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. Likewise, the British were also positively affected by India by extracting resources such as opium, cotton, silk, tea, and coffee. The millions of acres under cultivation have added to the immense wealth of the country and have brought the skills and industry of the British to flourish (Doc 4). India has given raw materials and has put up markets in order to sell British goods, as well as becoming an agricultural colony (Doc6). The British, by having such an important colony they became wealthier and India was called the Jewel of the Crown. In addition,
They made many changes within the country; Dadabhai Naoroji praises them about in his speech to the London audience in document 18.3. He refers to how the British abolished the religious practice of Sati(when a widow burns herself at her husband's funeral), educated both male and female, gave freedom of rights, and the security of life and prosperity to the people of India. When looking from a British point of view these seem like modern improvements but, actually these were the norms and culture of India. Which Britain had no right to impair.I oppose the harmful, unequal practices, although I believe that India was developed enough to abolish the practices themselve. The country was not under a dictatorship, that the people had pervious also had the right to vote, voices their thoughts and conduct
The East India Company came to India during the Seven Years' War and controlled most of it by 1763. The company expected natural resources and raw materials to be given to them by India. This was imperialism in the sense that it was to get a hold of natural resources and accumulate wealth. On top of this, they, also, were imperialist in the sense that they wanted power. The British not only had their own military, but had the local rulers on their side, too. They had sepoys, Indian soldiers, to help them out, too. This eventually led to the Sepoy Mutiny. Europeans in India were imperialist in the sense that they wanted to spread their beliefs. Lots of Christian Missionaries came to India. Also, the British kept taking over Indian states. But the thing that really started it was that the cartridges were made from cow and pig grease which was against Hindu and Muslim culture and belief. The Indians certainly didn’t like this and revolted. It became very violent. Finally, another way European Imperialism influenced India is by ending the cotton industries in India. They wanted the cotton for their own factories. Many Indians died because of this and their local businesses were harmed, too. Therefore, European Imperialism influenced India in its own
They gave them no say in their taxation at all. Britain rule was bad because it made the Indians extremely poor and left them with no money for food. It also impacted India in a negative way because all their soil for farming was destroyed and they also built railroads right in the middle of the towns. These railroads were used to benefit Britain because it made shipping materials and trade easier for them. Lastly, British rule caused lots of deaths from famine. Because the British took all the food that was harvested and sent it back to Britain there was nothing left for the Indians to
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
A question toiled over for centuries by historians. What was the effect of British imperialism on india? Was it negative or positive? We delve into such a topic today, but first, how did the British get to India? While the Mughal empire was collapsing (the last seat of power before the British came) The East India Company came Hailing from the great British empire to seek out India’s potential and profit. After the sepoy rebellion in 1857 the British government came at the beck and call of the company to take over. India was no longer a trade partner, it was now a colonie. The British government made the political piece of their rule as efficient as possible, dividing the country against each other
The excessive external economic drain by the British from India was mainly caused by high tax burdens on peasants, the process of the East India Company buying materials at a low price while selling processed goods at a steep price, interest charges on public debt held in Britain, and annuities on railway/irrigation works. This “economic drain theory” was first acknowledged by Dadabhai Naoroji (1825-1917) who was the first Indian to sit in the British parliament to speak on behalf of Indian interests. The constant flow of wealth from India to England for which India did not get an adequate economic, commercial or material return has been described as ‘drain’ of wealth from India. The colonial government was utilizing Indian resources - revenues, agriculture, and industry; not for developing India but purely for its utilization in Britain. If these resources been utilized within India then they could have been invested and the income of the people would have increased. Another major shift that took place in India was the transition from the growth of food grains to the cultivation of cash crops. Britain encouraged Indian farmers to grow cash crops for their own needs and profit, so the food grain production went down, eventually causing the famine of Bengal in 1700’s which killed approximately 10 million people. The policy of commercialization of agriculture by the British encouraged market oriented production of cash crops such as opium, tea, coffee, sugar, jute and indigo. Indian peasants were forced to grow these cash crops that spoiled the fertility of the land and no other crop could be grown on
