In the 18th century India represented one of the world’s most important manufacturing centres. In fact, it supplied about twenty-five percent of world’s industrial output, and an even larger percent of world textile exports. When Britain colonized India it caused the decline of the country’s economy and, as it is argued by Allen (2011), by the end the 19th century Indian shares of the world’s manufacturing had dropped to one percent. India’s de-industrialization has been argued and analysed for years and historians have diverging opinions regarding its causes. With the term “de-industrialization” is meant the “movement of labour out of manufacturing and in to agriculture” (Jeffrey G. Williamson, 2004). While Morris D. Morris and D. Thorner …show more content…
As R.C. Dutt (1969) claims, the self-centered commercial policies followed by the British Parliament and the East India Company during the last years of the eighteenth century and the first years of the nineteenth century aimed at boosting the production of England manufactures though the repression of Indian industries. Starting from 1813, an internal transit duty of 15% was paid by cloth made in Bengal when carried to Calcutta, Dacca or other towns and cities in the province. British cloth didn’t have to pay this internal tax and paid a nominal import tax of 2.5%. These tariffs, as R.C. Dutt (1969) states, are known as “one way free trade”, and were enforced to make India a supplier of raw material to British industries so that they could exploit the resources of their colony to produce value-added goods. Moreover, British policies discouraged the use of India made-ship, a sector that was already in decline because of British iron ships. Relevant in this discourse is the Registry Act of 1815, which imposed a 15% duties on goods that were imported in India ships. Thus, colonial economic policies, that avoid tariff protection and did not help Indian industry (Nehru, 1946), can be considered partly responsible for India’s poor economic
"The Trading World of Asia and the English East India Company, 1660-1760." EHnet. Web. 08 Mar. 2015.
Indians had hand woven cotton textiles to England (1790-1859) As the british had decreased the industrial revolution goes from 2,200 to 304 in a very short amount of time. 2,200 and 304 represent the India exports of hand woven fabrics in over 70 years (1790-1859). The british had rule over India and over the Environment. “In a few years the soil had suffered degradation which was compounded by the intensive farming of cash crops.” is said in document 6 (British rule of India and the Environment). Warming of reign was caused by the destruction of forests. The destruction of forests had happened within a few decades. as stated in document 6. “This was lead a to a drop in the water-table, followed by salinization of the
Lalvani states that “... both nations benefited from the trade links that were firmly established in the 17th century and continued under the East India Company” (paragraph #10). However, because of the trade links established, cheap English fabric flooded the market, decreasing exports of Indian cloth and leading to loss of work, poverty, starvation, and even death as a result (document #5 & #6). The trade links led to the destabilization of the Indian economy and rendered Indians dependent on the British, losing the self-sufficiency they had before imperialism. In paragraph 17, Lalvani claims “the British also worked to preserve the environment and animals of India”. In reality, the growth of cash crops ruined Indian soil, only allowing them to grow the crops the British wanted.
According to Dr. Lalvani, “Both Nations benefited from the trade links” (Paragraph #10). While this is true, Document 6 states that there was barely any woven cotton exported to Britain. The evidence shows that there was not a fair trading system between the countries, the British gaining an unfair amount the tradable resources, leading to more money. In addition to Dr. Lalvani, “British worked to preserve the environment and animals in India” (Paragraph #17). On the other hand, Document 7 illustrates that “Cash crops like indigo, cotton, and tobacco as they were very profitable crops for them but it totally degraded the farmland and made it unfit for growing other crops”( Doc # 7). With this evidence, it proves that the British used India’s land to gain revenue, while destroying the farmland in the process, making the Indian’s barely able to grow crops for themselves, leaving them starving and to
On the 31st of December in the year 1600, ‘The Governor and Company of Merchants of London Trading into the East Indies’ received a Royal Charter to be England’s trading representative in India. By they early part of the 17th Century, Britain had already eclipsed Portuguese interests in India. The company bought in cotton, silk, indigo, opium, saltpeter and tea mainly in exchange for silver bullion. These were valuable commodities in Britain at that time. By 1720, 15% of British imports were from India.
