Essay Example on Five motives for Imperialism

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There are five motives for Imperialism economic exploratory ethnocentric political and religious Imperialism is an action that involves a country that is trying to extend its power by taking over territories from other powers Political motives were often started as responses to threats to the security or prestige of the imperial power or its citizens abroad British knew if they were able to obtain more land it would lead to more wealth as well Free trade would also improve due to the rise in power among the merchant classes Political motives along with the other four motives describe the reason for the English Imperialism Economics and religions can be argued to be the two main social pressures that encouraged the English Colonization of North America North America promised fertile land fair climate and the possibility of growing valuable crops such as cotton and tobacco as well as the possibility of finding gold North America was also used as a base for English pirates which resulted in economic activity In addition slavery was a major avenue of forced migration to North America and its main drive was also economic With regard to the other main social pressure religion many colonists belonged to Christian minority groups such as Puritans and Quakers There was greater religious freedom possible in North America because the Church of England did not enjoy official status in the colonies as it did in Britain

The Mayflower is a well known case of religiously motivated migration as well The lack of freedom with regards to religion and the economic prospects resulted in the English Colonization of North America Many things led to the American Revolution such as the Boston Tea Party the First and Second Continental Congress and the Battle of Lexington and Concord The Boston Tea Party started because colonists felt it was unfair to have a tax on tea The tax was put in place to raise funds following the French and Indian War In reality it was a political power move from the Parliament meant to keep control over the colonies On November 29th 1773 the biggest shipment of tea was being delivered in Boston On December 16th over 100 men dressed as Indians armed with hatchets axes and pistols split into three groups and boarded the three ships sitting in the Boston Harbor Soon after boarding boxes of tea were thrown over board and tea leaves floated the harbor In the end almost 100 000 pounds of tea was destroyed which is equivalent to almost 1 5 million in today s money The act done by the colonist strained the relationship between them and Britain which was never recovers and helped lead them to the American Revolution On September 5 1774 the first assembly began in response to the Boston Tea Party and lasted until October 26 1774 The congress met to discuss several options concerning the British offenses including the creation of the continental association a version of the American rights and a petition sent to the King that listed American complaints asking for him to change things By May 10 1775 the American revolution had already begun and the Second Continental Congress met and lead the war efforts throughout the War of Independence In July 1775 the Continental Congress sent a petition and vowed allegiance to the crown with the ability for free trade taxes equal to those put on the people in Great Britain or no taxes and strict trade regulations The King rejected the petition and proclaimed Rebellion by the American Colonies The rejection gave several colonists who favored revolution the opportunity to push for independence In the middle of all of this the Battles of Lexington and Concord is what officially kicked off the American Revolutionary War

Many things lead up to the Battle of Lexington and Concord including the Sugar Act Stamp Act Boston Massacre and the Boston Tea Party In the early mornings of April 19 1775 700 British troops arrived in Lexington and was met by 77 militiamen The British major ordered the militiamen to drop their weapons shortly after a shot was fired and the battle began By the end eight militiamen were left dead and nine injured while only one British soldier was injured The British continued to Concord to search for weapons and destroyed any they came across By doing so they started a fire that got out of control The militiamen thought the town was going to be destroyed and headed to Concord's North Bridge to confront the British soldiers The British fired first but quickly backed off when the militiamen returned the shots Shortly after the British soldiers headed back towards Boston where they were met by almost 2 000 militiamen The battle began once again however did not last long before the British soldiers started abandoning their equipment in order to retreat quicker By the end of the battle the American Colonists proved they could stand up to one of the most powerful armies in the world

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