interesting post you linked me to. the reasons stated in your post were:
(1) Ending of slavery. The next 100 yrs proved these cozy liberal ideas were the makings of the end of the Empire.
america has ended slavery.
(2) Stoopit idea that human beings were equal. One Englishman was worth at least 10 foreigners.
egalitarianism is in full swing in america
(3) Giving women the vote.
same deal here in america
(4) Allowing suckers an even break (example..Northern Ireland and uneven division)
not sure exactly what is meant here but i'm sure you could find a parallel in america.
(5) Some stoopit idea that the working classes in the UK had some sort of "rights". They should have realized they were lucky enough just to be born in the right country.
well we have the stupid idea that illegals who broke into our country have some sort of rights. the media makes more of an issue about the rights of terrorists in cuba than the rights of decent, hard working americans.
>> take note of this link. <<
The mercantilists advocated in theory, and sought in practice, trade monopolies which would insure that Britain's exports would exceed its imports. A profitable balance of trade, it was believed, would provide the wealth necessary to maintain and expand the empire.
of course mercantilism is a form protectionism, and this article states correctly that the british empire rose to prominence under this protectionist system.
This state of affairs, however, was complex and far from stable. The old mercantile Empire was weakened during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries by a number of factors: by the abolition in 1807 of slavery in Britain itself, a movement led by the Evangelicals ; by the freeing in 1833 of slaves held elsewhere in the Empire; by the adoption, after a radical change in economic perspective (due in large part to the influence of Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations), of Free Trade
the article lists free trade as a "radical change" that weakened the empire.
During the Victorian Era, however, the acquisition of territory and of further trading concessions continued (promoted by strategic considerations and aided or justified by philanthropic motivations), reaching its peak when Victoria , at Disraeli's instigation, had herself crowned Empress of India in 1876.
the united states has often made trade concessions for strategic considerations. i told you about the ones made by eisenhower after the second world war, that allowed countries like japan and germany to get back on their feet.
At the height of the Empire, however, growing nationalist movements in various colonies presaged its dissolution
nationalist movements tend to crop up when people finally come to their senses and recognize the destructive affects of unilateral free trade. |
