The Importance Of British Civilization: Exploration, Economy, And Edification

Exploration, Economy, and Edification: An English Exposition From establishing colonial settlements in the New World to becoming the diverse financial powerhouse of sugar plantations in the West Indies, the British Empire undoubtedly set a gold standard for territorial acquisition, economic efficiency and political unification. Harboring a thirst for financial gains and profit, the British Empire effectively established itself overseas, tapping into foreign markets and leveraging natural resources to construct a complex economy involving international trade, streamlined distribution and cheap labor. The expansion of the British Empire, especially into North America and the West Indies, can be explained by two main motivators: a desire to generate

The virtually limitless abundance of timber allowed rapid headway in shipbuilding, which subsequently strengthened the presence of the English navy as well as their trading fleet. This naval dominion allowed greater security in foreign waters and facilitated trading supremacy with not only the American colonies but also Asian markets such as Chinese silk–American silver heavily bolstered British purchasing power as well as Indian spice and trading posts established in the Spice Islands and Java.5 The strengthened fleet also allowed easier mobilization of reinforcements globally, meaning that the concept of establishing new colonies through conquest became increasingly tangible for England. Unfortunately for the British however, the predicament of prioritizing colonial affairs led to deteriorating political relations in India–more resources were devoted toward dealing with the American Revolution than fortifying British foreign trade policy with India; individuals such as Warren Hastings were accustomed to “enrich[ing] [themselves] unlawfully” and failed to satisfy “political dealings properly” with Indian merchants and officials.6 The sheer size and extent of the British Empire thereby led to a deficiency in international supervision and management, especially when private

Due to the difficulty of subjugating natives and the scarcity of indentured servants to work plantations, the British slave trade flourished as a means to repeatedly cut costs and reap massive rewards–slaves served as an economical labor source coupled with low risk, especially in working foreign soil.7 Undeniably, slave labor was so efficient that by the peak of the slave trade in 1807, roughly 3.3 million slaves had been imported via British vessels to the Americas and West Indies.8 This shift in the labor demographic, paired with copious domestic investment in the form of joint-stock companies allowed sugar plantations to proliferate rapidly both in the scale of operations and subsequently, revenue. The Triangular Trade was integral to economic growth–an average return on investment of 30% attracted widespread subsidy for not only sugar production, but also the enormous importation of slaves to the New World.9 By increasing the pool of funding, plantations grew exponentially and therefore so did the sphere of English influence; English military conquest of pivotal neighboring territories such as Jamaica were facilitated by the nation’s economic fortitude. However, as