The development of the British empire

Front matter

160'

Crown Co

_J Self-gove ■■■I The India

Preface

Interest in the British Empire, its growth, its organization-, and its possibilities, needs no apology. The present volume is an attempt to describe, from a detached point of view, the story of the growth of Greater Britain. Especial emphasis has been placed on the momentous development of the last one hundred years, a century that has witnessed an extraor^ dinary growth in the oversea Empire. Although the results of the World War are not as yet fully realized, yet it has been thought wise to relate to the previous evolution of the Empire the diverse changes and increasing complexities that have resulted from British participation in the war that began in 1914.

It will be taken for granted, it is hoped, that this account of British expansion is not intended as an exhaustive study, but as an introduction to a part of modern history that has received altogether too little emphasis in the past in American schools and colleges. In accordance with this purpose, bibliographies have been appended to the chapters. They refer, it is believed, to the best selection of available books for further reading, although they do not pretend to include all the important works on British imperial growth. Bibliographical data have been added in order that the titles may be more than names, and may lead to an acquaintance with the volumes themselves.

The combination of geographical and historical interests can nowhere be better formed than in the study of British expansion. Maps of especial importance are to be found in the volume. No book, however, can contain too many maps; the constant use of additional maps cannot be too strongly recommended. Care has been taken in the volume to make concrete references to geographical facts, with stress on those details only of which a definite knowledge is necessary for the understanding of the historical development. If it is an viii PREFACE

excellent intellectual habit never to pass a word in reading without an exact knowledge of its meaning, it is even more important to follow the same rule with regard to the location of geographical references. By so doing, one can appreciate the enlarging scope of Britain where, as Conrad has put it, "men and sea interpenetrate, so to speak."

Something should be said regarding terminology. The use of the word " American' ' in referring to the United States of America only — a usage to which Canadians sometimes object — seems inevitable. There is no word to substitute for it. It has been in common use with this meaning ever since 1783; the references by British writers to the United States, in the years following the American Revolution, are usually to the "united states of America." A second source of confusion is the indiscriminate use of "England" and "Great Britain." For a time the formation of the British Empire was almost exclusively the expansion of England, but after the organic union with Scotland it became British expansion, and the accomplishments of the Empire are rightly those of Great Britain. In the third place, there is no good word or phrase to describe the group of self-governing units, Crown Colonies, Chartered Companies, Mandates, and spheres of influence, which have come to form Greater Britain. "Empire" is inaccurate, for the great self-governing Dominions are not under absolute control in the political sense; "Dominion" has much the same fault, whereas "British Commonwealth" errs in the other direction. In the use of the current appellations for Greater Britain, it should be understood that the British Empire is, politically and socially, something "new under the sun."

I desire to express my obligations to many friends who have aided me with their learning and counsel. Former colleagues, Professor Henry R. Mueller, of Muhlenberg College, and Professor H. H. Carter, of Indiana University, have given the manuscript the benefit of careful reading. Professor Walter M. Patton, of Carleton College, has assisted and encouraged me in many ways, and has read several of the chapters. I am grateful to Professor Charles M. Andrews,

PREFACE ix

of Yale University, for making many helpful suggestions as a result of a careful reading of the text in manuscript, and I gladly acknowledge a similar indebtedness to Ramsay Muir, Professor of Modern History in the University of Manchester from 1913 to 1921. Professor James T. Shotwell, whom I am so fortunate as to count among my teachers, has read the text in manuscript, has made many wise suggestions, and has contributed greatly, by his editorship, to whatever value the volume may possess. I only am responsible for the interpretation of British imperial development as well as for any errors that may have escaped detection. Lastly, I am much indebted to my wife without whose interest and cooperation the task might well have wanted completion.

