Unit 1: Topic 5: Trade and Commerce

Question 1

Where did Britain as the world’s largest consumer market get its goods?

Answer 1

• Tropical plantations- West Indies, Malayan Straits, West Africa
• Minerals and wool- Australia
• Cotton- India
• Timber and wheat- Canada

Question 2

Who came up with the theory of free trade, where did they say it and what did it say?

Answer 2

Adam Smith in his book The Wealth of Nations- wealth indefinitely expandable and freedom maximises prosperity.

Question 3

When was the Treaty of Nanking?

Answer 3

1842

Question 4

When was the Treaty of Tientisin?

Answer 4

1858

Question 5

How many imports and exports came from the empire to Britain in 1875.

Answer 5

1875- 20% imports, 1/3 exports

Question 6

Which British currency became the main international currency?

Answer 6

The sterling

Question 7

When was the colonial conference discussing whether there should be special trading preferences within the empire?

Answer 7

1887

Question 8

When did Canada and Australia begin to put tariffs against British imports?

Answer 8

1860s

Question 9

When did Clipper ships become popular?

Answer 9

1860s

Question 10

When was steamships first used?

Answer 10

1850s

Question 11

What was the first type of engine that made steamships more viable reducing the amount of coal needed to power them?

Answer 11

Compound steam engine

Question 12

What engine further increased the efficiency of steamships and when?

Answer 12

Triple expansion steam engine- 1870s- more steamships inland

Question 13

What does HECT stand for in terms of what railways did for settler colonies?

Answer 13

• Harsh Lands
• Exports
• Commercial Reach
• Territories

Question 14

What was the first African railway?

Answer 14

The West African railway in Zanzibar

Question 15

When and where were canals developed in Canada?

Answer 15

• After 1867
• Developed canals around the Great Lakes seaway system and built Welland Canal

Question 16

How did the value of British exports increase after the increase in free trade?

Answer 16

• 1845- £60 million
• 8169-£190 million

Question 17

Describe the value of British exports and imports in different countries?

Answer 17

• Australia- 1/2 exports and imports from Britain
• Canada- 1/2 exports and 1/4 imports
• South Africa- 4/5 exports, 3/5 imports
• India- 1/4 exports and 1/2 imports

Question 18

How much wool did Australia export to Britain?

Answer 18

£400 million worth- 60% of wool exports- in 1886

Question 19

What goods did tropical colonies produce?

(Hint: 6 products)

Answer 19

Sugar, coffe, cocoa, groundnuts, copra and palm oil

Question 20

What is a major plantation established in India and when was it established?

Answer 20

1870s- Arthur Halls plantation in Nelliampathy, Kerela

Question 21

How did tea plantations increase in India after the Indian mutiny?

Answer 21

• 1851- 1 plantation
• 1872- 295 plantations

Question 22

Which countries produced tea and coffee?

Answer 22

Ceylon (Sri Lanka), India and British East Africa

Question 23

Which countries produced rubber and palm oil?

Answer 23

Malaya and North Borneo

Question 24

Which countries produced sugar?

Answer 24

Mauritius, Natal, Figi and Queensland (Australia)

Question 25

Wh

When was the Kimberly Diamond syndicate formed?

Answer 25

1890

Question 26

When was West Griqualand annexed?

Answer 26

1871

Question 27

When were diamonds discovered in Kimberly?

Answer 27

1867

Question 28

What was William Mackinnons company called, when was it chartered and where did it operate?

Answer 28

• Imperial British East Africa Company- 1888
• Kenya and Uganda

Question 29

When was George Goldies company chartered, what was the name of the company and where did it have influence?

Answer 29

• 1886- Royal Niger Company
• West Africa and Nigeria

Question 30

What was the name of Cecil Rhodes’s company, when was it chartered and where did it operate?

Answer 30

British South Africa Company- 1889. Operated in South Africa- Cape Colony, Transvaal, Natal etc.

Question 31

When was gold discovered at Witswatersrand near this Transvaal capital, Pretoria causing a gold rush?

Answer 31

1886

Question 32

How many (mostly Cornish) miners travelled to Witwatersrand after the discovery of gold in 1886?

Answer 32

30,000

Question 33

How much gold did Victoria, Australia produce and when?

Answer 33

1866- £124 million of gold- 1/3 total world production.

Question 34

When was gold discovered at Kalgoorlie, Australia?

Answer 34

1880s

Question 35

When was gold discovered at South Island, New Zealand?

Answer 35

1860s

Question 36

Which mineral did Nigeria mostly produce?

Answer 36

Tin

Question 37

Which mineral did the Gold Coast mostly produce?

Answer 37

Gold

Question 38

Which mineral did West Griqualand and Sierra Leione mostly produce?

Answer 38

Diamonds

Question 39

Which minerals did Southern Rhodesia mostly produce?

Answer 39

Copper and Gold

Question 40

When was the Imperial Federation League established ot promote colonial unity and tarriffs?

Answer 40

1884

Question 41

When was the Long Depression?

Answer 41

1873-1896

Question 42

When was the North Borneo trading Company chartered?

Answer 42

1881

Question 43

What value did the North Borneo Trading Company produce?

Answer 43

• Coal, iron, copper
• Plantations of coffee and tobacco
• Strategic site for the protection of India and China