have the right to be independent and rule themselves. In 1926, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa became independent, meaning they were no longer under British control.

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The British empire ruled over British North America in what is now Canada, beginning in about 1860. At this time, these included New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, and “Canada” which was composed of Upper and Lower Canada, today the provinces of Ontario and Quebec.

India was a colony of Britain from 1858 to 1947. It all began back in the 1600s when Britain first set up the East India Company in order to bring silk, spices, tea, and salt from India to Europe.

Short list of British colonies

In what is now the eastern US, thirteen British colonies were set up during the 17th and 18th centuries. These areas became prosperous economically and many people living in them began to wonder at one point why they needed to pay taxes to leaders back in England.

During the First Opium War between China and Britain in 1839, China temporarily gave Hong Kong Island over to the British.

These are some examples of British colonies.

The British Empire ruled over many countries in Africa, beginning in 1870. These included what are now Kenya, Sudan, Lesotho, Botswana, Northern Somalia, Egypt, Eastern Ghana, Gambia, Niger, and Benin. These were all places Britain wanted to dominate for access to goods such as rubber, salt, gold, ivory, and other natural products. One of the last British colonies to gain its independence was Zimbabwe in 1980.

The British West Indies were the British territories in the West Indies: the Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, the British Virgin Islands, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Jamaica, ...

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