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The impact of the British empire in India
British imperialism negative impact on india
Negative impacts of british imperialism in india
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When the East India Company started to set up trading posts in India, they were controlled by the ruling Mughal Empire. In 1707, with the Mughal Empire collapsing, the East India became the leading power. The East India Company ruled India without interference from Britain. Because of the power and wealth of the Company, the government began to take control of the politics, economics, and social systems. India was the most valuable of all of Britain’s colonies and was known as “jewel in the crown” since it was a major supplier of raw materials. The British created the framework for India’s justice system, resulting in both nations benefiting from the trade links that were established and helped improve the Indians health. Despite this, the …show more content…
British created the justice system to discriminate against the Indians, allowed the Raj to make taxes that increased poverty and millions of people died due to nationwide famines.
British imperialism had a negative impact on the politics of India because the British did not unite India and the British did not create the framework for India’s justice system. Dr. Lalvani claims, “the British brought all the ungoverned states together and formed one united India” (Lalvani). “Although the British brought the states together, a division was created between the Hindus and Muslims which prevented all of India from being completely united” (Gandhi). The British created the division between the Hindus and Muslims so they could prevent all of India from uniting against Britain’s colonial rule of India. With the division between the two religions, the British would be able to control the whole country more easily than if the whole country was united. Some of India’s native government officials believed that the only thing that the Hindus and Muslims had in common was that they were being oppressed in their own country. The friction between the two religions caused the people to blame each other for their problems which eventually turned violent. The tension between the two religions often went as far as killing each other. According …show more content…
to Dr. Lalvani, “the British established the framework for India’s justice system” (Lalvani).The system of justice established by the British was based against Indian’s (Doc 4).The system of justice was created to discriminate against Indians, for example, the crimes committed by whites against the Indians attracted minimal punishment compared to the punishment that an Indian would receive. If an Englishman was to shoot and Indian dead, the Englishman would be in jail for six months. When an Indian would commit a crime, they would be sentenced to twenty years of imprisonment. The laws that were created were all mainly to benefit the Englishmen over the Indians. There is no denying that the British established the framework for India’s justice system, discrimination in the justice system that the British created and the fact that India was divided was a result of British imperialism had a huge negative impact on India. British imperialism had a negative economic impact on India because India did not benefit from the trade links that were established.
The British also did not work to preserve the environment of India. Dr. Lalvani claims, “both nations benefited by the trade links that were firmly established in the 17th century”(Lalvani). Although both nations could have benefited by the trade links but, the hand woven fabric exports from Bengal to Britain fell by half in a 20 year time period (Doc 7). English-made cloth flooded the markets and the factory-made cloth was a lot cheaper than the cloth that the weavers were making which resulted in many weavers going out of business. Britain’s factory manufacturer’s also conspired to destroy the weavers looms and cut their fingers off. Since many weavers went out of business, this resulted in the city of Bengal to be deserted. The result of Bengal being deserted was that the weaver’s dwellings became overgrown and people in the region became very poor. Dr. Lalvani also claims, “the British also worked to preserve the environment of India” (Lalvani). Despite Lalvani’s claim, the creation of cash crops by the British resulted in the farm land to totally be degraded and made the land unfit for growing other crops (Doc 7). The cash crops were created to help the British get wealthier. After the land would be used for cash crops, the land would then be unable to grow other crops since the soil would be degraded. The cash crops were mainly created
only for money and were very bad for the environment. The British also destroyed the forests of India to economically benefit themselves. This resulted in the warming of the regions that were denuded of trees and later caused the salinization of the soil. The British may have been able to flood the markets with goods, poverty and the environmental damage caused by British imperialism had a negative economic effect on India. British imperialism had a negative social impact on the people of India because the health of the Indian’s did not improve and the Indians were barely educated. According to Dr. Lalvani “the health and life expectancy both improved dramatically” (Lalvani). Under British rule, the number of famines increased dramatically and millions of more people died (Doc 11). Before British rule, dating back to the 11th century to 1745, there was a total of 18 famines. When the British took control of India from 1745 to 1947, there was a total of 40 famines. Between 1875 to the 20th century, there were 18 famines and over 26 million deaths. Dr. Lalvani claims, “wealthy young Indians were packed off to Britain to study and return home well-trained, bristling with new ideas” (Lalvani). Under British rule, a very small percentage of the Indian population could read and write (Doc 9). The percentage of the people who could read and write were mainly the wealthy. Between 1901 and 1941, only 16% of the Indian population could read and write. Between those times, only 25% of males and 7.3% of females could read and write. After India’s independence, the literacy in India barely went up by even 0.5%. This was four years after India’s independence. The British did educate the Indians but, the decline in health and over 80% of India illiterate was the social effect that British imperialism had on India. The British colonized India, “the jewel of the crown,”for their own economic benefit. They also created social reforms and health improvements. Dr. Lalvani asserts that the British created the foundation for India’s justice system and that both nations benefited by the trade links and increased the Indian’s health. However, the British took the raw materials to England for manufacturing, resulting in loss of work and increased poverty in India. Additionally, the Indians were forced to grow more cash crops and less food crops which resulted in successive famines. The justice system favored the British over the Indian. They created a division between the Hindus and Muslims so the British could continue to rule. While Dr. Lalvani makes interesting and fairly accurate statements, he does not include the long-term consequences of British imperialism.
They built roads and railroads. British rule brought peace and order to the countryside. They revised the legal system to promote justice for the Indians, regardless of class. Indian landowners and princes, who still owned territory, grew rich from exporting cash crops such as cotton and jute. The British introduced the telegraph and the postal system as a means of communication.
