Module 3 - British Imperialism on American Colonials

Explore characteristics of imperialism, especially British imperialism in the Americas.
Explore justifications given by the King and Parliament and/or colonials (those peoples of European descent residing in the colonies), implicit or explicit, for imperialism.

What is Imperialism and how did it come about?

Imperialism is the defined as the policy of extending the rule or authority of an empire or nation over foreign countries, or of acquiring and holding colonies and dependencies. The British Empire was able to extend rule or authority over the Americas through gains from trade, mercantilism politics and legislature during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The success of the Americas to provide the motherland with profits which were never before realized is firmly rooted in the industry of forced labor through both indentured servants and slaves. In “Out of Many” by Faragher and Buhle, they recognize that the economy of Great Britain was built upon the profits and accumulation of capital obtained from slavery.
According to Howard Zinn, in “A People’s History of the United States, the Virginians of 1619 were desperate for labor, to grow enough food to stay alive. They needed labor, to grow corn for subsistence and tobacco for export. The colonizers, realizing that they were outnumbered by the Indians and couldn’t force them to work started to exporting slaves from West Africa. The slave trade in the Americas may have started from a need for increased labor but it quickly transformed to a profitable industry with an increasing number of plantation colonies. “Out of Many” by Faragher and Buhle, states that a collaboration of British and American traders made slavery possible. Slaves were regarded as a valuable commodity and a means to an end - which at the time equated to limitless profit and increased wealth. This was the premise which drove England and the Americas to enslave many West Africans.


How was imperialist Britain able to rule over the Americas or exercise control over them?

With access to crops, like tobacco, Britain was making far more profits than its trading partner, colonial America. From 1700 to 1740 according to “Out of Many,” by Faragher and Buhle, the growth in American and African demand for manufactured goods accounted for nearly 70 percent of the expansion of British exports. This dependence on Britain for manufactured goods and the increasing number of exports from colonial America to Britain placed Britain in a position of rule and authority. As a result of this new wealth gained from trade, Britain was poised to become a major superpower by growth of ports, and financing some of the first modern banks.

Another form of rule implemented by Britain on colonial America was through mercantilism. “Out of Many,” by Faragher and Buhle, defines mercantilism as a system of regulations or a way of political control of the economy by state. The monarchy and Parliament established a uniform national monetary system, regulated wages, encourage agriculture and manufacturing with subsidies, and erected tariff barriers to protect themselves from foreign competition. England also sought to organize and control colonial trade to the maximum advantage of its own shippers, merchants, manufacturers and bureaucrats.

Legislation was implemented to continue the dominion and exploitation of Britain over its colonies. For example, between 1651 and 1696 Parliament passed a series of acts: the Navigation Acts, the Wool Act of 1699 the Hat Act of 1732 and the Iron Act of 1750 to maintain profitability in trade deals with colonial America. The Navigation Act served to prevent the colonies from importing goods from other countries except Britain and in the case of the Wool, Hat and Iron Acts these served to prevent any of the colonies from producing competing products with Britain.

Colonial America also needed the help of Great Britain to protect them in times of slave revolt and against threat of outside nations. The increased wealth of plantation owners in colonial America presented threats for revolts among the poor whites and the black slaves. As a result, measures had to be put in place to assure whites that they were superior to black and also provide economic kickbacks to them in an effort to appease them. This was one proactive step taken to curb any collusion which may have taken place with these two oppressed groups.

In the end, both the imperialist and colonials were driven by a profits motive which had ravaging repercussion on the African people. The desires of the people of America to create a new profitable society greatly replicated the England Empire. England capitalized on the weakeness of the peoples of colonial America and Africans for its advancement of wealth and power.

Works Cited

Zinn, Howard. A People’s History of the United States Volume 1: American Beginnings to Reconstruction. The New Press, New York, 2003.

Faragher, John Mack. Out of Many: A History of the American People. Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 2006.