What Is The Theme Of British Imperialism

Improved Essays
GKE1 Task 3: Themes in U.S. & World History
Part A.
British Imperialism in India began as a trade venture, Britain’s lack of resources sent them to far lands in search of items such as fabrics, indigo, saltpetre, rice and sugar cane, to expand wealth and therefore power. The rise of Imperialism in India occurred over several decades starting around the mid 1700’s as British factories or trading post were developed on the coast of India. The trading post were managed under the direction of the East India Company (EIC) and their role in British Imperialism began in trade but would advance to include administration of government and armies in India. The infusion of British power in India began and expanded with the full cooperation of
…show more content…
In the beginning of imperialism in India, Indian people were cooperative with trade efforts because it benefited them as well. As British control grew Indians became resentful and out of this building resentment came resistance to British influence. The first show of this resistance involved the Indian army as an all-out mutiny in 1857 at the Indian Subcontinent area of Bengal. The sepoy recruits were asked to carry a new rifle which used cartridges that were coated with pork and beef fat and they were required to bite off the bullet end to use it. The act of handling these animal products was offensive to the Muslin and Hindus faiths of the sepoys’ and they refused to do this, resulting in the imprisonment of many and then the military mutiny began. Large numbers of mutineers joined by many rebels from civil unrest, destroyed the prisons as they freed prisoners. This caused many problems for British Imperialism and resulted in much blood shed for both sides and therefore more distant relationships followed the mutiny (Anderson, …show more content…
The taxation on tea was one of the most pivotal protest in The American Revolution. Tea being sold by The East India Company to the colonies, arrived by ships to harbors up and down the coast. The tea had been heavily taxed and this angered the colonist who decided not to buy the tea and to send these ships back to England. In Boston, this peaceful resistance wasn’t successful, so a group of colonist dressed as Indians destroyed the tea by throwing it all into the harbor. This act greatly angered Britain and they punished the colonist by a series of “Coercive Acts” such as closing Boston’s port creating unemployment, changing the government structure of Massachusetts so that Britain had more power and the colonist had less, and putting Massachusetts under military rule by placing troops there to enforce these rules. The colonies met to form a Congress with representation of all the colonies except Georgia and together they petitioned King George III to consider the colonists position, reminding him of the Americas’ loyalty. The King had already decided to retaliate the rebellious actions of the colonist with war. The first battle was an unsuccessful attempt on the part of the British to seize colonial weapons. They were intercepted by

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    The American Revolution is one of the most historic events for the United States during the 1700’s. It was the turning point in history for America, and it changed the world completely. “The American Revolution began in 1775 and ended in 1783” (SOURCE 1). The conflict first began as a result of growing tensions between American colonists and Great Britain, and escalated until a war broke out.…

    • 836 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The historical fiction novel, Rise to Rebellion, is about the lead up to, the strategies of, and the politics behind the Revolutionary War told from numerous points of view throughout the novel. The book starts out with a man, who remains nameless, who is a part of the British military. The book describes a horrible ordeal that goes down in Boston, Massachusetts, which later you find out was the Boston Massacre. This event caused a great number of people on both opposing sides of the dispute to become frustrated. The British then began to place more and more taxes on the colonists.…

    • 1927 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Even though the British provided the Indians with advanced technology and education, Imperialism within India was mostly negative because of famine, the Sepoy Mutiny, and their bad regimen or bad treatment towards them. First and Foremost in India there was famine due to imperialism. The more cotton that was being grown, the more famine deaths there were. For example, in document 3 according to the chart it shows that between 1876-1879 there were between 6.1 million- 10 million famine deaths.…

    • 605 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The relationship between the American Colonies and Great Britain were changed economically and politically after the seven years’ war (1756-1763). The conclusion of the war led to more events that began with The British Empire restriction on the expansion on settlings of colonists towards the states that were abandoned by the French colonies. The Great Britain won the war, so they went into deep debts which led to unfair taxation of the colonists. The real shift in mutual relationship is rooted in the atmosphere of Proclamation 1763. The Royal Proclamation of 1763 was seen as being useful to the Native American Indians and Great Britain; however it was a disadvantage to the colonists.…

    • 830 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    These two violent acts were the last straw and the Patriots decided it was time to go to work. The revolutionary war has now begun, at first the Patriots didn't know that they were fighting for their freedom at first, they were just fighting for less taxes. After a while when Parliament passed the Declaration of Independence it became a fight for freedom, this turned many more Colonists towards the Patriots efforts for the freedom of the United States of America. This just goes to show how the relationship between Britain and the American Colonies drastically changed from the time after the French and Indian war because of a series of events caused by the greediness of Britain. Yes, Britain did need money because they were in debt because of the French and Indian war but the colonists did not think they should be responsible for this debt so, they did something about it.…

