E&M booklet 2

• By the end of the Hundred Years War in 1453, England lost virtually all its territory in Europe and needed to look elsewhere to increase its territory and power
• New technology in the late 1400s allowed ships to travel further to explore, leading to the European ‘discovery’ of the Americas in 1492
• John Cabot was given a mission by King Henry VII to explore new land and ended up landing on the coast of what is now Canada, marking the beginning of British exploration and colonisation of the Americas
• John Hawkins undertook the first ever British slave-trading expedition in 1562
• Barbados became a highly profitable colony with successful sugar plantations by the 1690s
• Indentured servants were used for labour on British plantations in the Americas, paying for their voyage by agreeing to work for a set number of years
• Enslaved Africans were introduced to plantations in 1619, becoming cheaper and more profitable labor than indentured servants
• The Transatlantic slave trade involved a three-part trading journey, earning traders up to 800% profit
• The British slave trade industry made approximately £60 million between 1761 and 1808, making Britain one of the richest and most powerful nations in the world
• In 1807, the British parliament abolished the slave trade
• The production of luxury crops in the West Indies and the emergence of the cotton cloth industry in Britain were impacts of the slave trade
• The British slave trade industry created many jobs in related industries such as shipbuilding, textile factories, and sugar processing
• The slave trade was an important training ground for British seamen, providing experienced crews for the Royal Navy
• Around 12 to 13 million Africans were transported across the Atlantic into slavery, affecting West African coastal regions the worst
• Nearly 10% of coastal populations were transported by slave trades
• European demand for African captives became so great that they could only be obtained through initiating raids and warfare by the end of the 17th century
• British settlers brought diseases that killed many Native Americans, leading to a significant decrease in their population by 1700
• Massacres were common in disputes over land between British settlers and indigenous Americans
• Most settlers in the colonies wanted independence due to strong economies, successful trade systems, and a dislike for British rule and outdated ideas
• Navigation Acts of 1651-73 were introduced to make Britain richer, stating that American colonies could only import and export British goods
• Control of trade greatly restricted the type and amount of goods entering America, leading to high prices and fewer products available
• American colonists wanted independence to trade freely and grow their economy
• Stamp Act placed high taxes on paper, leading to colonists arguing they should not pay taxes without representation in parliament
• Boston Tea Party was an organized protest against high taxation of goods, leading to the first independent movement in the colonies
• Britain spent £80 million on the War of Independence, lost control of America, but trade with America returned to pre-war levels by 1785
• Canada remained part of the British Empire after America's independence in 1776
• America became an independent country, ruled by a government, and elected George Washington as its first president in 1776
• Huguenots fled France due to religious persecution and revitalized British industries such as watchmaking and bookbinding
• Ulster Plantations aimed to colonize northern Ireland with Protestant settlers, leading to resentment between Catholics and Protestants
• Highland Clearances forced Highland clans to move from their homelands to barren coastal regions, eliminating threats to English rule
• English banned bagpipes and certain Highland dress to assimilate Scottish culture with English culture and eliminate threats
• Highland Clearances led to widespread poverty, migration abroad, and contributed to empire-building in other colonies
• Scottish diaspora contributed engineering skills to building roads, railways, and other building schemes in other colonies
• Many Scots, including David Livingstone, were among the Empire's greatest explorers
• Evictions during the Highland Clearances led to widespread poverty, starvation, and migration abroad to countries like New Zealand, Australia, America, Canada, and India
• A disproportionate number of East India Companies' employees were Scottish, contributing to employment abroad