Perhaps England’s largest investment in the India was their vast railroad system, employing over 1.6 million workers; the most in the world. (Dr Lalvani) This is true but britain’s policies such as: the prohibiting of farmers to grow any crop that isn’t a cash crop or the policy to tax Indian weavers so heavily that it drove them out of business. (Document 3) This forced millions of people out of weaving jobs and farmers into bankruptcy because no one wanted their cash crops. This caused 58 million deaths because these workers couldn’t afford food (Document 6). 58 million deaths heavily out ways 1.6 million jobs. Another claim Dr Lalvani makes is is that both nations benefited from trade. However, the amount of hand woven goods being exported to england dropped to 2,200 in 1790 to zero in 1890. (Document 4) This number began falling during the industrial revolution after British imperialism, meaning the number of British goods being exported skyrocketed, replacing the Indian made goods. This out millions of people out of jobs, causing the economy to suffer while English men became
Dr. Lalvani claims that “India’s success as the world largest democracy”(paragraph 7). The British made the Indians pay unfair taxes even when they had no money or struggling to get food and eat to survive. The Indians economy had a negative impact because of the manipulation of the cloth market and forced production of cash crops. Although Lalvani claims that “both nations benefited from trade links, the British wouldn’t let Indians make their own cloth to make clothes; thereby, manipulating the cloth market”(paragraph 10) The Indians started to buy the clothes from the British because it was so cheap that everyone started buying it instead of Indian cloth, ultimately putting people out of work and have no money for food. “However, by the imposition taxes in Indian they made fabric and a flood of cheap fabric that didn’t cost so much”(document
productions when India was still a British Colony. Much of India’s goods such as spices
Imagine having to wait a long period of time for a letter from your beloved because they had to send it through horse. Or even better, imagine having to wait for wheat or meat restock in your city due to the distance the store purchased it from. America industrial growth couldn’t have occurred without the industrial giants of the period. The industrial giants gave the states more opportunity to create and move quicker to provide the nation.
Not only did the British rob the nation of their natural resources but shut down their self-owned business as well; thus, a monopoly was created by the British over all aspects of Indian production. They bought the Indian raw materials at low prices while the Indian weavers were forced to buy them back as finished goods at unreasonable prices. The British industrialized India to expand their own markets globally. The desire and need for cheap labor and a continuous supply of raw materials gave a reason to the Britain to imperialize India. India was extremely rich in raw materials: spices, textile, cotton and opium etc. It helped Britain cross-trade with other countries which resulted in a boost of the British economy. Therefore, India was referred to as the “Crown Jewel of the British
First, Europe’s relationship with India was of mutual prosperity and trade. Until the East India Company began to create a monopoly for itself in Indian trade, pushing out other European rivals, notably the French, followed it’s by conquest of the country, that phase was from 1600 to 1757 was not an unequal colonial relationship. The East India Company had a large interest in promoting the export of silks and cotton textiles from India which soon began to be noticed on British industrial
The Industrial Revolution was a revolution in every sense of the word, as it altered almost every aspect of live in the nineteenth century including technology, government, communication, environment and eventually society as a whole.1 Although industrialisation created many positives for modern society, for people in Britain up to the end of the nineteenth century it had many significantly negative consequences. With the long term advances made for society came the then current development of overcrowding cities abundant with pollution, health problems and poor living conditions for the working class. These poor conditions continued into the work place with young children exploited as workers as young as the age of four or five.2 There were consequences of the Industrial Revolution for people outside of the core of Britain. India, being the periphery in the model were exploited for their raw materials which were exported to Britain.
The Industrial Revolution could possibly be the most important event in the history of our world. Before it, people worked mostly on farms or sold things through the market that were hand crafted. This revolution brought about great change in the ways that we produce goods and the economies of the world. While some might argue that Industrialization had primarily negative consequences for society because of the rough working and living conditions, it was actually a positive thing for society. Industrialization’s positive effects were an increased standard of living, better means of travel, and more developed countries with better economies.
According to Dr. Lalvani, direct British rule led to more investments in building more roads, bridges, and railways. He also claims that both nations benefited by the trade routes and that the British help the Indians benefit from being imperialized because their railway system employs 1.6 million people. Although Dr. Lalvani makes the claim that the trains and railways are good and employs over a millions people even though the trains and railways were built in India to export all of India’s natural resources and beauty (doc 6). According to document 7, the food exports that were leaving for the British raised as India was dying of starvation. The British benefited more than the Indians because they had multiple increases in exports from India well the Indians were not allowed to sell any of the products plummeting their economy.
The East India Company was a British joint-stock company establish on the 31st of December, 1600 under the original name ‘The Company of Merchants of London trading into the East Indies.’ Over the next hundreds of years the Company set a sail attempting to find riches in trade on their journeys to these new lands. They found value in crops such as indigo, salt, cotton, silk, opium and other cash crops that the barren land of Europe lacked. This would be the company that would set sail to the land of India and dominate its soil from the middle of 1700’s to the middle of the 1800’s.