CommonGround - Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the ...

OriginsEmpire rootsThe Commonwealth is the world’soldest political association of sovereignstates. Its roots go back to the BritishEmpire, which once covered a quarterof the world’s land area, and includedabout the same proportion of theworld’s population.How did theEmpire develop?Unlike many previous empires, theBritish Empire was not created byconquest, although military support didplay an important part. Instead, it grewhaphazardly, in piecemeal fashion, fromthe sixteenth to the nineteenth century.It was driven by a number of factors,listed below, and involved thesettlement and control of lands inAfrica, India, North America, South EastAsia, and the Caribbean.Trade ● The British government’s rulein India originally developed from theactivities of merchants, trading mainly incotton, silk and tea. Trade also formedthe basis of what became British controlin South East Asian states, includingHong Kong, Malaya and Borneo.Piracy ● The British presence in theCaribbean and southern parts of theUnited States was initially prompted bypiracy and an opportunity to establishgains over rival Spanish and Portugueseempires. In time, this led toestablishment of plantations growingsugar and tobacco and the extensiveinvolvement of Britain in the slave tradewith West and Central Africa.Settlement and exploration ●Settlement was an important drivingforce in the expansion of the Empire.In the 1620s, pilgrims left England toestablish a new social and religiousorder in America; the early colonisationof Australia was partly a result ofBritain’s policy of sentencing largenumbers of convicts to compulsorytransportation; and millions, in thenineteenth century, settled in NorthAmerica, Australia and New Zealand toescape from poverty in Britain.Britons were also prominent, duringthe nineteenth century, in exploring theinterior of Africa – searching for mineralwealth and markets for goods, andseeking to spread Christianity. Althoughthese areas had long-establishedindigenous populations, Britain claimedthe lands as its own.War ● In the late eighteenth and earlynineteenth centuries, Britain’s victory inthe Napoleonic War against Franceadded further countries to the Empire,including Mauritius, Sri Lanka (thenknown as Ceylon), Trinidad and Tobago,St Lucia and Malta.At the end of the First World War, anumber of German colonies in Africaalso became part of the British Empire,as reparations. These included parts orall of the states today known asCameroon and Tanzania.Power and controlThe main motive behind theestablishment and expansion of theEmpire was to increase Britain’s wealthand political power. Often, but not always,this was at the expense of local people,particularly the non-white populations.TowardsindependenceIn the early years of the Empire, theBritish government made little attemptto influence the way in which thecolonies were governed. However, bythe end of the seventeenth century,more direct rule began to be imposedfrom London. This was not welcomedby the American colonies, and a tug ofwar developed between centralgovernment in London and thecolonists’ own elected assemblies. Thisbecame the major cause of the pushfor independence by the settlers inNorth America.Assemblies andadvisory councilsAfter the defeat of British troops andthe loss of its American colony in 1781,Britain no longer tried to direct itscolonies centrally from London. Insteadpower was placed in the hands of thecolonies’ own assemblies or advisorycouncils. Although members of councilswere often nominated by Britain, thecouncils and assemblies neverthelesshad some authority. People of localstanding could not generally be ignoredby those with responsibility forgoverning the colony.IndependenceThe movement towards independencestarted in the colonies of settlement.In 1867, Canada became the first Britishcolony to gain a significant degree ofindependence, followed by Australia,New Zealand and South Africa.4A practical guide to the Commonwealth ➤ Origins5Antigua & BarbudaAustralia The Bahamas Bangladesh