Part 2

Why did Britain start colonising the world?

Economically exploiting its colonies was a smug way for England to amass wealth. The British realised that buying abundant raw material at low costs from their colonies would save them from purchasing the same at higher costs from other countries. The same colonies would be buyers for manufactured goods made with their resources that were shipped to England. The finished products would be priced high while being sold to the colonies. This would steepen Britain’s profit margin.

Profit-seeking merchants collaborated to establish the Virginia Company of London, a joint-stock company. King James I extended his support to this firm that added fuel to fire to the acceleration of colonialism. Rich people were encouraged to invest finances to fund ship-building and sea voyages. The public was wooed to buy shares and lottery tickets of this company.

The Industrial Revolution started in 1760. New words related to science and technology were added to the English dictionary. Science was misused by powerful British business people to exploit poor people including children at their factories to manufacture large quantities of goods at low costs. The workers were made to work hard for long hours in inhuman conditions. England needed more colonies to sell its industrial merchandise. As imperialism spread globally, the colonies were milked dry of finances. The colonial wealth was enjoyed mainly by the rich of Britain; the economically disadvantaged groups continued to struggle. As more factories were created, environmental pollution started plaguing the world, triggering climate change.  

The British made the non-white inhabitants of their colonies falsely believe that those of Anglo-Saxon origin were superior in race and culture to them. The English language was better than their mother tongues, is what many gullible people started thinking. Learning English was perceived as climbing the social ladder to become civilised. That led to the global expansion of the language.

https://pixabay.com/illustrations/roses-lady-flowers-vintage-3718801/: Victorian fashion of a wealthy English woman: Image by Darkmoon_Art from Pixabay: Picture courtesy

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