While the British believed that they helped India by setting up a government and military system India disagreed. In fact, they believed that britain caused problems in the Indian way of life. An example of this is british imperial rule established the framework for India 's justice system (Lalvani). Although, the framework did not include Indians. 900 englishman worked in civil offices yet only 60 Indians (Doc 2). The Indians really had no control of the government britain had put into place. Continuing on the lines of military and government the british created the indian army and created military academy to train officers (Lalvani). Yet the british trained officers were actually used to
After 90 years under imperial rule, India gained its independence from the British in 1947. How could they be under this rule for so long? In 1707, the Mughal Dynasty, the ruling power in India, started to collapse. The East India Company, a British company, took advantage of this opportunity and became the leading power in India. In 1875, the British government took full control after the Sepoy Rebellion. The British valued India for their raw materials and potential market for their products, calling them the “jewel of the crown.” The British rule was effective, setting up a framework for India’s government, building new infrastructure, and spreading the English Language. Although they did this, the British
Throughout the rule of the British in India, Europeans mainly controlled the government and police force, leaving the Indians with no voice and no protection. According to Dr. Lalvani, the British established an efficient administration over 500 million people. While this was beneficial to the British, the Indians had no control over the taxations and laws that affected them (Doc. #2). Since all of these laws and taxes were targeted to help the British, India’s freedom was stolen, as shown in the Rowlatt Act, a law that allowed the government to imprison people without trial. Along with the government, Britain controlled the police force, denying the Indians a reliable source for help (Gandhi). This often led the people of India to bodily harm,
Imperialism is a policy of extending the rule or authority of an empire or nation over foreign countries. It originated in the 1800’s but flourished in Europe during the 1900’s due to the British expansion towards foreign lands. The factors in fueling the 19th-century imperialism consisted of racism, economics, religion, and politics: Racism, in my opinion, is the most important in fueling the 19th-century imperialism because the motives for expansion expressed prejudice. Racism means the prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior. Most events during the era of imperialism illustrated a trait of racism, which fueled imperialism throughout Europe.
Dr.Lalvani claims that under British rule, India was modernized, giving the foundation for a government that therefore gave law and order. While this system and others were built, they were built almost entirely for British benefit and even profit. In this new government, Indians had no say in the laws being decided by the British, that were impacting them. The laws were meant to further control Indians, while the British extracted India’s wealth and flood India’s markets with textiles with the help of railroads. Wanting more and more wealth, the British logged forests to create land to grow cash crops which in the end degraded the soil making it more difficult for them to grow. Muslims still felt less important than the Hindus fearing Muslim interests wouldn’t be protected by the mainly Hindu congress. In conclusion for Dr. Lalvani to say that the British over all helped and positively impacted India completely disregards the fact that Indians had to go through so much loss and pain through struggles and challenges that India has to go through
Political rights protect an individual's freedom, so, it outraged citizens when they realized the instability of the Great Britain’s democracy. In theory, a lack of democracy and political rights is a lack of freedom. Democracy has shown to be important all throughout history, because it gives citizens opportunities to participate in the government; electing leaders, help create laws, etc. Democracy cannot been used to create enormous empires, but it has been a popular form of government because it generally keeps the country in peace and prosperity. Political rights are essential for a strong and vigorous country, because they protect a person’s basic freedoms. Furthermore, without political rights, citizens cannot participate in the government nor their society. So, people under British authority felt that they could not contribute to society. In the document: “The Pros and Cons of British Rule”, Dadabhai Naoroji vividly explains why the citizens of India were not treated fairly and were not given certain rights. “Political aspirations and the legitimate claim to have a reasonable voice in the legislation and the imposition and disbursement of taxes, met to a very slight degree, thus treating the natives of India not as British subjects, in whom representation is a birthright” (Naoroji). This quote describes how the indigenous people in India were
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. Many English men and women did not respect cultural beliefs and religious laws and
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. In the article Lalvani states that, the British “established the framework for India’s justice system, civil service, loyal army and efficient police force”. The British may have set up a government but the framework, however, did not include Indians. “ Of 960 civil offices...900 are occupied by Englishmen and only 60 by natives” (Doc 2). In no way are 60 voices of a race considered ‘savage’ going to overpower 900 white men, who could easily kill them for taking a stand, or trying to change the unjust laws that are