Was Trade the Most Important Factor of British Empire

Was Trade the Most Important Factor of the Growth of the British Empire. Do You Agree?

At the Cutty Sark I learned that the ship traded tea from China. It was able to carry 10,335 tea chests. It left from London with mining gear, beer, coal and household goods. This shows that trade was quite an important factor for the Empire because people were able to use items and foods that they did not get in their own country and it also increases colonisation because some people from the UK would stay in China gathering all of the cargo onto the ship and would stay there to make sure trade was always going on. The ship would of shipped off a lot of cargo and the living conditions would have been very bad. The men on board would of had to do many jobs. This shows that being on board a ship was not always a pleasant experience. The ship had many sales so that it could travel faster. The Cutty Sark would export cargo from the United Kingdom such as items like mining gear, beer, coal, household goods, some weaponry and especially wool. In Australia from 1869-1892 there ended up being 100,000,000 sheep in Australia. There were not that many men on board. There were 30 men on board at the most and almost half of them were apprentices. Most of the crew on board the ship would abandon it when they got to Australia. This increased colonization in another part of the world.

At the National Maritime Museum I learnt more about the East India Company. The Europeans began to trade with Asia by sea around the 1500's. The first European to sail from Europe to Asia was Vasco da Gama. Many different European countries traded with sailed to Southern India for things like spices and pepper. This is exactly what the Dutch did. Robert Knox sailed from Great Britain to Southern India because of the East India Company. Many of the things that were traded helped the UK. Pepper which came from India protected people against the Plague. The Navy was the most important thing with trading because it allowed you to get to different countries. Trade caused a lot of conflict like at the Battle of Plassey in 1757 where Clive defeated the Nawab(prince) Siraj ud-Daula. This was a turning point because the British ended up capturing India. This is also a turning point because they would have more land and begin to colonise in India. It also would have made their rivals such as the Dutch angry because they would now be trading with the British. The East India Company was very efficient during trade because it was able to give people more jobs, more goods and also more allies.

At the Painted Hall there was not much to learn about trade or colonisation etc.. Instead of those things we saw a whole room that was painted with different Gods, Kings, Queens, Seasons, Ships and these were all merged together to make as if it was telling small stories. The hall was painted by a man called James Thornhill and he wanted to make this so that he could get more money. I think that the hall was made like that for National Pride because when an apprentice would walk into a room like that they would be proud of their country and would be motivated to make his country proud.
The men and women who made the British Empire would have been motivated because of factors such as national pride, wealth, fame, making allies, agriculture, weaponry. These all show that the British were trying to make their country known. It does not really surprise me because if you look at any country, they all want to spread their culture and gain power but some countries know how to do it better than others.

I think that trade was the most important factor of the British Empire because it was the most powerful trading nation in the world, they arrived in the country to trade in the first place, many products were brought to Britain some of which we still have today and if trade never began then we would not have things like tea, coffee, exotic fruits, spices etc.. The other factors are important because Britain created allies, spread religion quickly and beat their rivals in war. These are all good factors but none of it would have happened if trade did not really begin. From 1603-1677 7million pounds more pepper was exported from India to the UK. This helped them in war because they were able to gain allies. Even though there was conflict like at the Battle of Plassey there was somebody in India to help the East India Company. The increase of tea exports from China between 1701 to 1801 was 31,500,000 pounds. During trade with different countries it also increased the amount of money in the UK.

Trade is also important because of the slave trade and how many workers they were able to work for them. It also allowed them to get goods from the Caribbean and also gain allies from Africa. There are negatives to the slave trade on how they treated the workers and how much they made them work in such terrible conditions. The middle passage was the worst because the slaves would get whipped and the conditions below deck would be so bad because it wold be very cramped. They hardly got any food and they were made to work unwillingly with no pay. If they were punished they were either marked or in a really bad incident then they would be killed to set an example to the other slaves. Young children and old people would do minor jobs like picking up litter and extra grains to throw away. People who were quite strong such as young men would work on the plantations and women would work in the slavers houses doing the cooking and cleaning in the houses. The white people would not do that much other than collect the money. The living conditions were also really bad because they would hardly have any space and it would be very cramped. That all changed when slaves became Christian and people began to feel as if they should not make their fellow Christians work with no pay.

Religion was increased because of the slaves and colonisation in different countries but they would have had to trade to make this happen. To beat their rivals Great Britain would have also used trade to gain allies and generate a larger army. They would have also gained more weapons. Trade was also a very big factor for the British Empire because it gained fame and wealth for the UK. It helped make their country known and to spread their culture. Even though it took quite a long time to get to each location that they needed to get to it was all worth it in the end because they ended up bringing back a lot of cargo which could last the UK for quite a long time. It helped that the navy were good because it meant that trade would be a lot easier because they would be able to get to each place quicker and would be able to navigate themselves well. Even though there were many important factors of the British Empire I personally think that trade was the most important because it increased the United Kingdoms economy, agriculture, fame, wealth, culture and goods exported from other countries. That is why trade in my opinion is the most important factor of the growth of the British Empire.