6.1. European Imperialism

The American empires of Spain and Portugal (see Theme 8) did not expand after the seventeenth century. From that time other countries – France, Holland and England – began to extend their trading activities and to establish colonies – in America, Africa and Asia; Ireland also was virtually a colony of England, as the landowners there were mostly English settlers.

After the 17th century, while Spain and Portugal's empires remained static, other nations like France, Holland, and England started to grow their influence by creating colonies worldwide. These colonies were often set up for trade and economic gain. Ireland is noted as almost a colony of England, showing that not only distant lands were involved, but close ones too.

Think of it like a game of Monopoly where players are trying to acquire as much property as possible. While one player might be content with their properties, others are out searching for new opportunities to build hotels and make money.

From the eighteenth century, it became obvious that while it was the prospect of profit which drove people to establish colonies, there were significant variations in the nature of the control established. In South Asia, trading companies like the East India Company made themselves into political powers, defeated local rulers and annexed their territories. They retained the older well-developed administrative system and collected taxes from landowners. Later they built railways to make trade easier, excavated mines and established big plantations.

Colonial ventures were primarily motivated by profit, but how they controlled territories varied greatly. For instance, in South Asia, the East India Company didn't just trade; it took over political control, defeated local leaders, and organized governance through existing systems. They improved infrastructure for trade, demonstrating how economic interests led to extensive changes in the regions they dominated.

Imagine a local store being bought by a big chain. The chain not only wishes to sell more but begins to change how the store operates, implementing new systems and possibly even helping the community by renovating the store.

In Africa, Europeans traded on the coast, except in South Africa, and only in the late nineteenth century did they venture into the interior. After this, some of the European countries reached an agreement to divide up Africa as colonies for themselves.

Initially, European traders were focused on trading along Africa's coast. Only in the late 1800s did they start exploring further inland. This led to further actions where European powers negotiated amongst themselves to carve up the continent into their respective colonies, disregarding the indigenous populations over whom they exerted control.

Think about a group of friends dividing up pizza slices without talking to one another about their preferences. One friend is happy with their slice, but the others decide to start sharing their favorite toppings between themselves without letting others know about it.