Howard Robinson

NORTHFIELD, MINNESOTA

Contents

Editor's Foreword v

Preface vii

I. The Preparation for Empire 1

Chapter I

The spread of the British Empire begins with the permanent settlement at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607. With each succeeding century the Empire has expanded, with the single exception of the closing years of the eighteenth century, when the American colonies were lost. To-day, it is one of the great dominating forces of the world. The War of 1914 has demonstrated more than ever its power and its adaptability to new needs and conditions. As one endeavors to appraise its possibilities, a review of the growth of Greater Britain serves to furnish the key to motive and the secrets of successful expansion. It is a fascinating study, this extension of England beyond the seas; it has all the attractiveness and swing of a cosmic epic. In order that we may understand the settlement of Jamestown and all that follows, a preliminary survey must needs be made of the growth of English unity at home, of this composite product called an Englishman, of the institutions developed during the Middle Ages and the early modern period that gave a beneficent as well as a powerful quality to English endeavor.

One of the remarkable traits of the inhabitants of the British Isles has been their genius for colonizing, their adaptability to new conditions. The process of joining races and of forming a composite capable of such accomplishment has been in progress during the whole of British history. It is sometimes forgotten that the Britisher of modern times is a mixture of numerous racial elements. The earliest inhabitants of Britain of whom anything at all definite is knowo were probably akin to the Basques. These people, sometimes called Iberian, controlled the islands in the New Stone Age. Following them, the Celts began to occupy the British Isles in the Bronze Age. The Celts came in at least two waves: the Goidelic Celts, whose descendants live with the least intermixture in the Highlands of Scotland, on the Isle of Man, and in Ireland; and the Brythonic Celts, who are represented to-day by the Welsh and the Cornishmen. Each new wave of invading people tended to push farther westward or mountain-ward the preceding groups. There was probably some amalgamation of conquerors and conquered, but it is verydifficult to say to what extent it took place. It is important to note, however, that when the Romans came to Britain in 55 b.c. the people of the British Isles were already of mixed stock.

The Romans stayed for about four hundred years. They built great roads, reared defensive walls in northern England against the wild and unconquered inhabitants of Scotland, and established Roman customs and civilization. But the pressure of the barbarian tribes on the Roman Empire in the fifth century compelled the transfer of the troops in Britain to more important points of defense. When the island was evacuated in the fifth century, relatively few traces of the Roman occupation were left to the succeeding centuries. This was largely owing to the almost immediate conquest of the island by new and uncultured races. About 450 a.d., the Jutes landed on the island of Thanet, off the coast of Kent. They came from the northeast and were Teutonic in race, and with them began numerous movements of Teutonic groups into the island. The Jutes occupied Kent; the Saxons settled in Surrey, Sussex, Wessex, and Middlesex; the Angles conquered the east and north of England, including East Anglia, Northumbria, and Mercia. In this way there was added another distinct stock to form the composite Britisher.

By the end of the seventh century the Anglo-Saxons had conquered most of England. Out of the chaos of small kingdoms there grew overlordships, and the dominance was held first by one strong kingdom and then by another. Finally it rested in the southwest kingdom of Wessex. Hardly had Egbert, the ruler of Wessex, assured his overlordship when he was troubled by the beginning of the Danish invasions. By the term "Dane" is meant not only the inhabitant of Denmark, but of Scandinavia as a whole. In the ninth century there seems to have been a tendency to unify the rule of the Scandinavian countries, and this had led to the migration of dissatisfied Northmen to Greenland, Iceland, Russia, France, and the British Isles. These fierce sea-rovers became a distinct menace for several centuries. Alfred the Great, who ruled Wessex at the close of the ninth century, spent most of his time opposing them. It proved impossible to drive them away, and finally they occupied the northeastern part of England, which, in consequence, came to be known as the " Danelaw." Thus a new racial group was added to the mixture of peoples in England. Danish invasions were renewed at the opening of the eleventh century, and resulted in the actual conquest and rule of the country by the kings of Denmark.

