Positive And Negative Effects Of British Imperialism

The Effects of British Imperialism

It may not seem likely today, but Great Britain used to be one of the most powerful countries in the world. They had a strong grip on land across the globe. Using outside sources, it will be found that British imperialism had both positive and negative impacts on societies and their economies, yet the system was made to mostly benefit only England itself.

Great Britain made lots of profits because of the amount of trade they had power over in other countries. The first source shows us a map of the British Empire and what products came out of different regions. The British Empire produced many products, mainly textiles, coal, steel, and iron. All of these products were very crucial in societies, especially during the industrial revolution. These products were versatile and desired in many countries The British empire had a huge impact on the world as it’s empire spread to almost all the continents, and they had power over many goods in high demand. The second image displays a bar graph comparing India and Great Britain. The death rates were much higher in India than in Britain, and the

The second source is a political cartoon titled “English Imperial Octopus”. The cartoon displays an octopus with the head of a man, labeled as England. Each of his arms is holding another country. The countries Ireland and New Zealand are held closest to England, while his other hands are shown grabbing for other lands, such as India or Jamaica. The cartoon portrays England as greedy, abusive of its power, and cruel. The message of this cartoon is to show that at the time, Great Britain was an extreme powerhouse, and only wanted to expand more and more. The countries Great Britain forcibly gained control over would agree with this message, while Great Britain would most likely not, as the cartoon portrays them as greedy and