British Imperialism Of India Essay

The British improved and modernized India which formed their efficiency that they have today. They established railroads and bridges so people can travel thru their country easier. The British also ingrained a fair trading system between India and British. Some may claim that it was not fair because the Indian textiles were getting sold less and less. From 1790 and so on the sales of Indian textiles progressively declined (Doc. 6).

Jawaharlal Nehru interprets this topic, “Thus the economic development of India was stopped…India became an agricultural colony of industrial England.” (Doc.7) In all honesty Great Britain was less impacted than India due to British imperialism. India was most impacted by British imperialism because poverty & unemployment rates in India increased, Europeans denied Indians self rule of government, and economic developments & increased industry only benefited the British. Though others may say that Great Britain was the most impacted by imperialism because of the gain of materials for Great Britain's industry, they would be incorrect.

Many of us find ourselves in instances where when a guest comes to our house and changes things around according to them, rage of anger kindles within us because their actions are not according to our way of living. Similarly in the late 18th century, Britain set out ventures to the Indian Ocean. At this point in time, India already had an established government and had some portions of the country under the Mughal rule. Despite this, the British thought it would be profitable for them to set trading ports in India. Therefore, the British East India Company was created to help Britain communicate with the Indian government and help implement these ports.

It took more than 200 years for India to shake the oppressive rule of the British. Britain seized control of Indian territory until they controlled the whole sub-continent. At first india was treasured by the British more for its potential rather than its actual profit. Its 300 million people were also a large potential market for British made products. Although Britain created sound law against killing, economic opportunities and health related advancements they caused more harm than good.

Long ago when Britain was the most powerful nation still hunting for more power, the nation took its chance to gain more glory in a far away land overseas; India. During the 1600s Britain became interested in India for its precious raw materials and the fact that the British could market many of their products to the 300 million people of India to make big profit. In 1757 the British East India Company won the Battle of Plassey against the Indians and gained some power of India. Britain would soon decimate pieces of the culture and take over the whole nation of India. Despite the fact that Britain established an advanced government in India, improved infrastructure in the nation, and also increased life expectancies of the people of India by

India was dominant towards the cotton textile industry trade, which motivated England to take the opportunity of forcibly removing all indigenous competition: “...the British who most fully took advantage of the collapse of the empire. Between 1757 and 1803, they took control of most of India except the Northwest. The result was that the East India Company now administered major sectors of the economy, and quickly reduced the role of the big Indian bankers by changes in taxes and methods of collecting them. ”(Mukherjee) By eliminating any further competition at their weakest moment, England lowered India’s economy and chances of industrializing.

Although both India and China were colonized by the British, there were many differences between the two countries and the effects imperialism had on them. In the 1600s, the British East India Company gained trading rights for the Mughal empire which was in modern day India. As the Mughal empire lost power, the East India Company

They also have a higher standard of living, better sanitation, and a better means of transportation (Doc4). In addition, the coming of the British brought an end to the slave trade, infanticide, and brought the value of India’s exportation trade up (Doc5). The British used the idea of “White Man’s Burden” in order to bring civilization and justice to the “barbarians” and westernize them in a way. The British also brought free trade into India and while they were there became one of the wealthiest countries because of everything being extracted out of it. Lastly, the British kept peace on the region and introduced Western technologies.

Through the East India Company, Britain also came to control India. Through the course of the 19th century, the British government ruled India, known as the British Raj. During this time, the people of India began to revolt. One example being the Sepoy Rebellion was due to Sepoys unhappiness with the pay inequality compared to British soldiers as well as the suspicion of rifle cartridges with animal fats, which conflicted their religion. Despite the thousands of killed Sepoys, the Sepoy Rebellion opened a new council for Indians in government and removed the East India Company.

India, one of the many colonies England controlled in the past was the “Jewel in the Crown” of the British Empire. Although in the beginning, it was controlled by the British East India Company as a source of cotton, tea, and indigo. The British had indirect control of India until the Sepoy Rebellion in 1857. Although Britain created India’s government and military, improved trade, protected land, claimed to improve education, and increased minority safety, however the government and military controlled and excluded Indians, trade only benefitted the British, statistics show education was better after Indian Independence, valuable land was degraded and minorities still felt fear and insecurity.

Shown in document 6, he complained to the English that “You have given us no responsibility in our own government.” Lot of money was taken from the people to support the British government. Later India became dependant on Britain's goods coming in. The British encouraged farmers to grow cash crops causing famine in the country, many starved to death. Also racism was a huge deal because the British saw them as a lower class and having a different culture caused the people to be treated like slaves.

The poverty that the Europeans brought to India made it unbearable and extremely different for Indians to live. The job rate decreased, the standard of living decreased, and starvation increased. Millions of Indians died due to famine that the Europeans brought to India, and the poor state that they left it in. In conclusion, the British made the already unstable governments worse which led to scarcity and

The British worked to help preserve the environment and animals (#17).The British destroyed forests and the soil that they farmed on. After a few years the soil was degraded and the quality went down (Doc 7). This shows how even though they worked to preserve the environment, the British were really just tearing up India’s land to farm for their own crops and then ship them back to Britain. The British built 10,000 tracks and 136,000 bridges (#14). They built railways to secure their own British rule in India (#13).Even though they built lots of bridges and railroads for transportation most of it was mainly built to benefit themselves and make sure they kept their rule in

The British first came to India not only because of the abundance of raw materials, but also the mass potential they seen. The British East India Company, took advantage of the collapsing Mughal Empire, and broke away from their control to flourished their company. In 1857 the Sepoy army rebelled and that caused the British to come in guns blazing and take over the country. The British rule demolished India through, taxation on anything made in India, and the exportation of raw materials, which caused a plentiful amount of famine,and throughout all of this, the British kept most on India uneducated, and those they did educate, most were forced to become interpreters for the benefits it would make in taking over India and keeping the British in control. Political Paragraph British imperialism had a negative effect on the politics of India because of the corrupt justice system, and the utter lack of respect that killed masses of innocent people.

The British Empire “The sun never sets on the British Empire”, is a well-used phrase about the old British Empire, where Britain ruled almost one-quarter of the world’s population. They had colonies in all the continents in the world. How did Britain manage to get all these colonies? And why did they suddenly lose the whole Empire? What have the coloni zation had to say for the countries involved?