Unsung Contributions and Interrelationships: 19th Century British Empire, Ireland and Victorian Britain - Coursework Example

Unsung Contributions and Interrelationships: T19th Century British Empire, Ireland and Victorian Britain The 19th century saw the vast development and rise to power of England, both as an empire and as a nation—spearheaded by Queen Victoria. It can be said that the Victorian Era was one of the most prosperous times of England, wherein England became the pioneering country for industrialism. Reaping the rewards of industrial development at home, England was simultaneously broadening its power and influence abroad through the rise of the British Empire, Ireland being considered as a “secondary kingdom due to the Union Act,”1 with its income contributing largely to the development of Victorian Britain. The terminologies used, “Victorian Britain” and “British Empire,” show the disparity of treatment of the histories of these two entities. It is a fact that many historians up until the present have consciously separated the histories of the British Empire and England. While the former chronicles Great Britain, its territories, colonies, dominions and protectorates, the latter shows a linear record of the country. However, this is problematic as the British Empire cannot be disconnected from its mother country. For one, how can Great Britain not reap the rewards of its empire? How can it be said that the history of the colonizers can stand alone from its colonies when the former rules the latter and has control and dominion over most, if not all, of its reources? How can the British Empire not have any direct influence and/or contribution over the prosperity that Victorian Britain is enjoying? These are the questions that this paper aims to address through the elucidation of the unsung contributions of the empire and Ireland to the development of Victorian Britain and the resulting interrelationships that were formed that proved to be beneficial to the great nation that is Britain. This paper will argue that Victorian Britain could not have prospered as it did during the 19th century without the significant contributions of the empire and of Ireland. It is the premise of this argument that the basis for these beneficial interrelationships—whether mutual or exclusive—is the bond that exists between the colonizer and the colonized. Furthermore, it can be surmised that, even with the bulk of negative propaganda against the colonies and Ireland that manifests racism to the extreme, their contributions to the development of Victorian Britain cannot be denied. These contributions are most significant in the areas of economic and industrial development, as well as within innovations in the field of science. These will be proven throughout the course of this essay through the writings of reputable historians who have attempted to highlight these contributions against the negative propaganda created by British writers during that time. The Relationship of the Colonizer and the Colonized In order to better understand the interrelationships that were formed during 19th century England between the empire, Ireland and Great Britain and assess the contributions of these relationships to the development of Victorian Britain, it is necessary to examine and discuss the intrinsic relationship that exists between them. Great Britain and the British Empire Great Britain took pride and gave utmost importance to the hierarchical structure of their society that they aimed to organize their colonies in much the same way.2 They rule their colonies and treat them as second-class citizens, with them being the liberator of these colonies; providing them with a semblance of modern culture. “Britons saw themselves as the lords of all the world and thus of humankind.”3 Their colonies were inferior to them; and thus, they think of themselves as having rightful control over the fate of these countries—with each colony’s purpose to serve the empire and to create a more prosperous and powerful Great Britain.4 Consequently, Great Britain holds these nations’ economic stability at their hands; and the colonies were forced to submit to British rule simple because they had no choice.5 “The British colonial regime coerced them into becoming taxpayers, wage labourers, and agriculture commodity producers.”6 Hence, it can be seen here how the empire controls the economy of each colony, marketing their crops and minerals as exports and asking them to pay taxes in the process.7 This is evidence that by becoming the facilitator and middleman in international trade characterized byimperialism and consumerism, the empire amassed great wealth, which only goes back to its mother countr, Great Britain. Thus, it can be seen here how the empire has furthered the development of Victorian Britain by almost literally financing the country’s endeavors and strengthening its hold in the international market through “the overvaluation of the commodity of the industrial market and the disavowal of colonized economies in the arena of the empire.”8 Ireland and Great Britain Although the controversial question on whether Ireland was a colony of Great Britain9 or an integral part of the nation due to its close proximity to the country10 is still a topic of debate today, it can be said that the relationship that exists between these two nations is much like that of a colonizer and a colony. London Parliament “expected and demanded that Ireland behave in a loyal manner” as it was considered to be a British nation through the Union Act at the start of the 19th century.11 However, even with the Union Act, the Irish were treated as inferior to the British, with a distinct feeling of anti-Irishness permeating Victorian Britain—much like how colonizers treat their colonies. 