Nineteenth-Century British Imperialism Essay

Imperialism is the policy of extending the role of authority of a nation over a foreign country, usually in material gain. In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, the United States went through an era of imperialism. At the time, the US was quite powerful, but was looking to continue to spread their territory, make themselves even stronger, and have multiple trade routes to have all the resources they needed and wanted.

Imperialism was a time period in which more developed nations colonized less developed nations. The developed nations took advantage of the less developed nations resources, people, lands, and much more. Many countries lost their freedom and independence due to imperialism, however, they also received new technologies and innovations.

The 19th and 20th century imperialism was substantially about the exploitation of the empires colonies and thus was not a necessarily an ‘civilizing mission’. During the 19th and 20th century European powers tried to justify their actions, by claiming that they were trying to re-educate the native population through education, this included Christian missionaries which were placed throughout Asia, Africa and Latin America. However, it became apparent that these powers gained significant wealth by commercializing items that could not be obtained otherwise. Two key examples of imperialism in the 19th and 20th century includes the Belgium Congo whereby Leopold II gained significant wealth through rubber plantations and the British

“Englishmen.. have given the people of India the greatest human blessing - peace.” (Dutt). Merely coming to India in the 1600s to trade, the British East India Company established trading outposts. After ridding of French influence in India during the Seven Years’ War and having Indians mutiny against British rule, Britain gained full control of India. India has been under the imperialist control of the British until their independence in 1947. British imperialism caused some negative effects on India through poverty and persecution, but retained more of a positive impact due to its massive improvements in the modernization of India and the overall improvement of Indian civilization.

Foreign trade is one of the most important aspects of Asian and European Empires. Without trade, these empires would not have flourished in the manner that they did. Many different factors played a role in developing trade in their cultures. As various empires ruled from 2000 BC to 1911 in Asia and Europe, trade has had a major influence in the development of those cultures as seen today. The nation that has the most success in trading becomes the strongest nation and will last the longest.

Imperialism is a policy that has positively impacted nations and their development for centuries. This was especially true during the late 1800s and early 1900s, when many European nations began to expand far beyond their borders. Imperialistic policies were not only good for the development of countries that were expanding, but in many cases, the countries that were being expanded into as well.

British imperialism lasted for hundreds of years and has had staggering effects in India that we can still see today. Britain initially became interested in India in the 1600’s; the government set up trading posts around the country because it was interested in the raw materials and resources available. At first Britain used indirect rule through Sepoys -- Indian soldiers -- but after the Sepoy Rebellion Britain had to step in to rule directly. Although British imperialism had positive effects such as eradicating immoral customs and paving the way for modern India, it also had numerous negative effects, such as by creating laws to better control Indians which left their government negatively impacted, taking from India with no concern for the

The British originally came in as a decent sized company in East India, but when the sepoys attacked that company, England sent their whole army and navy to get the sepoys under control, but while doing that they also took over all of India. Although economically and socially the Indians did benefit in some ways, the British established a massive infrastructure by controlling India and having a huge political, economic, and social impact on India that helped them more than it helped the Indians.

The French and Indian War set the stage for future events that no one could ever have imagined. The economic practice of mercantilism, which insured profit only to the mother country was the accepted practice between England and her colonies. As long as these economic policies were met, England left much of the day to day governing of the colonies up to the colonies. It was this "salutory neglect" that ultimately led to the ideological differences between England and the colonies. England won the war, but it paid a great price for that victory. England was bankrupted, and as a result had no choice but to look to her colonies to regain financial stability. The pressures of taxation and naval restrictions imposed by the crown and Parliament,

The British possessed most of the economic and political power and established restrictions, which the Indians were not allowed to go against. However, India received several benefits from Britain’s rule, mainly in economy and education. The British rule in India assisted India in developing its capital for the future, as an independent country. Britain discovered several raw materials, which could easily be produced in India, which meant more wealth.

There are so many reasons as to why India and Great Britain both got benefits from imperialism. Great Britain, the most powerful country in the world (at the time) just so happened to be very imperialistic. They took over India, and brought a lot of *civilized features to India. This helped shape the India everyone knows about today. British Imperialism vastly improved India because the location was great, the resources were satisfactory, and the country had a very immense population.

Imperialism has been a long standing ideology that is able to withstand the tests of time due to the applicability of the concept. The general definition of Imperialism, as provided by Merriam-Webster, is the practice in which a country furthers its power by the means of control and domination in other regions of the world. This took on a new form as the nineteenth-century approached, as Traditions & Encounters a Global Perspective on the Past elaborated, it mainly pertained to European powers at this time and their control over colonial land and the world of influence. 19th century imperialists had three main foci, these being economic, political, and cultural motifs, these foci dominated the reasons for imperialism in the nineteenth-century and determined how nations would interact with the world and others; these foci would often find conflicts with each other and overlap causing disruption in the goals of the nations involved.

     Throughout American History the U.S. has sought to expand its boundaries. This need increased greatly during the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century with the start of the industrial revolution. This Expansion was a big departure from earlier attempts to expand the boundaries of the U.S. The needed for Natural resources forced the U.S to look for places that could supply them with the natural resources they needed and markets where they could sell their goods in. The need to imperialize caused the U.S. to look to foreign places to gain resources to better the nations industries.

What is the New Imperialism and what were the cause and effects in the World Wars in order to understand what is the “New Imperialism”, we must first learn and define Imperialism: a policy or practice by which a country increases its power by gaining control over other areas of the world: the effect that a powerful country or group of countries has in changing or influencing the way people live in other, poorer countries. The New Imperialism takes on effects in the late 19th century this is when there is an interest or wanting to gain a imperial territory, Imperialism is also consider to be when there is a desire to control a trading routes and resources in a nation. A perfect example of the New Imperialism is called the "Scramble for Africa", this is when Europe tries to takes control over Africa. In the late 19th century Europe struggle to destabilize and to balance the power that they once had before Italy and Germany became unify.

By the for all intents and purposes late 19th century, the for all intents and purposes British Empire essentially was the basically the largest formal empire that the world had known, which specifically is quite significant. In addition to really white settler colonies in Australia, Canada, South Africa, and New Zealand, there were colonies in Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean. In 1815, Britain kind of had for the most part become the dominant power in the world following the end of the Napoleonic Wars, with its wealth and power built on the slave trade and the growing demand for sugar, tobacco, cotton, tea, and coffee, which particularly is fairly significant. Apart from southern Africa, the move into very sub-Saharan Africa did not really