The British empire

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE EMPIREPART ONE

The industrial revolution

A mill – a factory – a plantSmokestack industriesManufactured goodsProduction linesProduce on a massive scale =

mass produceA loom – weaveUnskilled workersLong woring hoursStreamline = rationalizeA drudgery = a painful,

backbreaking job

The work forceA cheap labour forceA foremanLive below the poverty line /

below the bread lineThe monied classes – the factory

owners – the industrialistsSqualid tenements – slumsUpgrade = improveA huge increase in the

populationRampant urbanization

VOCABULARYTrade: commerce, affaires, échangesOverseas trade: commerce

internationalDo a lot of trade withA trade agreementA two-way tradeA traderThe merchant class - merchandiseA privateer: un corsaireA buccaneer: boucanier, filbustierA trade barrier: barrière douanièreRaw materials: matières premièresGoods: bien (de consommation)

A chartered company: société bénéficiant d’un privilège octroyé par la couronne

Competition: concurrencePurchase = buyCovet a market: convoiterAn outlet: un débouchéGrowth: la croissanceA provider: un fournisseurTo provide a country withLevy a duty: percevoir une taxeImport levyEnjoy a monopoly overMercantile law

The birth of the empire

The British command of the seas (after the defeat of the Spanish Armada) made it possible for the country to develop trade.

The Crown encouraged private commercial ventures through the creation of chartered companies.

The first fortified trading posts gradually extended their powers and gained political control over larger territories.

The European demand for sugar and tobacco led to the growth of the plantations and the ensuing slave trade. England exported its manufactured goods and cloth to the colonies).

Navigation Acts

• The Navigation Act 1660 : ships' crews (équipages) had to be three-quarters English, products not produced by the mother country, such as tobacco, cotton, and sugar were to be shipped from the colonies only to England or other English colonies.

• The Navigation Act 1663 required all European goods bound for (à destination de) America (or other colonies) to be shipped through England first. The trade had to be carried in English ships, imports of 'enumerated commodities' (such as sugar, rice, and tobacco) had to be landed and taxes had to be paid before going on to other countries. This increased the cost to the colonies, and increased the shipping time.

East India Company Wall PaintingThis image was painted on the ceiling of

the headquarters of the British East India Company in London in 1778.

It uses a range of figures to illustrate different aspects of the work of the East India Company.

Britannia is sitting on a rock to show how well established the empire was and is guarded by a lion to show its power.

The children behind Britannia and under her protection represent the British East India Company.

The stream of water at the bottom of the painting is the Indian river Ganges. Calcutta (the main settlement of the Company in Bengal) presents a basket with pearls and other jewels.

China is represented by jars of porcelain and a box of tea, and Bengal by an elephant and a camel. In the background a ship is taking the treasures of the east back to Britain.

Mercantilism

England aimed at reaching self-sufficiency.To do so, the naval strength had to be reinforced and

colonial trade had to be regulated.Several Navigation Acts were passed as early as

1651. They aimed at putting an end to the increasing power of Dutch merchants and were passed against the backdrop of the development of the Spanish and Portuguese empires. They stipulated that English trade was to be conducted by English vessels only.

• In keeping with the general policy of mercantilism, England encouraged the colonists to specialize in the production of raw materials. English factories converted raw goods to products which were then shipped back to the colonies. This provided the British with a profitable market, free from competition. In order to discourage manufacturing, regulations governed certain industries that would have been competitive with the British, such as the woolen-garment industry, hat making, and the iron industry. Meeting domestic needs was permissible within the regulations; they were intended mainly to prevent exports. In fact, there were many advantages that the colonists received from this system, such as having a built-in market for their raw products.

The Secret of England’s Greatness (1863) by Thomas Jones Barker

• It depicts Queen Victoria presenting a bible to a kneeling African chief in the Audience Chamber at Windsor.

• In the background are her husband, Albert, and members of the government. The painting was reproduced in engravings and was very popular at the time.

• Despite the frequent depiction of empire as a masculine world, the queen was the symbolic figurehead of the British Empire.

MAPPING THE EMPIREPART TWO

The Map of Empire: A conversation with Linda Colley

“Very often, as I say in the book, the map mades the empire seem even more connected, by presenting stretches of homogeneous red territory joined by a web of telegraph wires extending across the world. It is a very powerful image, and of course it was intended to be a very powerful image, but one's got to go beyond it. As for the use of pink on imperial maps, as far as the British are concerned-the first time that I know that it happens is in James Rennell's maps of India from the 1770's/1780's. You can see him using pink and red there. Now I don't know how pink and red came to be the British color. It could be because British troops wore red coats. I'm not sure if cartographic scholars have worked that out. But that convention does seem to be coming into maps in the last third of the eighteenth century, which is exactly what you would expect, and becoming much more pronounced over the course of the nineteenth century.”

http://www.princeton.edu/prok/issues/2-2/colley.xml

The British Empire, 1897

DEPICTING THE COLONIZEDPART THREE

• This watercolour (aquarelle) is taken from an illustrated book.

• It features all the peoples who compose / make up the British Empire.

• The frame (le cadre) is richly decorated, its colors being in harmony with those of the British flag.

• In the top right and left hand corner, two cornucopias (cornes d’abondance) with grapes and exotic fruit symboolize the wealth of the Empire.

• In the foreground, two colonial officials are leading the retinue (cortège).

• They are followed by the representants of verious continents (North America, Africa, Asia).

• The British flag stands in the middle of the crowd.

• Farther beyond, an elephant represents India, « the jewel of the crown », as it is usually called.

• The colonized people are dressed in traditional costumes.

Johan Zoffany, 1790, 'Colonel Mordaunt watching a cock fight at Lucknow', India.

• The scene is set in a tent, under which Company officers and administrators from the East India Company are sitting.

• In the foreground two cocks with metal spurs fight, watched by attendants. Various members of the surrounding Indian crowd hold their fighting cocks in readiness for their turn.

• A group of women stand apart on the left with musicians behind them.

• This picture once belonged to Warren Hastings (1732-1818), the first Governor-General of India.

• It shows that colonial officers delighted in the exotic spectacles and liked being entertained by the local populations.

The British administrators are in a superior position; they stand on a plateform, under a red canopy that distinguishes them from the colorful crowd. They seem to despise (mépriser) these traditions.

The ceremony of Ayudha Puja, 1850-54

This watercolor documents the celebration of a traditional ceremony in Uttar Pradesh.It suggests that the colonizers respected local customs even if the Indian priests are surrounded by many British soldiers and have to perform their ceremony under British authority. The flag, represented in the middle of the picture symbolizes British rule in India.

British Empire Throughout the World Exhibited In One View, 1872

British Empire Throughout the World Exhibited In One View. Compiled By John Bartholomew Junr. F.R.G.S. A. Fullarton & Co. Edinburgh, London & Dublin.

Author: Fullarton, A. & Co.Date: 1872This historical cartographic

image is part of the David Rumsey Historical Map Collection

Detail

Detail

THE BRITISH EMPIRE, 1886

Illustrated map by M.P. Formerly

An inset: un encartA peacock: un panFeathers: plumesA shield: un bouclierA trident: un tridentA headdress: une coiffeA cornucopia: corne d’abondanceA dove: une colombre