1. HISTORY OF THE
BRITISH EMPIRE
Postcolonial Literatures
Prof. José Santiago Fdez. Vázquez

2. 400 YEARS OF EMPIRE BUILDING
(1497-1997)

3. REASONS FOR EMPIRE BUILDING
 Economic reasons
 National prestige
 Release from national conditions
 Ideology

4. THE FORMATION OF BRITAIN
 Acts of Union with
Wales: 1536 and 1543

5. THE FORMATION OF BRITAIN
 Acts of Union with
Wales: 1536 and 1543
 James VI as sovereign
 Act of Union, 1707

6. FIRST PHASE OF EMPIRE

7. FIRST PHASE OF EMPIRE
 Ireland as a colony:
 Imposition of English as dominant language
 Repression of indigenous population and
development of a colonial foreign
aristocracy
 Ireland’s controversial “colonial status”

8. THE ATLANTIC EMPIRE
 Jamestown, Virginia (1607) ⇒ Native
Americans

9. THE ATLANTIC EMPIRE
 Jamestown, Virginia (1607) ⇒ Native
Americans
 The West Indies ⇒ Seven Years War
(1756-1763)
 Plantations and slavery

10. THE ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE

11. THE ATLANTIC EMPIRE (2)
• American Independence (1776)
• Slave trading outlawed (1807)
• Slavery forbidden (1833)

12. THE PACIFIC EMPIRE
 James Cook’s voyages (1768-
1779)
 Australian policy:
 Terra nullius
 Penal colony
 New Zealand’s conquest (1840)
 Dominion status
 Treaty of Versailles (1919)
 Statute of Westminster (1931)

13. THE SECOND EMPIRE
 1600: East Indian Company

14. THE SECOND EMPIRE
 1600: East Indian Company
 Mughal Empire:
 Established in 1526
 Declining in 18th century

15. THE SECOND EMPIRE
 1600: East Indian Company
 Mughal Empire:
 Established in 1526
 Declining in 18th century
 Trading presence evolves into colonialism:
 Armed struggle (1746-1761)
 Doctrine of lapse + misgovernment

16. THE SECOND EMPIRE (2)
 East Indian Act (1773) + End of trade
monopoly (1813): East Indian company
controlled by government
 India as an attractive destination for
colonial officials
 Transformation of India: language,
economy, religion, social structure
 1857-1858 Sepoy Mutiny

17. THE SECOND EMPIRE (2)
 East Indian Act (1773) + End of trade monopoly
(1813): East Indian company controlled by
government
 India as an attractive destination for colonial
officials
 Transformation of India: language, economy,
religion, social structure
 1857-1858 Sepoy Mutiny
 19th century control of Hong Kong + colonial
influence on continental China

18. THE SCRAMBLE FOR AFRICA:
1880s & 1890s

19. THE SCRAMBLE FOR AFRICA
 British colonies in Africa:
 Egypt
 Central African Federation
(Rhodesia)
 Nigeria
 East Africa
 South Africa (after Boer
War of 1899-1902)
 System of government:
 Direct rule
 Indirect rule

20. THE MIDDLE EAST
 After World War I
 League of Nations mandate:
 Mesopotamia (Iraq)
 Palestine

21. END OF EMPIRE
 Emergence of a new superpower: USA
 Irish Home Rule Bill (1912) ⇒ Fragmentation of Ireland
(1922)
 Anticolonial feeling in India: India and Pakistan (1947) +
Ceylon (1948)
 1960s: Most West Indian and African colonies Become
independent
 Mau Mau rising (1950s) ⇒ Kenya (1963)
 Symbolic end of empire: Hong Kong (1948)

22. LEGACY OF EMPIRE
 New colonial borders
in Africa and the
Middle East
 British Nationality Act
(1948)
 Diverse Britain