British Imperialism

Resources:
  • Cotton is EXTREMELY Desirable in Europe
  • Cotton:
    • Color stay when washed
    • Extremely soft compared to the fabrics the Europeans had like Linen
  • Spices:
    • India imports massive quantities of spices from the far east islands, which they sell to European traders
  • Europe makes massive amounts of profit from the products India produces

Arrival of Europe
  • India's standard of living is the same as England, so they could have been competitive with England
  • England Industrializes rapidly, whereas India does not, which puts India behind
  • 1600's | British East India Company:
    • Sets up trade posts in Mumbai, Delhi, etc.
    • Relationship goes on well for almost 200 years
  • 1780's | English Industrial Revolution:
    • Backbone is Cotton, which poses a problem for Britain since they do not control the Cotton resources
    • Develop MASSIVE amounts of factories for Textile production
    • Surplus of Textiles in England, and only one competitor which is India
    • British Government puts extremely high tariffs on Indian Cotton Fabrics, but not Indian Cotton itself
    • Devastated the Indian economy, since the people go from creating fabrics to picking cotton
  • Sepoy Soldiers:
    • BEIC owned soldiers (ie: Mercenaries)
    • Indians but they shared no affinity to the rest of India
    • The BEIC uses the Sepoys to take over all of Northern India
    • The BEIC controls India, NOT Britain itself
  • Zamindars (tax collectors):
    • BEIC gives them control over the land that they were collecting from
    • Only if the Zamindars make sure ONLY cotton is produced and no Textiles
    • Turns active communities into only Cotton Production plants
  • BEIC sends Indians to Oxford, Cambridge, and other British Universities to learn how to govern regions
    • Only send Brahmins
  • 1857 | Sepoy Rebellion:
    • Mutiny v. Rebellion - Mutiny is overthrowing YOUR leader, but a Rebellion is overthrowing a group in charge
    • Sepoys overthrow the BEIC leaders
    • Causes:
      • Political: The policy of expansion pursued by the British causes discontent among the princes
      • Social: The continuous interference of the company towards the Indian beliefs
        • Caste System was ignored
        • Widows had no place in Indian culture since they would just be a drain on the company
        • Some communities expected women to willingly throw themselves onto the funeral pyre
        • Female Infanticide: Women were thought to be useless
        • Polygamy not accepted by BEIC
      • Economic Causes:
        • Adverse effect of Industrial Revolution
        • Indians are no longer making money of of textiles
        • The people have no food crops to fall back on
    • The Catalyst: The new bullets that the BEIC uses has a pig or cow skin cartridge on the bullets
    • Britain dissolves the BEIC and takes over India for themselves

Pros and Cons of the British Empire

Pros
Cons
  • Worlds Third Largest Railroad Network was a major British achievement
  • A modern road network, telephone and telegraph lines, dams, bridges, and irrigations
  • Sanitation and Public health
    • Found Germs
    • Brought Inoculations (dead viruses rather than living ones)
  • Schools and Colleges were founded, and literacy improved
    • Upper castes and better students were sent to Britain to be educated
  • Made English the official language
  • Decimating Indian Economy
  • No Market for Textiles
  • Destruction of Social Custom
  • Takeover governmental control

Mahatma Gandhi
  • Kicked off a Train in Africa
  • Organizes a small passive rebellion by burning passes in South Africa, and shows that passive resistance works
  • 1906 | Passive Resistance: At a Meeting for the Indian National Party in South Africa he explains the idea that they will take hits, but do no damage back, to make the British look like thugs.
  • 1915 | After his prison sentence, he speaks to General Smuts about repealing the law. He succeeds in South Africa, and returns to India. He is met with great  ceremony and is recognized as a national hero.
  • 1918 | National Congress Party - At the first meeting to create a unified India for Independence Gandhi says that India is not based on Lawyers, but rather the 700,000 villages.
  • Indigo - The landlords want citizens to pay rent, but they cannot grow enough nor can they sell because the British has put severe tariffs on non-cotton goods
  • 1919 | Champaran - Gandhi starts a protest against the laws that protect the British Landlords and is decimating the Indian Economy. Gandhi is arrested.
    • Gandhi manages to get all the press to appear in court, and uses Peaceful resistance there
    • The Indians demand: Rebates on Rents payed, freedom to grow what crops they want, and
  • Strike: When the British Government passes a law Gandhi organizes a strike utilizing the entire congress.
  • 1919 | Amritsar : Protesting the inability to have meetings
    • Assembling is against the law
    • The British roll in Troops, against a peaceful assembly
    • Sikhs organize in a gurudhwara temple
    • The British troops fire on women and children, who are unarmed.
    • 400 dead, 1500+ wounded
    • General Dyre - The person that ordered the British to fire, is returned to Britain, but is awarded instead of reprimanded
  • 1919 | Gandhi and Nehru demand Independence from the British through a direct meeting with them.
  • Gandhi wants to remove "untouchable"
  • Salt - Gandhi demands that India's Salt remains a part of India's resources, The British Arrest Gandhi
    • The people march on the gates of the prison where he is held, and they take a beating from the guards.
    • British newspapers cover the event saying that India should be free, since they have taken all of the Steel and cruelty from Britain.
  • 1947 | Indian Independence - India gains its Independence from Britain, but India also splits into India and Pakistan, by Hindus and Muslims
  • India bursts into riots by Indian Nationalists who are against Gandhi, because they are Against Muslims
  • Gandhi takes up a Hunger Strike 
  • January 30, 1948 | Gandhi's Assassination and Death - He was shot in a rally, by a Hindu nationalist named Nathuram Godse