With the coming of William the Conqueror from Normandy in 1066, another strain was added to the English stock. It is true that the Normans were descendants of the Norsemen who had occupied northern France when England was suffering a like invasion. In the intervening centuries Latin culture and refinement had been acquired by the Normans. They served, in consequence, to connect the developing England with the older civilizations of southern Europe, and their language, Norman-French, brought with it new legal ideas and governmental conceptions. After a long period of struggle between the two cultures, a gradual amalgamation took place, which was well advanced by the end of the reign of Henry II (1189). The new contribution added by the Normans had become an integral part of the evolving English type.

The value of racial origins can be overemphasized very easily. It appears to be true that an individual is very largely influenced by his cultural environment. But it is surely worth while to realize that the Englishman of later centuries was produced from a blending of peoples, a process not unlike that going on to-day in the Western Hemisphere and in many- British colonies. Yet it must be remembered that this mixture of racial groups in England has not been pronounced since the twelfth century, as the island was never successfully attacked after the days of William the Conqueror. Peaceful immigrations, such as the coming of the Flemish workmen in the late Middle Ages and of the Huguenots in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, have been of minor importance. Because the blending of peoples in the British Isles took place so long ago, the cultural influences known as British have extended to all classes of the population, giving to the national development a conscious cultural and historical unity. The various races forming the national type were admirably adapted to the daring work of mastering the sea and of empire-building, for they were lovers of the sea and conquerors. Added to this is the fact that the British Isles, in physical character and location, were peculiarly fitted to become the seat of empire, as they had formerly been the object of venturesome, sea-roving invasion.

The earlier history of England is concerned not only with racial combination. For centuries the unification of the British Isles occupied the chief attention of the rulers. Only when the islands forming Great Britain were conquered, could England look beyond to empire.

Until the time of the Normans, England was the extent of the conquered territory. With the strong hand of William the Conqueror holding in no uncertain grasp the control of English affairs, the subjugation of neighboring territory was undertaken. William established palatine earldoms along the Welsh and Scottish frontiers. Toward the close of his reign he even invaded Scotland and Wales, but this by no means meant a complete or permanent conquest of these neighbors. Yet Henry I, his son, compelled Malcolm of Scotland to do homage, and he also completed the conquest of South Wales. The period of anarchy, known as the reign of Stephen, made it necessary to do the work over again.

Henry II (1154-1189) was even ambitious enough to attack Ireland. Strongbow and other adventurers set up a feudal control in the western island, and the King went there in person to assure a mastery of these vassals. Henry II took the title " Lord of Ireland," being the first English ruler to be master, in the vague feudal sense, of the British islands. The reign of this King was noteworthy for the empire he established; it comprised not only Great Britain but many territories on the Continent. All western France was subject to him from Ponthieu on the north to Gascony in the south. By advantageous marriages of his children and by constant wars he endeavored to hold together this " Angevin Empire." His life was one of continual military activity, mostly on the Continent; had he not been of almost superhuman energy and ability, the incongruous combination would not have lasted so long as it did. He never spoke the English language, and his interests were more continental than insular. England was really but part of a foreign empire.

The loss of most of the continental possessions by John Lackland in the opening years of the thirteenth century was fortunate for the growth of English unity. The country became more isolated, foreign influence was gradually expelled, and internal problems were given more attention. Great Britain, however, was not yet ready to think of empire. Edward I (1272-1307) gave much of his attention to the conquest of Wales. His son, Edward II, who was born at Carnarvon, was made Prince of Wales, and the title has henceforth been used to designate the heir to the throne. Edward I also fought hard to establish English rule in Scotland. He was partially successful when Balliol was made King of Scotland under terms that made him the vassal of Edward I. But Scotland soon rose under the inspiring lead of Wallace, and, just as Edward I completed his long reign, Robert Bruce headed a revolt that proved ultimately successful. Scotland became a separate, independent kingdom; it was not to be united with England until the personal union of the two countries under the Scotch King, James VI, in 1603.

