British's Overseas Colonies Chapter Summary

British’s Overseas Colonies

When thinking about the history of the 13 colonies and the colonization of British here on this side of the Atlantic Ocean, no one seems to know the actual background of the British Empire in regards to their colonial business. After reading The Making and Unmaking of Empire by P.J. Marshall and discussing the same topics in lecture, it is evident that the British Empire had struggles trying to colonize overseas in North America and India. While colonizing overseas, some colonies weren’t successful for Britain but the impact and influence they had shaped whom these countries are today.

As the British Empire was striving to colonize overseas, it feared getting attacked by the French and Spanish because of their trade

According to the book in Chapter 8, “India was successfully made because it had been built on authoritarian systems of government” that were long existing. Since the natives in the India colonies were used to having an authoritarian government, it wasn’t seen as being treated harshly by the government. It was also successful because “whatever positions Indian elites had, they still had an effective way of influencing the policies” in the new colonies. Despite the fact that the North American colonies weren’t successful for Britain, it was still able to colonize somewhere else and create a sense of English influence there.

When thinking about the time period when Britain decided to branch out and explore and colonize, it never comes to mind the type of obstacles they faced. While trying to colonize 2 different locations at the same time, Britain became a bit weak and lost complete control of one of its colonial empires but the other one turned out to be very successful. Although it is rarely thought about, Britain had a big impact in both of these countries and left its English culture and influence