How was the British Empire Formed Early Empire
How was the British Empire Formed
Early Empire The British Empire began as early as 1585, when Elizabeth I was still queen. The British began to send people over to settle in north America, in what is now called Virginia. At the time they said that men like John Cabot and Christopher Columbus discovered what they called The New World. Why might some people disagree with the claim that America and Canada were discovered at this time? Sir Walter Raleigh was a famous explorer during the Tudor period. In 1585 he started a settlement in a place called Roanoke Virginia (in what is now the USA)
Why might some people disagree with the claim that America and Canada were discovered at this time? When Europeans arrived in places like America there were already people living there. So saying they were ‘discovered’ doesn’t make a huge amount of sense. In some cases the new settlers lived peacefully with the local population and traded with them at first. However as different European countries competed for power they started to take more and more land, often violently. How must it have felt for Native Americans to have a strange people arrive and take over their land?
The Empire under Victoria Over the next century the British continued to expand. They used several strategies to take land all over the world. Naval Power By having a strong fleet of ships Britain was able to defeat other powers in battle. This let them travel the world setting up new trading posts and colonies. It also let them move supplies and goods around the world. Invasion In many cases Britain sent the army to attack other countries and take over. They would then keep troops behind to make sure that the local population did as they were told. This often caused a lot of resentment in the countries they had attacked. Trade Britain often set up trading ports to buy and sell goods. Many colonies, such as Hong Kong, began as places to buy and sell goods to make the empire rich. They traded in lots of goods which we would now consider terrible, including slaves. Settlement The British arrived at several places around the world where there was not a fully united country and formed colonies. This often meant forcing whoever lived there out. This would often mean using the army or navy to attack and kill whoever owned the land.
We will look at four examples, for each one, which strategy do you think was used to take the land… (In some cases there may be more than one answer) 1) In 1757 Britain fought a war with France over Canada. The British won and all of Canada become a British Colony.
2) Britain built naval bases at Gibraltar and in the Mediterranean. This allowed British ships to restock when sailing from Europe to Africa and Asia.
3) The Qing dynasty granted the British Hong Kong in 1842, following a war. British traders set up a port at Hong Kong to buy and sell goods. This gradually grew into a thriving city. The colony became very rich, and allowed the British to make a huge amount of money.
4) In 1787 Britain started moving people to Australia and starting to found new cities. At first people were sent over as a punishment but as the colonies grew many people went to try and make their fortune. Gradually the native Australians, called Aborigines, were forced away from their ancestral homes and had to live in harsher parts of the country.
For your task today: Questions 1 -4) For each of the four examples explain which methods the British Empire used to take the land mentioned. Remember it may be more than one method. Explain how you know this. Question 5) For each method can you think of one consequence this would have had for the British? Question 6) For each method can you think of one consequence this would have had for the people living in the land already?
- Slides: 9