A History of Britain: The Wrong Empire

1. What was the British idea of liberty before the Empire began its exploration, colonization and settlement of North America? They talked about it all the time and thought it was the best. They pitied other countries because, they thought, no one was as free as they were. They thought it was a reward for them for nearly a century of civil wars. They built temples devoted to liberty.


2. The sugar plantation became a significant British interest in various parts of the New World. Why was sugar so important at the time and what were the consequences of this interest? Because British have always loved chocolate, coffee, and specially, tea. And sugar goes with all of these. They started settling in the West Indies and got huge plantations.


3. Slavery and Empire, what was the relationship between the two and, what was the inherent contradiction between the ideals of Empire and its actuality in practice? Slavery helped the British become an empire because it helped a lot with the production of sugar and building their cities. It’s ironic because they claimed they were all about freedom and they got to their greatest only by taking other peoples’ freedom.


4. Describe the conditions of the slave ships. Three and a half million slaves were transported in British ships alone. Journeys started months earlier, in Africa. They separated whole families and didn’t care about ages. They were dragged to the coast and to the ship, chained together. To make the trip a bit more economic, they put the slaves in two layers in the hall. Lots of slaves died before they even got there.


5. The conception of death the slaves held differs dramatically from the norm, how so and, do you think there conception of death was justified/justifiable? They saw death as liberty, so at their funerals it allowed them to sing and feel like a community and feel a bit closer to Africa. It differs dramatically because their imposed lifestyle was also very different from other people’s. It’s 100% reasonable and of course they would feel that anxious for freedom, because they longed for their return to Africa, for dignity.


6. General Wolfe´s conquest of Quebec had far reaching results, what was the immediate effect of this conquest and what did it mean for the British? It was a threat for the British because their empire was in danger so it of course took to a war that then turned into a victory for the British.


7. What was the role of taxation in America and what part did it play in the British losing the 13 Colonies? People got really angry and refused to pay taxes. It took to instant ideas of emancipation, and eventually, emancipation. But first, there were boicots, some killing, drop of taxes except for tea, and the famous Tea Party.


8. What does `no taxation without consent’ refer to or, how were the British using taxation against the American Colonies? It refers to how angry people got because of the taxes and how they managed to get rid of taxes except for the one on tea. British were getting a lot of money out of the hard work people did in the American colonies.


9. The Stamp Act became known as the Tax of Knowledge, explain why and