MEPHAM
What was Britain’s most important colony?
“Whoever commands the sea commands trade, whoever commands the trade of the world commands the riches
of the world and consequently the world itself.”
Sir Walter Raleigh (c.1610)
Earl of Cromer, First
British Viceroy of
Egypt (1908). “Egypt
may now almost be said
to form part of Europe.
It is on the high road to
the Far East. It can
never cease to be an
object of interest to all
the powers of Europe,
and especially to England.”
Find and circle the
United Kingdom and
Egypt on the map. Why
is Egypt “on the road to
the Far East” for England?
(below) Map showing the
two routes to India the
longer 12,300 mile route
around the Cape of Good
Hope in South Africa and
the new 7,300 mile
“shortcut” through the
Suez Canal”.
Egypt
Map of the British
Empire in the
late 1800’s
The Suez Canal, which opened in 1869, was the most important technological, financial and
logistical achievements during the “Age of Empire” It supported the expansion of global trade
by making sea routes much shorter. As air travel did in the second half of the twentieth century
and computerization is doing today, it made the world a much smaller place. Construction of
the canal also supported European economic, political and military domination of the world.
The opening of the Suez Canal in transformed world shipping. Before the canal was built, ships
traveling between Europe and Asia had to sail around the southern tip of Africa, a voyage of
approximately10,000 miles. The Suez Canal meant that the trip from England to India was
shortened by more than 4,000 miles. The canal saved nearly two months time on a one-way
trip. In the book, Parting the Desert: The Creation of the Suez Canal, author Zachary Karabell
calls the construction of the Suez Canal the greatest engineering feat of the nineteenth century.
Egyptians hoped the canal would lead to a national renaissance and renewed power (more on
that later in the year). British merchants and businessmen invested in the canal with an eye on
global economic domination. The canal fell under British control by 1875.
Questions:
Why does the author compare the Suez Canal to air travel and computerization?
How much time would be saved on a round trip voyage between Britain and India by traveling via the Suez Canal?
Why would British businessmen invest in the construction of the canal with an eye toward
global economic domination?
Economic impact of the Suez Canal in 3charts:
Plot the export information on the two charts to the left in the space provided below. Including a projection for the year 1900.
Table 1 British Cotton Cloth Exports to India
1814-1835
Year
Total British
Cloth export to
India (lbs)
300
Percentage of imports into the Indian market
818,200
.1%
1821
19,138,726
.8%
1828
42,822,077
3.2%
1835
51,777,277
3.9%
Table 2: British cotton textile exports in the
Indian market 1835 to 1884
Indian consump- Share taken by
tion of cotton
British exports
exports (lbs)
(%)
1835
51,777,277
3.9%
1860
91,342,220
35.3%
1884
300,065,456
58.4%
275
Cotton Imports (in million pounds)
1814
Year
325
250
225
200
175
150
125
100
75
50
25
0
Year 1814
1821
1828
1835
1860
1884
1900(p)
What was the most important British colony?
Colony
Important Resources
Egypt
Suez Canal
Hong Kong and the China
sphere of influence
Silk, tea, porcelain (china) and jade
380,000,000
India
Cotton to import into Britain and opium to
export into China
282,000,000
South Africa
Gold and diamonds, midpoint on voyage to
Asia via the Cape of Good Hope
Which colony listed above is most important to the British Empire? Why?
Market Size in 1890
8,7770,000
2,957,800