British Colonialism: The Role Of British Imperialism In Great Britain

It is commonly acknowledged that Europe, especially Great Britain, used the methods of imperialism to further extend their empire in both economic and territorial ways and thus brought them to be the vastest empire the world as ever known to date. However, it is questioned that without the method and direct action of imperialism would Britain’s economy not have thrived to such heights as they did? While it is a debatable topic the evidence is clear throughout history. British imperialism grew to such extents that it is said around twenty-five percent of the world was at one point under the rule of the British (Johnson). Imperialism brought Britain’s empire into great power and improve their trading of good, intake of money, and overall control …show more content…
Back in the 15th-18th century, one who was not considered to be part of the white, western, or Christian population of nations were looked upon as inferior compared to the ones who were and was more than likely the targets of imperialism rather than the successors (Said). The main targets of imperialism were India, East Indies, and the Americas (Britannica). In the 17th century the East India Company, who were actually London merchants, made their first move into East India for the sole purpose of trade particularly the trade of spices (Britannica). When they got there however, they made a deal with Sir Thomas Rose that in return for their military support they would establish trade as well as factories (Britannica). India’s military at the time was far behind that of the Europeans so naturally it only made sense to offer training in return for what they wanted to establish (Britannica). The strict training of discipline and guarantee of a regular income of money, very much unlike what they were offered before, helped to improve the Indian army (Britannica). Though this act may have seemed like a great kindness from the British the fact that India’s military personnel were so use to being mistreated beforehand means that even though the British trainers may have been too headstrong or stubborn to a normal …show more content…
Unlike the factories today, the term factories back then for the British meant a place of trade and within each of the three trading grounds were a group of traders known as presidencies (Edney). Throughout the years, each of the three trading factories flourished in their own way but the main factory was Madras. Out of the three, Madras was noted as a presidency which meant that that factory was essentially under the authority of a president and its development took off from 1668-1749 with its specialty in weaving cotton (Chennai). Madras was also located right near the India Ocean Trade routes which made it all the more accessible to other countries because the trade routes connected Southeast Asia, India, Arabia, and East Africa (Edney). Knowing this, it’s clear to see that imperialism within India helped the British Empire because without it they would not have gotten such great accessibility to an important trade route and in return also gain so much profit from it. The overall effects of the influence the Europeans had on India throughout the many years was more so negative than positive when looking at how imperialism affected the country all together. While some areas of the country thieved due to certain shots of luck for the British like cheap labor, areas such as Burma and Siam had collapsed during the later part of the