Not only did the inequality and separation of the Indian society frustrate the citizens of India, but the imperialism Britain had upon them as well. In the early 20th century, Indian nationalists wanted to take a stand against the British rule and make India independent. The British created unfair laws that created a nationalist movement in India to regain their freedom. He believed that there should not be a Caste System because of one’s birth.
The British considered Indian civilization to be inferior and implemented their western ways, overriding ancient Indian customs. Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that British imperialism in India resulted in both positive as well as negative reforms in political, economic and social aspects of its new colony. To begin with, one can observe that the British colonizers did indeed improve Indian civilization by developing means of communication and transport. They built a great number of bridges, over 40,000 miles of railway and paving an astounding 70,000 miles of road (Doc. 4. The adage of the adage.
In the beginning of the 1600's, the East India Trading Company first landed in India. Once the EIC landed they immediately decided that they would take direct control of the area. Meaning that they had no regard for the inhabitants. After complete domination of India the EIC later had to deal with the Sepoy Mutiny; therefore, there was death and a change in leadership soon to fallow. Britain then took control of India by kicking out the smaller version of themselves, but over 50 years later history repeats itself with another massacre. Although Britain imperialism can be looked at positively by advances made in India, it is outweighed by its negative counterpart which crippled the country through India's economic shutdown, High death tolls,
“Englishmen.. have given the people of India the greatest human blessing - peace.” (Dutt). Merely coming to India in the 1600s to trade, the British East India Company established trading outposts. After ridding of French influence in India during the Seven Years’ War and having Indians mutiny against British rule, Britain gained full control of India. India was under the imperialist control of the British until their independence in 1947.
Although imperialism helped the colonized people by improving the economy and the lives of the people, for the most part imperialism hurt the colonized people because the people were forced to grow cash crops which led to death by starvation.
The Negative Force of American Expansionism and Imperialism Many people believe that American Expansionism and Imperialism was a positive force, that it did more good than bad. However, many people disagree with this popular notion. Many good things do come out of it, but the bad ultimately trumps the good. There were several problems between whites and Natives and because of the problems countless people died. To start off, American Expansionism and Imperialism brought isolation to America.
In India the British colonization had more positive affects than negative. For Instance, When the British colonized India they built 40,000 miles of railroad and 70,000 miles of paved roadway. As a result the British made it much easier to travel across India. Another good affect that the British had on India was the jump in agriculture, through large scale irrigation works. About 30 million acres were put into cultivation. Industrialization had also begun. Because of all these reasons almost no famine existed in British colonial India. The English also built many institutions in India and setup a productive government. "They have framed wise laws and have established courts of justice"(The Economic History Of India Under Early British Rule). In addition to all these positive affects, Britain also linked India to the modern world through modern science and modern thought.
There is no doubt that British imperialism had a large impact on India. India, having previously been an group of independent and semi-independent princedoms and territories, underwent great change under British administration. Originally intended to consolidate their hold on India by establishing a population that spoke the same language as their rulers, the British decision in the 1830s to educate Indians in a Western fashion, with English as the language of instruction, was the beginning of a chain of events, including a rise in Indian nationalism, that led to Indian resentment of British imperialism and ultimately to the loss of British control over India.
" India was where the riches of the world came from, the jewel in the crown of the British Empire. The British needed to dispel the threat of other Europeans in Africa to maintain control of India, and they did so efficiently. They quickly gained control of both the major sea routes to India and then turned their eyes to the rest of the continent. Whether the British were trying to foster public support or prevent another nation from becoming a threat, all British actions in Africa were directly or indirectly linked to India. The British were motivated by their desire to become powerful, and they skillfully combined enterprise and conquest to create a globe spanning empire centered around the wealth of India.
Throughout the 1700s, the relationship between Britain and their colonies became more tension filled. The new generations of colonists felt more entitled to certain rights and liberties that had been considered privileges to their ancestors. Over the years Britain had been becoming progressively worse at keeping their colonies happy. Eventually, colonists did not even feel incorporated in their mother country, Britain. The deterioration of British colonial relations in the late 1700s was caused by a lack of representation and care from Britain.
There is no doubt that British imperialism had a large impact on India. From positive affects to negative affects, British colonized India. It all started around the 1600’s when the British East India Company entered India only as traders, they entered what was known the Mughal Empire. Around the 1757 Battle of Plassey the Mughal empire fell (Carrick) and it was only a matter of time until the British Raj took their once in a lifetime chance. Economically, Britain imposed very high tariffs even though they provided modern technology and increased the production of goods. Britain created famine in India, although because of Britain education was brought to a higher level. Politically, Britain had most of the control in the Indian government, although they created a much more stronger one than the one that was in use before the British came.
Colonialism, which was a major cause of the north-south gap that occurred in the period following the Second World War, is the takeover by a nation of foreign territories; making them part of it to aid its own economical, social and political structures. The mother countries succeed in doing that by using the colony’s natural resources, money savings, and their lands, which leads the colony to rely on the mother country and therefore, leaving the country underdeveloped. Hence, the world wide scramble for colonies, particularly in the late 19th – early 20th century, had a tremendous negative effect on the economic, social, and political structures of indigenous, non-industrialized peoples.
With major control over India, the British used a combination of firepower & guile to consolidate their power over the country by expanding from their base areas along the coast into the interior (Duiker 31). Some territories were also taken over the privately run East India Company, which at the time was given authority to administer Asian territories under British occupation, while others were ruled by local maharajas (Duiker 31). British governance brought order and stability to a society that had recently been wrecked by the wars from the different empires (Duiker 31).
India was partitioned by Great Britain in order to maintain peace between Muslims and Hindus who couldn’t unite as whole. This partition led to the creation of the sovereign states of the Is...