The Contribution British Colonialism Made to the Accumulation of Capital - Term Paper Example

Number: The Contribution British Colonialism made to the Accumulation of Capital during the First Industrial Revolution Britain controlled several oversea countries especially during the 1700s. For over a century, British explorers ventured both east and west as they sought raw materials, trade partners and goods. As a result, Britain continued expanding its colonies so as to gain major access to these resources. For instance toward the east, Canada offered access to great fishing grounds, New England offered timber for the Royal Navy, tobacco exports from South America and slaves from West Africa. The British colonial expansion was motivated by various factors. One of them was the need to make profits across the world. Due to the Britain’s desire to strengthen its economy, it decided to expand its colonies so as to access more land wherein they would invest. The need for Britain to establish both political and religious freedom was a motivation for colonial expansion as suggested by Liska (187). Britain wanted to ensure that most of the people in the world adopted their religion. By expanding its colonial interests the country was able to gain more followers. There was also the issue of political freedom which forced Britain to increase the number of colonies that it had so that it could rule the larger part of the world. The need for better life by the Britons also motivated their need to expand its colonial interests. The Britons needed big tracts of land where they could settle without congestion. As a result, Britain ventured across the world expanding its territories in order to acquire more land for its nationals. The fact that Britain had managed to acquire slaves motivated it to colonize more places considering that the slaves could be used as workers. There was also a growing need for more plantation areas where the slaves could be taken to work for the benefit of the British economy. Yet another factor that motivated Britain’s colonial activities was the need for new markets. After increasing its production capacities, Britain no doubt needed markets in which to sell its products. The country also needed raw materials for its industries and the easiest way that this could be done was to get them from colonies. The desire of the British colonialists to have control of the most strategic places in the world motivated the country’s need for industrial expansion. The industrial revolution was another motivation for colonial expansion as it brought with it great effects. Essentially the increase in industrial production and the expansion of urban centers brought much wealth and overcrowding making it a necessity to seek more land for expansion. British colonial expansion was faced with a number of remarkable constraints. One of these constraints was the economic imbalance. Britain was relying more on imported raw materials from its colonies and other territories more than on the export of products. This state of events led to an unfavorable balance of trade in Britain. There was also growing competition from industrialized countries as they had new factories and had access to inexpensive labor as suggested by West (132). Fighting this completion was a major challenge to Britain colonial expansion. Due to the economic changes there also arose political issues which were a major challenge to colonial expansion. Britain experienced a transformation of the political parties that existed during the pre-industrial period. They were getting fragmented into various interest groups such as land owners, industrialist, labor unions and bankers. This made politicians to become disunited and desperate for new ideologies which would unite the colonies. The international tension which was increasingly heightening was another constraint for British colonial expansion. The emergence of strongly integrated German and Italy greatly impacted the weak balance of power in the European countries. These adversely affected Britain which faced rebellion from Ireland. British colonialists were upset by this rebellion and thus had to dedicate a significant amount of time in solving it. This in effect affected colonial expansion. The issue of frequent conflicts between land speculators in Europe and the British colonies was another major challenge to Britain’s colonial expansion. These conflicts created hostility between Britain and other colonialists which took much of their time as they tried to put measures in place that could help prevent future hostilities. Britain also faced the challenge of trying to convince the natives that they ought not to fear the colonists and at the same time trying to increase its economic and political powers. This multitasking was a major constraint to colonial expansion. How Britain Formed its Colonies British formed its colonies based on what was needed at home. For instance, there was the need for natural resources or raw materials to be used in the already established industries. Since the country had almost exhausted its raw materials, there was the need to form colonies where they would be able to access those resources according to Bolton and Marshall (342). The country also formed colonies considering where they would get various raw materials for their industrial production. Formation of colonies was also based on the availability of labor. For instance, British nationals viewed Africans as having strong bodies and more submissive thus they were capable of providing cheap labor. The increasing rate of industrialization at home encouraged British nationals to establish colonies where they could access labor. Colony formation was also based on the urge for market for the industrial goods. Due the industrial revolution facing Europe that time, Britain found it necessary to establish colonies where it could gain access to markets. As such, the products established new colonies in order to compete with the other colonists. Britain was gathering lots of profit from the industries established within its national borders. There was a need to establish colonies in areas where they could invest the profits in terms of capital. As a result, the formed colonies were also formed on the basis of how such colonies would make their investments effective. These investments included the establishment of factories, industries and plantations and the profits accrued was used to establish more colonies. The geographical position of the colonies was also important for British colonization. Britain established its colonies especially along the seas for the considering the already established maritime trade routes. These types of colonies were also important to them in terms of security as the British navy was in control of the waters according to Wakefield and Ward (112). Moreover, British colonies were formed depending on the political power of the colony. Thus in areas where there was weak political power it was easy for the British to establish their rule without facing much opposition. In such a case, the British colonialists also found it easy to establish their religion in such countries which helped them to easily mobilize the citizens. The British nationals extracted resources under an unfair market since there was no compensation for such resources. It is by the use of power