12 At the very least, the Irish has been labeled as an uncivilized and violent people13; and the worst is that they have been called “human chimpanzees.”14 Because of this, McRaild coud not help but state that “the rawness of Victorian British racism has been cited as proof positive that nothing less than the colonizer-colonized relationship is needed to characterize the British attitude to, and the reality of British power over, the Irish in the nineteenth century.”15 It can be concluded then, that with this type of relationship, Great Britain also has the means to exploit Ireland as it wishes; and this did happen as the Irish nation was subdued and controlled by Great Britain to the point that it has been said that Victorian Britain could not have developed as rapidly and as extensively as it did without Ireland—both intellectually16 and economically17. Significant Contributions to the Development of Victorian Britain After having established the colonizer-colonized relationship that existed between Victorian Britain, the empire and Ireland, it can then be assumed that the tendency for the colonizer to exploit its colonies is a reality back then. So much so, that the exploitation of the colonies and Ireland contributed greatly to the development of Victorian England—both intellectually and in terms of growth in the British economy. Contributions to the Economy The colonies and protectorates of the empire became Great Britain’s source of raw materials, agricultural produce for exportation and cheap labor. In Africa, the Africans were forced to bow down to the empire’s dictates in order to survive and prosper. “The most viable strategies for capital accumulation and social advancement were through either employment in the colonial administrative, coercive and cultural fields or by organizing labour and producing agricultural commodities for colonial markets.”18 As industrial means of mass production developed in Victorian Britain, the colonies serve to provide the factories and companies with raw materials needed to make the final products that will be sold en masse, not only to Victorian Britain, but also exported to the empire. For instance, as “the sources for cheap palm oil, coconut oil, and cottonseed oil flourished in the imperial plantations of West Africa, Malay, Ceylon and New Guinea,”19 these ingredients were used to develop the burgeoning soap industry in Great Britain. A new breed of soap was created that can moisturize the skin and packaged through racial and colonial advertisement to cleanse the soul was introduced to the Victorian market and were later on exported to other countries in Europe, as well as to the colonies.20 This is just an example of gow consumerism rose during Vioctorian Britain, which contributed greatly to its economic development. Furthermore, and especially during the Great Famine, Irish migrants provided the cheapest labor, which means that industrial companies were never short of laborers; and thus, production continued with minimum delay and sustained Victorian progress and development.21 It can be concluded then, that Ireland, no matter how impoverished a nation it was and no matter how insignificant they may seem to Victorian Britons22, has “its own contribution to the process of Empire-building.”23 Consequently, it can be said that while Great Britain provided the technology for the means of production, its colonies and Ireland provided the raw materials and cheap labor that sustained and contributed to the industrial growth of the nation. Contributions to the field of Science and Intellect The empire and Ireland also contributed greatly to the intellectual and scientific enrichment of Victorian Britain. For instance, the British Association’s first meeting, after it replaced the Royal Dublin Society post-Union Act, showed that “a clear third of the papers in physics, mathematics and chemistry were Irish originating, and they represented significant contributions to the frontiers of knowledge.”24 India, also provided the empire and Great Britain with more advanced knowledge on mathematics and statistics.25 These show how the empire and Ireland concretely added to the richness in knowledge in Victorian England. Not only were labor and resources were tapped, but the people’s minds were exploited, as well. Conclusion Due to the colonizer-colonized relationship that existed between Victorian Britain, the empire and Ireland, it was inevitable that the Britons would succumb to exploitation—that is, abusing their colonies and Ireland to sustain and increase their own prosperity. More often than not, this occurred at the expense of what they thought to be as inferior nations. This exploitation has successfully and positively contributed to the progression of the economic and intellectual development of Victorian Britain through cheap labor, various natural resources, and scientific discoveries and innovations. Bibliography Cannadine, David. Ornamentalism: How the British Saw Their Empire, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002. Cronin, Mike. A History of Ireland, Basingstoke, England: Palgrave, 2001. Duffy, Enda. “As White As Ours,” in Empire and after: Englishness in postcolonial perspective, edited by Graham McPhee and Prem Poddar, United States: Berghahn Books, 2007. Halloran, Halloran. “"An Éirinneach nó Sassanach tú?" — Are You Irish or English?” The Victorian Web, http://www.victorianweb.org/history/halloran1.html Harkness, David. “Ireland” in The Oxford History of the British Empire: Volume V: Historiography, edited by Robin W. Winks and Alaine M. Low, 114-133, New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. Johnston, Roy. “Science and Empire in Victorian Ireland: The Evidence of British Association Meetings,” The Victorian Web, http://www.victorianweb.org/history/ireland/johnston1.html MacRaild, Donald M. Irish Migrants in Modern Britain, New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1999. McClintock, Anne. Imperial Leather: Race, gender and Sexuality in the Colonial Contest, New York: Routledge, 1995. Parsons, Timothy H. “African Participation in the British Empire” in Black Experience and the Empire, edited by Philip D. Morgan and Sean Hawkins, 257-285, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. Read More