HISTORY OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE

Postcolonial LiteraturesProf. José Santiago Fdez. Vázquez

400 YEARS OF EMPIRE BUILDING

(1497-1997)

REASONS FOR EMPIRE BUILDING Economic reasons

National prestige

Release from national conditions

Ideology

THE FORMATION OF BRITAIN

Acts of Union with Wales: 1536 and 1543

THE FORMATION OF BRITAIN

Acts of Union with Wales: 1536 and 1543

James VI as sovereign Act of Union, 1707

FIRST PHASE OF EMPIRE

FIRST PHASE OF EMPIRE Ireland as a colony:

Imposition of English as dominant language

Repression of indigenous population and development of a colonial foreign aristocracy

Ireland’s controversial “colonial status”

THE ATLANTIC EMPIRE Jamestown, Virginia (1607) Native

Americans

THE ATLANTIC EMPIRE Jamestown, Virginia (1607) Native

Americans

The West Indies Seven Years War (1756-1763)

Plantations and slavery

THE ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE

THE ATLANTIC EMPIRE (2)

• American Independence (1776)

• Slave trading outlawed (1807)

• Slavery forbidden (1833)

THE PACIFIC EMPIRE James Cook’s voyages (1768-

1779)

Australian policy: Terra nullius Penal colony

New Zealand’s conquest (1840)

Dominion status

Treaty of Versailles (1919)

Statute of Westminster (1931)

THE SECOND EMPIRE 1600: East Indian Company

THE SECOND EMPIRE 1600: East Indian Company

Mughal Empire:

Established in 1526 Declining in 18th century

THE SECOND EMPIRE 1600: East Indian Company

Mughal Empire:

Established in 1526 Declining in 18th century

Trading presence evolves into colonialism:

Armed struggle (1746-1761) Doctrine of lapse + misgovernment

THE SECOND EMPIRE (2) East Indian Act (1773) + End of trade

monopoly (1813): East Indian company controlled by government

India as an attractive destination for colonial officials

Transformation of India: language, economy, religion, social structure

1857-1858 Sepoy Mutiny

THE SECOND EMPIRE (2) East Indian Act (1773) + End of trade monopoly

(1813): East Indian company controlled by government

India as an attractive destination for colonial officials

Transformation of India: language, economy, religion, social structure

1857-1858 Sepoy Mutiny

19th century control of Hong Kong + colonial influence on continental China

THE SCRAMBLE FOR AFRICA: 1880s & 1890s

THE SCRAMBLE FOR AFRICA

British colonies in Africa:

Egypt Central African Federation

(Rhodesia) Nigeria East Africa South Africa (after Boer

War of 1899-1902)

System of government:

Direct rule Indirect rule

THE MIDDLE EAST After World War I

League of Nations mandate:

Mesopotamia (Iraq)

Palestine

END OF EMPIRE Emergence of a new superpower: USA

Irish Home Rule Bill (1912) Fragmentation of Ireland (1922)

Anticolonial feeling in India: India and Pakistan (1947) + Ceylon (1948)

1960s: Most West Indian and African colonies Become independent

Mau Mau rising (1950s) Kenya (1963)

Symbolic end of empire: Hong Kong (1948)

LEGACY OF EMPIRE

New colonial borders in Africa and the Middle East

British Nationality Act (1948)

Diverse Britain