The British Empire and Overseas Trade.

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Conclusion

We believe that certain aspects of the British Empire were beneficial and others weren't. In our opinion trading was and still is a very useful aspect of our lives, providing us with multicultural foods, spices, cloths, etc. However, the fact countries like India & Canada were more or less enslaved by the British and forced to oblige is definitely unfair. Overseas Trade is a lot fairer nowadays compared to the 17th century.

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Key Words

The British Empire and Overseas Trade

Colony - A country or region under the control of another, more powerful country. e.g. India and the UK.

Empire - A group of colonies together make up a empire.

Free Trade - Trade between countries without taxing each others goods.

Imports - Goods brought into a country from abroad.

Exports - Goods made in Britain and sold abroad.

The British Empire began to take shape during the early 17th century, with the British settling in North America and the smaller islands of the Caribbean. Britain's empire grew rapidly. Britain then realised that controlling other countries would help them become wealthier. Within 50 years, Britain controlled approximately 1/5 of the world, including Canada, Australia and India

Our Point of View

Collectively, we are of the opinion that the British Empire was unfair. It affected a great majority of people around the world but benefited the British. We think that such events carried and continue to have a significant impact on the lives of many people. Although the British were unfair to other nations, we believe that a positive that has come out of the unfair advantages is that we as a country now celebrate the many multicultural things we use everyday.

Whats your opinion?

India

How Britain benefited from all its colonies

India was considered the most valuable possession of the British Empire. It played a key role in maintaining the Empire and in both of the World Wars.. As well as providing spices, jewels and textiles, India had a huge population, this formed the 'backbone' of the British military. Becoming a solider was an honorable tradition in India at the time. India played a key role in maintaining the Empire and in both of the World Wars.

Both Britain and France gained important economic benefits from having colonies.

Britain forced its colonies to export their goods to Britain. Britain also imported raw materials from its colonies. Sometimes it 'finished' these raw materials e.g. Raw cotton imported from India and then exported to Europe as finished cloth. Here are examples of the Raw Materials imported into Britain, for their own benefit:

Canada

Overall

Both Britain and France colonised Canada. Canada was won from the French by the British at the End of the Seven year war in 1763. Up to the time, there had been no British colonization in what is now known as Canada. In the aftermath of the war, there was some British settlement.

British Source

These two prime examples suggest that Britain was keen on certain countries for certain reasons. Both to show authority and power and to also have access to particular raw materials.

A) What does this source tell you:

B) What does this source show:

Explain whether you think these sources gives a positive or negative view of the empire?

Where did the British take over:

Britain controlled the seas, although it is a small country, Britain had the biggest, most powerful navy, no-one could trade without permission from the British.

This map shows areas of the world that once was part of the British Empire, such as:

Canada New Zealand Nigeria

Egypt Iraq Kenya

Australia Hong Kong Florida

Jamaica Fiji India

etc...

British Colonies and Overseas Trade

By : Lakshita, Reanna, Shereena &Rebecca

British Point of View

'' In my opinion, Britain was one of the greatest Empires in History. We had the largest Empire the world had ever seen, controlling 1/5 of the world. Many nationalities hold a grudge against the English due to the harsh way we treated them. England changed towards the end of the British Empire, helping other countries instead of invading them, giving back territory, donating money to less fortunate countries, and also became a multicultural country. I am not Ashamed of what the English did in the past, in fact, I am proud we had such a large, diverse empire.''