British colonization was more tactical than that of other colonial rule. The key agenda of the British was to get maximum economic benefits from this region. In the beginning of 17th century, East India Company was granted permission by the Mughal ruler Jahangir to commence its business activities in India. This organization was supposed to do business and earn profits by trade via sea but soon they tried to become a monopoly and as they were fully armed therefore managed to draw its means from land revenues as well. The British officers were employed in major business hubs of India and were given excellent and attractive employment opportunities with handful of bonuses from the company’s profit, land revenues and taxes.
From the 1870’s to 1900’s, Britain had one of the largest and most powerful armies in the world. With that sort of potential, it would’ve been a mistake not to colonize Africa. Taking control of the tip of Africa was extremely strategic of Britain, as from there they could control the trading routes and begin settling for future invasions and in the end, colonization. Also, the new Capitalist society forming because of Britain’s industrial revolution developed social problems many obvious social problems. The gap between the rich and the poor was larger than ever, and homelessness was on the rise as cities became extremely dense and overpopulated.
Also, a standardised currency system was put in place by the British to help boost economic growth for those states they colonised. This can be seen from different states of Malaya having different currencies such as seashells, or cattle trading and when British came they established a unified currency, the straits dollar, to allow a diverse trade for all states. This means that at that point in time, traders could not bring currencies into other states, and thus the value of money differed through the states.When the British left, they left behind infrastructure such as roads, bridges, harbours and railways for the states they colonised. These roads and bridges were used by the British to connect the tin mines and rubber plantation. One example is the first railway line in Malaya which connected Taping in Perak to Port Weld.
The British officers were employed in major business hubs of India and were given excellent and attractive employment opportunities with handful of bonuses from the company’s profit, land revenues and taxes. The expansion of authority over India was the core objective of British in diverse extents because of the geographical location, logistics and human resource. In the first century of East India Company rule, company had captured the trade market and the merchants who wanted to export their finished goods were required to deal with and undergo the channel of East India Company. British were not against the economic progress of India but when it comes to the conflict over their own economic interests and business domain, they used to limit the local merchants businesses for instance; they smashed the Indian textile industry. British made significant changes in Indian society including but not limited to the establishment of bureaucratic-military structure.
The British empire, the strongest empire that ever existed, has taken a huge toll on the people of Africa. Osaki Peebe Harry, in his article on The Guardian illustrates how “[b]ritish colonialism stills plays a major role in the tragedies and disasters we see in Africa today.” One aspect that people do not consider a threat is a media. Osaki Peebe Harry states that on the media, it is hard to find “news and analysis that informs you about the billions of dollars stolen out of Africa and kept in British banks.” (Peebe Harry, 2017) This money stolen from Africa was from the earlier British rule and has not been discussed about. Because this topic has been hidden from the world, African’s suffer daily. Without this money stolen from Africa, there is a major lack of development, and many Africans struggle to survive in a country with an insufficient amount of resources.
Things Fall Apart Whether British Imperialism in Africa was good or bad is still a hot topic today, despite the fact that it happened a century ago. Imperialism is when the Europeans invaded Africa and colonized it and forced their culture onto the natives. Even though there were definitely some positive effects for Africans, the effects of imperialism in Africa were mostly negative; borders weren't placed well, native Africans were made as slaves, and religion was forced upon them. Some positive results are the following: Europeans brought new crops, some political stability, education/ literacy, and better medical care including hospitals and medicines. These were indeed beneficial to the African people, but the long term negative consequences outnumber the long term positive greatly.
After losing American Colonies, British imperialist started looking for opportunities in the Far East and India showed great potential. The British entered India as traders with the primary objective to earn profits by carrying on with trade in India. In the early 1800’s the British imperialists started to colonise India for various reasons such as natural resources and land. The colonisation took place during the industrial revolution and this meant cheap labour from people. British-India had two states those under rule of Queen Monarch of Great Britain and the other under rule by the Indian prince who followed British rules.
Although it is inaccurate to limit the governance system of British imperialism throughout the 19th and 20th century as indirect, it is relevant to underline that the British majoritarly pursued indirect colonialism especially in Africa. Indeed, after centuries of settler and direct colonialism, British imperialism soon came to realize the advantage of an indirect type of rule in their newest colonies when considering the economic benefits but also the pre-colonial societies of Africa. Indeed, most of these African states were characterized by complex and highly populated pre-colonial areas and this discouraged many British settlers and more importantly perhaps, discouraged British institutional establishments in those countries. This led
Many would say, "Colonialism had only one hand, it was a one-armed bandit." With this being said, I believe that it is easier said than done when trying to protect each other, because no matter what, people don 't know how to act in certain situation, and it always results in violence. In contemporary Africa, economically and technologically, colonialism left mixed legacies. "It had provided basic modern transportation, communications, infrastructures paved roads, railroads, electricity, buses, hotels, telephone systems, and more, also with the development of money economy, especially with cash crop production. Colonial economic policies forced African rural producers to turn their backs on the state.
This made their standard of living much higher and the Malay Elites were able to live comfortable lives. On top of that, the British arrival in Malaya also benefitted Sultan Yusof as his position as Sultan was secured. The British also compensated the Sultans and chiefs when they made changes to the system and therefore the Sultans had a steady income. The British also did what they could to boost the rubber and tin industries in Malaya, giving the commoners in Malaya more job opportunities, allowing them to earn more money. However, the common Malays did not benefit much from the job opportunities offered as most of them were either given to the Indians who were sent to work as labourers in Malaya.