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British Empire - Introductory chapter
This document outlines the rise and expansion of several historical empires from 1479 BC to the late 19th century. It then focuses on the beginnings of the British Empire from the late 15th century through the colonial period. Key events included English explorers like Cabot, the establishment of trading companies like the East India Company, early colonies in North America and the Caribbean, and the growth of the triangular slave trade to support profitable crops. The empire expanded through trade, religion, and seeking national glory.
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British Empire - Introductory chapter
- 1. God, Gold, & Glory AnIntroduction to Empire Building
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- 5. Muslim Empire 622- 650
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- 7. What Motivates Empires The3 G’s God religious fervor converting natives Gold expand trade profit Glory adventure power national pride
- 8. The 1st BritishEmpire 1763
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- 11. English Explorers 1497-Henry VIIIcommissions Italian John Cabot to explore the coast of Newfoundland Giving English the claim to the Americas
- 12. English Colonial Expansion Beginningsof the British Empire John Cabot 1497-98
- 13. Sea Dogs (ElizabethanPirates) English sea captains under Queen Elizabeth I explorers & adventurers Sir Francis Drake Sir Walter Raleigh
- 14. Piracy 1500’s English seacaptains harass the Portuguese and Spanish—become Privateers or Pirates 1580’s Francis Drake-1st Englishman to circumnavigate the globe was also a pirate 1550-1850 the English crown gave permits for pirates to operate on high seas.
- 15. Sea dogs ElizabethI commissioned Drake to sail into the Caribbean and raid all of the Spanish settlements along the coastline
- 16. The Spanish Armadawas assembled by Spain to end British piracy but failed. Pirates were celebrated as heroes the Spanish Armada considered as an instrument of Catholic repression.
- 17. Territories Beginnings of the BritishEmpire Begins in 1600s (17th century) English navy becomes a major force England becomes leader in world trade English Colonial Expansion
- 18. Early settlements inAmerica 1606- The Virginia Co. of London—sent expeditions to America to search for gold and silver The following year the Co. founded the 1st permanent English settlement- Jamestown A group of religious dissenters -Pilgrims founded a second colony Plymouth— present day Massachusetts
- 19. The British inAmerica England was slow to establish colonies in America. English Colonial Expansion Jamestown 1607
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- 21. British East IndiaCompany 1600-1708 • English company created in 1600 to exploit trade with East and Southeast Asia and India. •Started as a monopolistic trading body • Became involved in politics and acted as an agent of British imperialism in India
- 22. English Colonial Expansion Settledon the island of Jamaica (1655) Bahamas (1648), and Barbados (1627) 1640-English introduce sugarcane plantations to the island Worked by slave labor Made 3x’s more profit than tobacco
- 23. Slave Trade In the1600’s the colonies of the America’s based their economies on agricultural products that required intensive labor Sugar, tobacco, coffee, and mining
- 24. Triangular Trade Shipssailed in the triangle formed by Europe, Africa, and the Americas In European ports ships carried: manufactured goods (knives, swords, guns, clothes, rum) West Africa: traded enslaved Africans bought from local rulers America: Enslaved Africans sold and money used to purchase sugar, cotton, and tobacco Ships returned to Europe to sell goods- completing the triangle
- 26. Sugar • In colonies,British soon discovered furs, tobacco, fish and potatoes and mainly SUGAR • Sugar made colonisation worthwhile. • However, it required labor: Slaves.
- 27. An Empire ofTrade British now drank tea with sugar. Tea brought from China by the East India Company, who paid for it with opium grown in India. Sugar grown in the British West Indies and Southern States of America on plantations owned by British emigrants and worked by slaves Slaves bought by British merchants in Africa and paid for with British manufactured products – such as cooking pots, or guns.
- 28. In 1686 aloneBritish colonies shipped goods worth over £1 million to London. Exports to the colonies consisted mainly of woollen textiles; Imports included sugar, and other addictive products such as tobacco and coffee.
- 29. Coming next Mercantilism Regulations Colonists’Resistance Independance war