that British managed to expand its market worldwide. British business people would get resources from the colonies for free and later sell the products to them at heft prices. This was meant to benefit the British economy only. Britain could generate finished products efficiently and cheaply so they could be sold both locally and in foreign markets at a similar price. The free trade introduced later enabled Britain prosper in its trade with oversea countries. This way, the country managed to gain monopoly of the global market. This was possible since Britain could engage in trade as well as settle market rights with its colonies without formal acquisition of sovereignty. This meant that Britain was in a position to police the world trade without major opposition. As a result Britain could make incredible profits from its trade compared to other colonist. East India Company had the strange merit of ruling the whole country despite its humble beginning. In 1608, the British government gained the authority to set up its factory at Surat according to Joseph (57). Later Britain merged with Portugal and within some years their trade was greatly expanding especially in India. As a result, several trading places were set up along the Indian coast both in the east and the west. Under the special consideration of the first governor general of India, the British rule expansion in India was vigorously achieved. For over fifty subsequent years, the British government attempted to alleviate Indian rivals and later British territorial expansion was gained with brutal efficiency. As a result key victories were achieved and in the process, after a series of wars, Britain finally occupied the entire India. The British government applied indirect rule in India which placing the residents native ruler in a position as to be guaranteed with sovereign authority over domestic issues. The native state of India became part of Britain which led to the formation of East India Company taken over by the British government. British rule in India led to rebellion due to the harsh revenue policies, native state annexation and the situation of Indian peasantry. Following this the East India Company was dissolved in 1858. Britain managed to gain a lot of profits from East India Company despite the fact that much of the profit was invested in the country. These profits enabled Britain to invest ore capital in business which helped increase the British rule India. Many economic benefits from India went to the British government as the country had direct control of India as suggested by Joseph (127). Also due to the ruling of India no duty was charged over goods shipped to Britain and this made the Britons wealthier. The British government managed to acquire large market for Britain-made goods in India such as cotton which was shipped from India to England. These were for making clothes which were later sold to the Indians at highly inflated prices. Britain established schools, factories and hospitals in India which enabled the Britons to acquire more capital from the country. They built railways all over India which enabled their transport of goods hence increasing their market opportunities. Their introduction of technology to India also enabled them to sell their manufactured goods which earned them more profit. They spread Christianity in India which was aimed at accruing economic benefit for the British government. Britain established some of its colonies along North America’s East coast. Its early colonies in North America were Jamestown and Virginia. It managed to colonize thirteen states in America. Among other European colonizers in North America, only the British colonialist managed to establish settlers according to Bolton and Marshall (425). Britain formed the first thirteen colonies which supplied spices and various commodities to the crown thus assuring great economic value to the particular colonies. The country established and financed settlement in North America through the use of joint Stock Companies. The British colonialists later launched hostile campaigns in North America which led to them acquiring control over other lands colonized by other European countries. The British Empire expanded its territorial possession as it controlled the west of North America. The first motive for Britain’s colonization of Australia was to get a new location for the growing criminal population in Britain. According to Shaw (110), the colonization started with a small penal colony and later the whole continent. Earlier Britain had a great problem with criminals and those convicted were sent usually to America. However the American colonies rebelled and Britain could not take the criminals there hence resorting to Australia. Britain also colonized Australia in order for British citizens to begin a new life hence escape poverty and acquire wealth from the country. Another reason why Britain colonized Australia was the discovery of gold in South Australia as suggested by Wakefield and Ward (129). It led to large voyage of British citizens migrating to Australia hence increasing the population of whites in Australia. Britain also colonized Australia for the purpose of trade; the goods from Australia provided a new resource for trade in Britain which was a big incentive for them. New Zealand was colonized by the British government which also set up a European dominated government in New Zealand. The Britons established parliamentary institutions in New Zealand with no political parties which appeared later. The colonization of New Zealand by Britain claimed the attention of the Aborigines’ society according to West (78). The work of this society was to ensure the adoption of some British principles and elimination of some unfavorable impressions. It also ensured that the colonization of New Zealand and their dependence on the Britain resulted in the common benefit of both the native citizens of New Zealand and British emigrants. The industrial revolution that began in Britain and spread to other parts of the world was a direct result of the country’s investment in colonies. Due to the increase in raw material and market for goods, industries began to shift their operations from manual labor to machine driven production. Many technological developments were also experienced during the industrial revolution chief of which included the production of the internal combustion engine. Works Cited Bolton, Herbert. & Marshall, Thomas. The Colonization of North America 1492 to 1783. New York: Kessinger Publishing. 2005. Joseph, Betty. Reading the East India Company, 1720-1840: colonial currencies of gender. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 2004. Liska, George. Expanding realism: the historical dimension of world politics. London: Rowman & Littlefield. 1998. Shaw, Alan. (2009). Great Britain and the colonies, 1815-1865. London: Taylor & Francis, 1970 Wakefield, Edward. & Ward, John. The British colonization of New Zealand: being an account of the principles, objects, and plans of the New Zealand Association, together with particulars concerning the position, extent, soil and climate, natural productions, and native inhabitants of New Zealand. Ne Zealand: John W. Parker. 1837. West, Barbara. Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania, Volume 1. New York: Infobase Publishing. 2009. Read More