Trade

• Suez Canal - 1875


  
  

  • Majority of original stock sold in France, with the Khedive also getting 44%.
  • Took 10 years to build (1859-69)
  • Excavated by hand by 10,000s of forced labourers.
  • opportunity to invest in 1875 when the Khedive had to sell his stock to get out of debt.
  • PM Disraeli borrowed money from the Rothschilds to buy the shares for £4 million.
  • Was controversial as he acted without telling parliament.
  • Shortened route to India by 6000 miles
• Zanzibar - 1890


  
  

  • Was an entrepot that traded slaves and ivory
  • Britain was worried it was limited to being a trade route to India and suppressing slave trade
  • Acquisition achieved through diplomatic efforts of consular officials at key ports, which were backed by the Royal Navy
  • Railways needed as it lacked a river system
  • Germans gave up Zanzibar in exchange for an island in the North Sea
• Weihaiwei - 1898


  
  

  • Politically motivated, not economically.
  • British Empire was keen to be in a position in which they were able to watch Russian strength grow in North China.
  • Weihaiwei allowed them to watch the development of Russia's Port Arthur from afar.
• Hong Kong - 1842


  
  

  • Britain had been restricted to Canton due to China's strict trading laws.
  • Opium was Britain's main good in the area.
  • China had a blockade in 1839, with 1000 tons of opium burned.
  • Britain used its navy to defend themselves, who seized Hong Kong in the process.
• Shanghai - 1849


  
  

  • Became an international place of business for places like the USA and France.
  • Businessmen ran the council and coordinated all public services.
  • the Taiping rebellion, where the Chinese emperor was undermined, benefited Shanghai with arms deals and navy protection.
  • Company that collected tariffs employed 3000 people.
• Singapore - 1829


  
  

  • Raffles acquired Singapore when he arranged a treaty with local rulers and established a trading post there, which was finalised in 1824.
  • The legal grounds were shaky, the British parliament and government were initially unaware of the new settlement.
  • Secured by rapid growth through its status as an entrepot.
  • Tax-free status drew in merchants from Malay Archipelago.
• Trade of coal

  • By 1851, Britain produced 2/3 of the worlds coal
  • Was vital to fuelling the industrial revolution
  • In 1789, 132,000 tonnes exported to Holland, 94 million tonnes exported in 1913
  • Fuelled machines and transport, allowing for growth if railway network
  • Reduced unit costs
• Trade of textiles

  • By 1951, Britain produced 1/2 of the worlds cotton, cloth and iron
  • Textiles were the principle product Britain produced and exported
  • Led to development of factories especially in the North of England
  • In 1913, Britain still had 70% of the worlds trade in textiles
• Trade in America

  • USA was Britain's chief market and it could be argued that the main purpose repeal of the Corn laws was to enable British industrialists to develop the American market
  • Britain imported 90% of their tobacco from the USA
  • Latin America supplied food
  • First half of 19th century, Britain and North America were each other's largest trading partner
• Trade in India

  • India supplied Britain with jute, raw cotton, tea, oil-seed, wheat and hides
  • India's textile industry was virtually de-industrialised to benefit the textile factories in Lancashire
  • Assam tea replaced China for the empires main export of tea
  • By 1900 Britain was importing 137 million pounds of tea annually compared to just 24 million from China
  • Britain failed to make India a real economic asset as its people kept dying from famine
• The timeline of abolishing the slave trade

  • 1783 - Quakers petition parliament for the abolition
  • 1787 - the establishment of the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade
  • 1789 - French Revolution
  • 1791 - Haitian rebellion
  • 1792 - French Republic declared
  • 1793 - war with France begins
  • 1804 - Haitian rebellion ends
  • 1896 - Wilberforce secures the support of the Cabinet for his abolition bill
  • 1807 - The Slave Trade Act is passed, abolishing it
• The challenges to abolishing the slave trade

  • British ships dominated the triangular trade leading to enormous profits
  • Ports like Bristol, Liverpool and Glasgow flourished due to large merchant population
  • Government benefitted through taxes and tariffs, using the money to finance their Navy and fight wars
  • Created a large pool of skilled sailors that could be recruited into the Navy
  • Never a shortage of demand due to slaves being worked to death before they could reproduce
  • 'The Gentleman's Magazine' claimed in 1766 that upwards of 40 parliament members had investments in plantations
• The abolition of the slave trade

  • Wilberforce and Quakers launched the parliamentary campaign in 1789
  • Gained public support with Grass-roots campaign, which spread awareness of horrors of slavery
  • Interrupted by France as their emancipation of slaves during Haitian rebellion made abolition a pro-France position
  • 1806 - Foreign Slave Trade bill passed and prohibited British from supplying slaves to French colonies
  • 1834 - government bought out owners of over 700,000 slaves (paid £20 million, equal to 40% of that year's ecpenditure)
• The adoption of free trade

  • Tariffs were designed to give British goods a commercial advantage
  • Ireland's elite grew rich from selling supplies to the Navy, led to the peasants calling for free trade as they remined in poverty with some protesting with a cannon in 1778
  • Government consulted Adam Smith and he was sympathetic, trade restrictions were lifted in Ireland in 1779
  • Elections of the Whigs in 1830 led to the 'Representation of the People Act' gave manufacturers and consumers a greater role in trade policy
  • Robert Peel's election as PM led to 1,200 import tariffs being abolished
• The Navigation Acts

  • Colonial goods produced for export could only be carried on English-built and owned ships
  • Certain goods (sugar, cotton, indigo, dyewoods, ginger and tobacco) had to be shipped to an English port even if they were to be exported to another European destination
  • European imports to British colonies also needed to land at an English port and then be reshipped onwards
• Repealing of the Navigation Acts 1849


  • Colonial goods produced for exports no longer had to be carried on English-built and owned ships
  • Certain goods no longer had to he shipped to an English port before they were to be exported to another European destination
  • European imports to British colonies no longer needed to land at English ports before they could be re-shipped onwards
• Consequences of repealing the Navigation Acts

  • Reduced the manpower for the Navy
  • Despite this, 1/3 of the world's trade was still carried in British ships
• Consequences of abolishing slave trade

  • Made up 40% of Bristol's income
  • Created financial uncertainty as they lost to foreign privateers during wars, disease and rebellions
  • Led to Liverpool merchants loosing £700,000 in 1778