How Far Was The British Empire A Force For Good Or Bad?

This essay will examine to what extent the British Empire was a force for good or bad, investigating the benefits and consequences of it and providing an analytical view on the subject. The British Empire can be traced back as far as the Middle Ages, but the one we know of today, which comprised of territories ruled by the United Kingdom, began to grow in the 1750’s and reached its peak in the 1920’s before coming to a sudden end after the Second World War. To begin with, the main reason for building an empire was to improve trade and set up colonies – countries or areas under full or partial political control of another country. In this essay, I will seek to discover the positive and negative influences of the British Empire.
Some people
The ‘Triangular Trade’ was a route with three points which carried slaves, cash crops and manufactured goods between Africa, the Americas and Britain. This trading method was hugely beneficial to merchants who became extremely wealthy as the ships were always full. In addition to this, the trade increased employment for dockers, ship builders, sail makers and warehousemen. In fact, slavery was another advantage of the Empire for the people living in Britain. Slaves were able to produce goods on the plantations that would be transported back to Britain for people to enjoy and they cost no money at all meaning that the British Empire could gain profit and expand its wealth. Furthermore, slaves played a huge part in building useful means of communication such as
Although slavery had a positive effect on the people living in Britain, the impact of slavery on the people living in the colonies was somewhat negative. This is because the slaves were imported to the colonies and therefore inhabited them. The slave trade was cruel – conditions on board the slave ships during the Middle Passage were appalling. Men were packed together in a cramped space, secured by leg irons while women and children would be allowed limited freedom of movement which exposed them to violence and sexual abuse. When the slave ships reached the West Indies they would be sold. Buyers would go into the yard where the slaves were confined and choose the ones they preferred which led to families often being separated. The punishments were brutal and the average life expectancy for a slave was only 26 years due to poor diet, living conditions and hard work. Many people would say that the situation these colonists were in was unjust; the slaves would have to produce the facilities that had a positive influence on Britain, putting them in an unreasonable position. Moreover, the treatment of slaves was discriminatory. Historians agree that the British Empire had a racist attitude. There was often ethnic conflict and management of black people (primarily colonists and slaves) was evidently different compared to the management of white