THE NEW IMPERIALISM IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY The

THE NEW IMPERIALISM IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

The British Colonies of India, Australia, and New Zealand • Mughal dynasty in decline – regional leaders became allies of Britain or France. – British East India Company was a shadow government in Bengal. • Company leader Robert Clive defeated French at Plassey, 1757. • Treaty ending Seven Years’ War in 1763 ceded French holdings to Britain.

• Under Clive, the Company expanded its holdings in India, often by force or bribes. • Company officials intrigued by native culture – Some took native wives and adopted Indian dress. – Some ruled as nabobs, or native rulers. • Warren Hastings ruled the company 1773– 1785, had a scholarly interest in India. • Under his leadership, Indian literature and Vedas was translated into English. • Recognition of Sanskrit as an Indo-European language.

• Company far away from England allowed autonomous rule of itself and India. – Company men encouraged to exploit economic opportunities. – Hastings accused of corruption and abuse. • Parliament placed a governor-general in charge of the Company in India. – Cornwallis sent to reform the Company • Shift to cotton rather than spices as primary commodity. – c. 1800 India produced 20 percent of the world’s goods and services. – Replaced by industrialized West in the nineteenth century.

• Indians began to resist when exposed to Western theories about labor and voting rights. – Exposed to Western reform ideas by Protestant missionaries. – Ended sati and decreased female infanticide. • Company also built railroads and telegraph lines and brought steamships. • Shift in attitude emphasized English superiority over Indians.

• Great Mutiny of 1857. – Rumors about pig and cow fat in ammunition cartridges angered Indians. – Native concern about activities of Christian missionaries. – Fighting was brutal on both sides. • British East India Company disbanded. • British parliament assumed direct control of India, the Raj. • The “jewel” in the British crown – Victoria became the “Empress of India. ” • Left an army large enough to prevent another revolt.

• British created an Indian civil service – English and native officials – Supported by a school system • British civil servants become a caste of their own in India. – – Unlike Company, these men brought wives and families from Britain. Discovery of quinine to treat malaria encouraged English settlers. English had little contact with Indians other than servants. Theories about social Darwinism encouraged segregation of races. • Civil service extremely professional and difficult to get into. • Indian National Congress, created 1885, lobbied for autonomy.

• British able to rule India with a small civil service by policy of divide and conquer. • British used Indians in the army, with British officers in charge. – Many of the officers were Scots and Irish. – In India you could actually live on your salary. – Modern weapons, such as machine guns, let a small army keep a large population under control. • British exploited Muslim and Hindu division, as well as divisions between castes and various ethnic groups

• Lord Curzon in the early twentieth century coopted local rulers. • Revived Indian titles and grandeur, and created new honorary titles.

Australia and New Zealand

• James Cook claimed Australia for the British in 1770. • After American colonies gained independence, Britain began to send convicts to Australia. • After 1840 free subjects came and introduced agriculture. • South was suitable for cereals, and sugar and rice in the northeast. • Sheep ranching provide half of the British Empire’s wool.

• Discovery of gold and silver encouraged immigration from Britain and China. • Aborigine population dropped, from disease and confrontation with settlers. • Australia experienced an economic boom until 1890. • Labor unrest followed, led to new legislation including whites-only immigration policy. • In 1900 Australia became an autonomous dominion.

• New Zealand also settled by British, and violently clashed with native Maori. • In 1893, New Zealand became the first country to grant women the vote.