Much valuable effort was wasted in the attempt to revive English claims to French territory by Edward III and Henry V. As a result, England was more or less continually at war with France for one hundred years, but, by the middle of the fifteenth century, the English were driven from the Continent. Then followed the extremely wasteful civil conflicts known as the " Wars of the Roses." There was great loss of life and material resources in these military struggles that occupied the middle years of the fifteenth century. Gradually, however, the rival claimants to the English throne were removed by a process of elimination. This period of internal struggle came to an end with the accession of Henry VII to the kingship in 1485. As the representative of both rival factions, he brought peace and prosperity, for under his rule and that of his house, the Tudors, was laid the foundation for a strong and aggressive England, able to take part in the larger life of the world.

Wales had been subjugated by Edward I. The Welsh ancestry of Henry VII made it more definitely a part of the kingdom. In 1536, Henry VIII united it with England, and the Welsh counties were given the same rights as the English. Ireland remained a difficult problem, nor has it yet ceased to trouble British statesmen. In the reign of Henry VII, Ireland was practically independent under its feudal and tribal rulers. Henry VIII was the first to assume the title "King of Ireland." His daughter, Elizabeth, gave considerable attention to the Irish question, extending the plantation of the country in a ruthless manner. The Irish problem became more acute at this time, as the English rulers had gone over to the Protestant religion, while the great mass of the Irish were unmoved by the changes taking place to the east. In spite of this ill omen for British unity, the unification of Great Britain was nearer than ever before. With the death of Elizabeth in 1603, James VI became the ruler of England as well as of Scotland, and assumed the title "King of Great Britain." Four years later the first permanent English settlement beyond the seas was made, marking the beginning of a greater Britain.

An important consequence of the accession of James was the opening of the critical struggle that resulted in the establishment of a parliamentary government in Great Britain. The course of this development need not be exhaustively traced. It will be sufficient to indicate the way in which it culminated in the seventeenth century. The Witan of the Saxon period had at times a restraining power on the monarch. Yet representative government cannot be traced back to that time, as it really was started by the revolts of barons and churchmen against the aggressions of the absolute rulers who governed England after the Norman Conquest.

The most noteworthy step in the checking of the royal power was the forcing of the Magna Charta from King John in 1215. The monarchy was further limited in the next reign by the beginning of a representative body that came to be known as "Parliament." Simon de Montfort, who led the opposition to absolute rule, called a parliament in 1265 to which shires, cities, and boroughs were to send representatives in addition to those of the nobles and the church. Further steps in the direction of representation and the growth of the power of Parliament were taken as time went on. If a king were weak or interested in foreign war and needed funds, additional privileges were wrested from him in payment for grants. For example, Edward I called the " Model Parliament" in 1295 in order to obtain the cooperation of the people in his enterprises. The "Parliament of York" in Edward IPs reign established the custom that the consent of the Commons was necessary to make a law valid. The process of impeachment was exercised by the "Good Parliament" in the reign of Edward III. The chaos of the closing centuries of the Middle Ages as well as the despotism of the Tudors in the sixteenth century tended to weaken the power of Parliament and to retard its growth. The ideals had not been forgotten, however, for, when the foreigner, James, came to the throne in 1603, the struggle for the control of the monarch was renewed. "Charles I had his Cromwell" and James II was forced to "vacate" the throne in 1688. In the next year William of Orange — another foreigner — and Mary ascended to power at the request and by the permission of Parliament. By that time Parliament had effectively curbed the royal power, although much progress had to be made before the representation of the people by Parliament became real.

This brief survey has shown that Great Britain was remarkably prepared to build an empire at the opening of the seventeenth century. Practical unity had been attained at home; there was a strong government under the control of the representative Parliament. Centuries of struggle had moulded a composite people into a group capable of imperial tasks. In the next place, we must consider the conditions outside Great Britain that were so profoundly modifying world affairs as to give to the prepared kingdom of Great Britain the opportunity to go on to empire.

The student of British expansion will have occasion to use the standard guides to the history of Great Britain, but reference must be made to the additional volumes for the colonial development. Sir Charles Lucas, The British Empire (London, 1915), is a brief but comprehensive introduction to the subject. A work of somewhat similar character is Imperial England (New York, 1919), by C. F. Lavell and C. E. Payne. The best one-volume survey of imperial growth is The British Empire — Its Past, Its Present, and Its Future, edited by A. F. Pollard (London, 1909). An indispensable series is the "Historical Geography of the British Colonies," edited by Sir Charles Lucas, and issued by the Oxford Press. The introductory volume, The Origin and Growth of the English Colonies (1903), is by H. E. Egerton. The seven volumes of this series, published in parts as twelve, take up the geography and growth of the various colonies; more detailed reference will be made to these volumes in subsequent bibliographies. The series contains excellent maps. A. Wyatt Tilby has published in six volumes a careful and readable account of "The English People Overseas" (London, 191 1-14) . The first volume of A Short History of the British Commonwealth has appeared from the pen of Professor Ramsay Muir (London, 1920) ; the attempt to make a synthesis of British history by relating the gradual expansion and unification of English influence in the British Isles to the work of empire beyond the seas is carried in this volume to 1763. The Cambridge Modern History and the Dictionary of National Biography will be found of much value for particular subjects and individuals. The Annual Register has been published ever since the time of the Seven Years' War, and furnishes a detailed and contemporary treatment of colonial matters as well as general politics for those to whom it is available.

There are several bibliographical guides that will be found of service. The English Historical Association has published a leaflet on Books on

Colonial History. In the "Helps for Students of History" series there is a useful consideration of books on this subject by Professor A. P. Newton, An Introduction to the Study of Colonial History (London, 1919). A full bibliography of somewhat older date will be found appended to H. E. Egerton, A Short History of British Colonial Policy (London, 1910).

A brief collection of documents has been made by A. B. Keith, Selected Speeches and Documents on British Colonial Policy, 1763-1917 (2 vols., Oxford, 1918) . A useful volume of maps is that of Robertson and Bartholomew, Historical and Modern Atlas of the British Empire, published by the Clarendon Press.

Chapter II

It is customary to begin modern history with the opening of the sixteenth century. About that time such significant changes were taking place that the break seems more easily made at that point than elsewhere. One of the important reasons for making a convenient division of world-progress about 1500 was the remarkable change occurring at that time in European commercial conditions. It is necessary, in the next place, to see just what this change was, and what part England took in the commercial and industrial movements of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

TRADE IN THE MIDDLE AGES

The emergence of commerce and the development of town life are two very interesting aspects of the later Middle Ages. Some towns evolved from markets or fairs held at convenient places. Others can be connected with certain industries. During the Middle Ages the commercial intercourse that existed was carried on, for the most part, by towns with each other. It is incorrect to speak of a national trade in the Middle Ages. In the towns the trade was controlled at first by organizations known as "merchant gilds." These gilds, which became prominent in the twelfth century, consisted of those of a particular community who were interested in trade. Both the buyer and the seller in a community were protected by the gild which had the monopoly of trade for the town. In England, for example, foreigners from other countries or other English towns were forbidden to trade in such a way as to interfere with the gild's members. Buying and selling had to be in certain specified places, tolls could be exacted, and reciprocal arrangements made with other towns. This protective and fraternal organization later merged into the town government.

As industry developed, the craft gilds were added to the merchant gilds. These became common in the thirteenth century. Craft gilds were composed of members doing a particular kind of manufacture or trade in a particular community. The weavers and fullers of cloth seem to have formed the first craft gilds. Many odd craft names have come down to our day, often as surnames; e.g., the lorimers (makers of bits), goldsmiths, bowyers, fletchers (arrow-makers), tailors, mercers, pepperers (grocers). By the end of Edward Ill's reign (1377) there were in London about fifty gilds with separate organizations. The remnants of some seventy-five gilds exist to-day in London, no longer controlling in their trades, but exercising by their large ownership of property and their charities an important influence in London municipal affairs. 1 These gilds did much to further industry. Manufacturing was regulated, careful arrangements were made for proficiency in the trades by apprenticeship and for the standardization of the size and quality of goods. Fines were imposed for "false work" and expulsion from the gild might be used as a punishment.