    • 710 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Boston Tea Party Dbq

    • 1946 Words
    • 8 Pages

    This account, written in 1773, is very useful for modern day scholars to obtain a greater understanding of the Boston Tea Party. Hewes tells of the town meeting held at the Old South Church where the colonists asked that the East India Company tea not be imported. Samuel Adams then rises from his seat and proclaims, “This meeting can do nothing to save the country.” Once the meeting was adjourned colonists took notice of the Mohawk Indians charging towards the harbor. The Indians paddled towards the British tea ship, hopped aboard, then proceeded to dump 18,000 pounds of tea into the Boston Harbor.…

    • 1946 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    But overall the British had a positive impact on India’s politics, economy, and society. British imperialism had a positive impact on the politics of India because it united all of the…

    • 802 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Boston Tea Party has always been interesting to me. I always used to think of it as something that was comical when told this story in elementary history, with colonists dressing up as Native Americans and throwing tea into Boston Harbor. It never seemed like a serious thing to me until I aged a little and realized the true meaning behind these acts, I feel as though I would’ve been a part of it. The other reason why I picked this site is due to the fact that I’ve always been the type of person who needs to have reliable websites because I know that there is a lot of misinformation out there, so choosing websites that are well-known or a university website are always a must. I also know the history channel is a reliable place to learn about…

    • 836 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Apush Dbq Research Paper

    • 167 Words
    • 1 Pages

    The colonies overreacted to the British policies. For example, the Tea Act gave them a right to sell directly to the colonies. The colonists interpreted this as a sneaky way of gaining colonial support of taxes. They saw this as “taxation without representation” since they couldn't buy tea from anyone else without having to pay more money. The Sons of Liberty led by Samuel Adams, organized the Boston Tea Party to protest British rule.…

    • 167 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The power of the British empire was able to put down rebellion with minimal struggle, overcome the expense, and reap the numerous benefits that dictating India brought. The chapter of Imperialism in British history was an important one, as it shaped British policy for over a century. Britain’s triumph over India benefitted Britain through gleaning them resources and an ally during the world wars. With minimal resources used during the conquest, the reward highly exceeded the cost.…

    • 1209 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    America is one of the most stubborn nations in the entire world. Yes, that may be mostly an opinion, but many people view it to be true. The country has always been like this, and it dates back to when the Puritans, or ‘Pilgrims’, first arrived on the North American shores. The colonists did have many feuds with Britain in what they could do, and then started long wars with the country. The question is, was it all worth it?…

    • 917 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This was called the Boston Massacre. Later on, more taxes were made. One of those taxes was the Tea act that taxed tea. Just like all the other acts, the colonists were not to happy about this and began doing protests. In 1763, the Sons of Liberty snuck onto British ships and threw 342 chests of tea overboard.…

    • 689 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    During the 1600’s the King George of England made a Navigation Act which told the colonist who they could trade with. The colonies did not like this and started to smuggle their goods. The King just kept on putting more taxes and laws on the colonist. Like the Sugar, Stamp Acts and the Townshend Act.…

    • 221 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Boston Tea Party is the most important turning point in American history because it marked the first of a series of subsequent events—from British colonies to independent states and from independent states to a united nation -- that led to the formation of the United States of America. First and foremost, The Boston Tea Party led to the Revolutionary War and consequently to the Civil War, which in turn, ended the institution of slavery and redefined the political and social configuration of the American territory and the rights of its people. In addition, the Boston Tea Party marked the beginning of a series of events that led to the Declaration of American Rights, the First Continental Congress, the Continental Association (1774) and, in turn, to the Articles of Confederation and to the Declaration of Independence (1776). In other words, The Boston Tea Party represents the beginning of the American journey toward common nationality. Without the “Destruction of the tea,” as Samuel Adams called the Boston Tea Party in his…

    • 796 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    King George III and the British accumulated a massive debt after the French and Indian war. British assets were depleting at an exponential rate, so Parliament decided to tax the colonists in order to offset their expenses from the war. By reducing the debt from the seven-year war King George’s could reign over the colonies for many years to come. Consequently, Colonists in the 13 states suffered higher expenditures, even imported tea would cost more than usual. All 13 colonies gave consent on paying higher taxes to the British crown, however Boston didn’t consent because they weren’t provided representation so their response was no, but parliament subjected them anyways.…

    • 1150 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays