The world's first superpower : the rise of the British Empire from 1497 to 1901

69 Pages·2011·2.645 MB·English

by  Denis Judd, Recorded Books, LLC

T W ’
HE ORLD S
F S :
IRST UPERPOWER
THE RISE OF THE
BRITISH EMPIRE FROM
1497 TO 1901
COURSE GUIDE
Professor Denis Judd
LONDONMETROPOLITANUNIVERSITY
The World’s First Superpower:
The Rise of the British Empire from 1497 to 1901
Professor Denis Judd
London Metropolitan University
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TheWorld’sFirstSuperpower:
TheRiseoftheBritishEmpirefrom1497to1901
ProfessorDenisJudd
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Lecturecontent©2004byDenisJudd
Courseguide©2004byRecordedBooks,LLC
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2004byRecordedBooks,LLC
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#UT048 ISBN:978-1-4025-9589-9
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CourseSyllabus
TheWorld’sFirstSuperpower:
TheRiseoftheBritishEmpirefrom1497to1901
AboutYourProfessor......................................................................................................4
Introduction......................................................................................................................5
Lecture1 TheTudorEmpirefromtheDiscoveryofNewfoundland
in1497totheFoundingofVirginiaandthe
DeathofElizabethIin1603 ....................................................................6
Lecture2 ColoniesintheNewWorld......................................................................11
Lecture3 TheBritishinIndia,c.1600-1815............................................................17
Lecture4 TheAmericanRevolutionandthe
RestructuredEmpire................................................................................21
Lecture5 AustraliaandNewZealand:
Convicts,Settlers,andSelf-Government................................................26
Lecture6 Ireland:MotherCountryorExploitedBritishColony? ............................30
Lecture7 TheCanadianCrisisandtheSpreadof
InternalColonialSelf-Government..........................................................34
Lecture8 TradeandDominion:TheProfitsandCommerceofEmpire..................38
Lecture9 TheBritishRaj,1815to1905:
TheHighNoonofEmpireinIndia ..........................................................42
Lecture10 TheSuezCanal,Egypt,Sudan,andtheMiddleEast ............................46
Lecture11 ThePartitionofAfrica:
OpeningUpthe“DarkContinent”............................................................50
Lecture12 EmpireBuildersandEmpireCritics........................................................54
Lecture13 ConflictandWarinSouthAfrica ............................................................58
Lecture14 HurrahfortheJubilee!QueenVictoria’s1897
DiamondJubileeandtheMeaningofEmpire ........................................62
CourseMaterials............................................................................................................66
RecordedBooks............................................................................................................68
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Judd
Denis
of
courtesy About Your Professor
Photograph Denis Judd
DenisJuddisProfessorofBritishandCommonwealthHistoryatLondon
MetropolitanUniversity.HewaseducatedatMagdalenCollege,Oxford,
goingontotakehisPh.D.attheUniversityofLondon.HeisaFellowofthe
RoyalHistoricalSocietyandapolicyadvisertotheForeignand
CommonwealthOffice.HeisafrequentbroadcasteronradioandTVinthe
UnitedKingdomandabroad,andaregularcontributortotheinternational
press.Hismorethantwodozenbookscoverawidevarietyoftopics—histori-
calstudies,biographies,children’sstories,andtwonovels.
HishistorybooksincludeTheLionandtheTiger:TheRiseandFallofthe
BritishRaj(2004),TheBoerWar(withKeithSurridge[2002]),andEmpire:
TheBritishImperialExperiencefrom1765tothePresent,withAlisonUttley
(2001).Hisearlierwork(datesandlatesteditionsgiven)includesBalfourand
theBritishEmpire(1968),TheVictorianEmpire(1970),EdwardVII(1975),
TheCrimeanWar(1975),Palmerston(1975),LordReading(1982),Prince
Philip(1991),RadicalJoe:ALifeofJosephChamberlain(1993),Jawaharlal
Nehru(1993),TheLifeandTimesofKingGeorgeV(1993),andSomeone
HasBlundered(1999).
SuggestedReadingforThisCourse
YouwillgetthemostoutofthiscoursebyreadingProfessorJudd’s
book,Empire:TheBritishImperialExperiencefrom1765tothePresent,
publishedbyBasicBooks,1998.
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m
©Clipart.co
and
PhotoDisc
©
Introduction
Thiscoursewillexaminethegrowthanddevelopmentofthelargestempire
inworldhistory—theBritishEmpire—beginningwiththelatefifteenthcentury
TudordynastyinEnglandandendingwiththedeathoftheQueen-Empress
Victoriain1901.
Bythebeginningofthetwentiethcentury,therewereveryfewcountriesor
peoplewhohadnotbeenaffected,onewayoranother,bytheimpactofthe
British.TheEmpireitselfbythencoveredoveraquarteroftheworld’sland
surface,theRoyalNavydominatedtheoceans,andoneineveryfour
humanbeingslivedunderBritishrule.
YetdespiteallofthisglobalpowerandtheemergenceofBritainbythe
beginningofthenineteenthcenturyastheworld’sfirsttruesuperpower,the
BritishEmpirehadveryhumble,small-scaleorigins.
Inthecourse,weshallproceedchronologically,butalsolookmoreclosely
atparticularthemesandcountries.Thecoursewillnotprovideafullycom-
prehensivesurvey,anenormoustaskanyway;rather,weshallseekto
uncoverandunderstandtheessentialhistoricaltruthsaboutthismightiest
ofempires.
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Lecture1:
TheTudorEmpirefromtheDiscoveryofNewfoundlandin1497tothe
FoundingofVirginiaandtheDeathofElizabethIin1603
Beforebeginningthislectureyoumaywantto...
ReadDenisJudd’sEmpire:TheBritishImperialExperience,from1765to
thePresent,pp.1-17.
Introduction:
Thislectureexplainshow,underthenewTudordynastyfrom1485,England
turnedawayfromitspreoccupationswithFranceandEuropeandestab-
lishedthefoundationsoftheBritishEmpireinNorthAmerica,theCaribbean,
andIndia.
Issues...
1.HowimportantwastheinfluenceofmonarchslikeHenryVIIandElizabeth
Iinthisprocessofexpansionandcolonisation?
2.WhatdidEnglandstandtogainfromthispenetrationofthewiderworld?
3.Wastradeandcommercealwaysmoreimportantthantheplanting
ofcolonies?
4.WerethefoundationsofBritishnavalsupremacylaidduringthisperiod?
TheTudors—RenaissancePrinces?
1.Havingendedthelengthyand
bloodyWarsoftheRoseswithhis
victoryoverRichardIIIin1485,the
newTudorking,HenryVII,set
aboutunitinghiskingdomwith
strongandrelativelyenlightened
centralgovernment.Healsobrought
thewarringfactionstogetherby
marryingElizabethofYork,the
daughterofthesecond-to-last
Yorkistking,EdwardIV.Inthe
Tudors,thehousesofYorkand
Lancasterwereatlasttrulyunited.
2.ButHenryVIIwasalsointerested
inthenewscienceandtheageof
discoverythatColumbus’sepic
EONE 1h4a9d2uvnoleyaasgheedto. theWestIndies Clipart.com
R 3.In1497-8,HenrybackedCabot’s ©
U
T voyagetotheAmericas,during HenryVII
C (1457-1509)
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JohnCabotpreparestoboardshipinBristolharboronhisfirstattempttoreachAsiaona
northerlyroutein1496.Hisfirsttryfailed,butonthesecondvoyage(1497)hereached
Newfoundland.
whichNewfoundlandwasdiscovered.Fromthen,Englandwasinvolvedin
thesettlementofNorthAmerica.
4.HenryalsoencouragedEnglishmarinerstoseektheelusivenorthwest
andnortheastseapassagestotheIndies.Althoughitprovedimpossible
toreachtherichesoftheIndiesthisway,Englishexplorersandmer-
chantsdideventuallyreachareaslikeHudson’sBayinCanadaandthe
RussianEmpire,withitstradingpotential,intheeast.
5.HenryVII’sgranddaughter,ElizabethI,wasthenextTudortoexpand
England’stradeandempirewiththefoundingofVirginiaandtheestab-
lishmentin1600oftheEastIndiaCompanytotradewiththeSpice
IslandsandIndia.
6.Eachmonarchhopedthatextratradewouldswelltaxesandbenefit
thempersonally.
NorthAmerica
1.ThediscoveryofNewfoundland,thoughitwastoprovemostvaluablefor
itsrichcodfisheries,openedthedoortoEnglish,thenBritish,colonisation
inNorthAmerica.
2.WiththesettlementofVirginiain1585,Englandwasonitswaytobecom-
ingthedominantforceinNorthAmerica—eventhoughitprovedtobea
longstruggletoputVirginiaonasoundandself-sufficientbasis.
3.ThecontinentnotmerelyallowedincreasingnumbersofBritishsettlersa
newlife,oftenfreefromreligiousintoleranceathome,butalsoboosted
thevolumeoftrade.
4.ProfitabletradetooksometimetobecomeestablishedintheNewWorld,
althougheventuallycropsliketobacco,andthensugarandcotton,were
verysuccessful.
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5.Literally,anewEnglandwasbeingcreated3,000milesfromoldEngland,
andsoonprovedtobeahavenforreligiousandpoliticaldissenters,anda
placewheresocialexperimentsinpatternsoflivingcouldoccur.
TheWestIndies
1.ThisregionwasalsoopenedupbyEnglishsettlersandmerchantsunder
theTudors.
2.Forsometime,whiteindenturedservantsandconvictsdidmuchofthe
hardwork—incolonieslikeSt.Kitts,Barbados,Nevis,andAntigua.
3.Eventually,however,itwasthoughtbetterandcheapertoimportblack
slavesfromWestAfrica,inthenowinfamous“triangleoftrade.”This
tradebeginsinearnestintheearlysixteenthcentury.
4.Thehugeprofitsfromthecane-sugar
tradesoonmadetheCaribbeanafiercely
contestedareabetweenEuropeanpow-
ers,andahotspotofpiracy.
5.InEnglishcolonies,asinNorthAmerica,
colonialassembliesranonthelinesof
theWestminsterParliamentanddomi-
natedthelocalpoliticalandcommer-
cialscene.
IndiaandtheSpiceTrade
1.LikemanyEuropeans,the
Elizabethansdesperatelywantedto
breaktheMuslims’Eastern
Mediterraneancontroloverthe
extremelylucrativespicetradefrom
IndiaandtheEastIndies.
2.Asearlyas1583,anEnglishexpe-
dition,ledbyLondonmerchant
RalphFitch,travelledthroughthe
MunidddelrestEanadstin(gn,otthineg,oitlhbouubgbhlinnogtto ©Clipart.com
thesurfaceinwhatisnowIraq),onto
ElizabethI
India,andthenontomodern
(1553-1603)
Indonesiainsearchofthespicetrade.
3.In1600,ElizabethI,hopingfortradeandcustomsprofits,charteredthe
EastIndiaCompany.Itwasthiscompanythatwaseventuallytobecome
thedominantEuropeancommercialandimperialpowerinIndia.
E 4.BythetimeofElizabeth’sdeath,Englishmerchantswerebeginningto
N
O openuptheirtradecontactswithanIndiaruledbytheMughalEmperors
E andavarietyofpowerfulprinces.
R
U
T 5.Forthemostpart,earlyEnglishtradersanddiplomatswereoverawedby
C
E thewealthandsophisticationoftheMughalimperialsysteminIndia.
L
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SeaPowerandPiracy
1.England,Shakespeare’s“jewelsetinasilversea,”hadalwaysbeena
maritimenationofsailors,fishermen,smugglers,andmenjustmessing
aboutinboats.
2.ItwasthereforenaturalthattheEnglish,backedbyarapidlyexpanding
overseastradeandanambitiousmonarchy,shouldsoonbecomethe
greatestseapowerintheworld.
3.ExplorerslikeSirWalterRaleighsoonbecamethesuperstarsoftheirday
andfavouritesatcourt,regalingtheirlistenerswithstrangetravellers’tales
andholdingoutthelureofdiscoveringsomefabulouslywealthy“el
Dorado”infardistantplaces.
4.ElizabethIusedherfamous“seadogs,”fast-sailing,daring,andruthless
sailorslikeDrakeandHawkins,toharrySpanish,Portuguese,andFrench
shipping;toraidtheSpanishcoast;andtoplundertheCaribbeanand
LatinAmerica.
5.Thedividinglinebetweenpiracyandpatrioticendeavourwasoftenvery
hardtosee,butElizabethusedhershipsinthecomplexstrugglebetween
ProtestantEngland,backingtheProtestantNetherlands,andthegreat
CatholicpowersofEurope.
6.Inthisway,theplantingofEnglishcoloniesintheNewWorldwaspartof
thebuildingofananti-Spanish,anti-CatholicempireintheWest.
7.Thisclimaxedin1588whenPhilipIIofSpainsenttheSpanish-
PortugueseArmadatoinvadeandconquerEngland.
8.ThestunningandcomprehensivevictoryoftheEnglishfleetin1588over
thearmadaconfirmednotonlyElizabeth’sthronebutalsothearrivalof
Englandasamajormaritimepower.
9.BythetimeoftheQueen’sdeath,therefore,Englandwasfirmlysetonthe
paththatwastoleadtowardherglobalimperial,colonial,andcommercial
greatness—thoughthereweretobemanydisappointmentsandfailures
ontheway,andaseriesofferociouswarstobefoughtovertradeand
coloniesagainsttheCatholicseapowersofSpain,Portugal,andFrance.
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FrancisDrakeacceptingthesurrenderofaSpanishCaptainfromtheSpanishArmada,1588
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