The merchant and craft gilds were still in operation at the close of the Middle Ages. By this time they had outlived their usefulness, although they had done good service in preparing for more comprehensive arrangements. The growth of trade on a large scale, especially with foreign cities, tended to break down the gild system. An increasing national feeling and stronger centralized governments worked toward a more adequate commercial policy.

In its relations commercially with the Continent, England was long dependent for fine manufactured goods on its better developed neighbors. Even the carrying trade was largely in the hands of foreigners for most of the Middle Ages. Great fairs were held in the various parts of England convenient for the bringing of products from afar, and here the people would congregate for their annual purchasing of goods

1 The twelve great companies of London at the present time are the Mercers, Grocers, Drapers, Fishmongers, Goldsmiths, Skinners, Merchant Taylors, Haberdashers, Salters, Ironmongers, Vintners, and Clothworkers.

not made at home. A famous fair was that of Winchester, which was held mainly for the disposal of woolen goods. The greatest of all English fairs was held in September of each year at Stourbridge near Cambridge. This was attended by merchants from across the seas. Here English raw materials were exchanged for Venetian and Genoese goods from the Far East, for Flemish cloth, French wines, and the varied supply brought by the merchants of the Hanse towns.

England, as the producer of raw materials, was famous for its wool, since the unsettled conditions in Europe — the result of the constant wars — gave to England considerable importance as a sheep-raising country. The chief purchaser of English raw woolens was Flanders, although some went as far as Italy. The evident Flemish interests of the English kings can be accounted for by the desire to keep these markets open, especially as the wool-tax was one of the king's important sources of income. Edward III received annually about £50,000 from this tax. Edward I had named certain ports through which the wool trade could proceed in order that the duties on wool could be more easily collected. This trade was entrusted to an organization known as the " Merchants of the Staple." A patent was issued in 1313 requiring the choice of one staple in the Low Countries to which all wool should be taken ; Bruges was the staple in the early fourteenth century. About the middle of that century the staple was removed to England, and later it was located at Calais after that port had become an English possession. Finally the whole system declined because of the growing demand at home for the raw materials, since the Merchants of the Staple dealt only in the raw product.

Impetus was given to the development of the woolen manufacture in England by the immigration of Flemish clothmakers in large numbers during the fourteenth century. The chief center of the foreign weavers was Norwich, and the principal product was called "Worsted" from Worstead, the place of manufacture. This change by which England became a manufacturing nation as well as a producer of the materials for manufacture is very significant; it meant that

England was to take a more important place in the world's commerce.

ENGLISH COMMERCIAL EXPANSION

English commerce in English ships became important only toward the close of the Middle Ages. Before the sixteenth century, the Hanse merchants and the Italian cities had the major part of English foreign commerce, although the Merchants of the Staple exported raw wool to Flanders. When England began to produce cloth for foreign use, an organization of English merchants known as the " Merchant Adventurers" began to contend with the Hanse for the Baltic trade. By 1505 the Merchant Adventurers had a strong central organization. It was found to be necessary for English merchants to unite, as foreign commerce was hazardous and exposed to attack. As English commerce extended to new fields, companies similar to the Merchant Adventurers were granted trading privileges for particular parts of the European continent or of the new lands being discovered. In the sixteenth century unorganized or free trade existed only with France, Spain, and Portugal. During this time, in consequence, many important companies came into being. The Russian or Muscovy Company was established in 1554. The Mediterranean trade was granted to the Turkey or Levant Company. In 1579 Queen Elizabeth sent William Harburn to Turkey to obtain trading privileges. He was successful, and two years later the Company was organized. Previous to that time the Venetians had been accustomed to send an annual fleet with eastern goods to Southampton. The Barbary or Morocco Company was organized in 1585, and the Guinea Company three years later. In 1600, the most important of all for colonial expansion, the East India Company was chartered. Of similar character are the companies that had to do with early colonizing and commercial activity on the part of England in the Western Hemisphere, such as the Virginia Company, the Plymouth Company, the Hudson's Bay Company.