Located at the fringes of Europe, Britain received European technological and cultural developments much later than Southern Europe and the Mediterranean region did during prehistory. By around 4000 BC, the island was populated by people with a Neolithic culture.
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How has the settlement of Britain changed over time?
The greatest overall change in settlement was, in fact, the massive urbanization that accompanied Britain’s early industrial development. The increasing percentage of employees in offices and service industries ensures continued urban growth.
How did the United Kingdom Come into being?
The core of the United Kingdom as a unified state came into being in 1707 with the political union of the kingdoms of England and Scotland, into a new unitary state called Great Britain. Of this new state of Great Britain, the historian Simon Schama said:
How did the British Empire expand its colonial empire?
In 1867, Britain united most of its North American colonies as Canada, giving it self-government and responsibility for its internal affairs. Britain handled foreign policy and defence. The second half of the 19th century saw a major expansion of Britain's colonial empire in Asia and Africa as well as the Pacific .
What are the key facts of Great Britain?
Fast Facts: Great Britain Official Name: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Capital:London Population: 65,105,246 (2018) Official Language: English Currency: British pound (GBP) Form of Government: Parliamentary constitutional monarchy; a commonwealth realm
What was the result of the collapse of coal mining and heavy industry in the North and the West Midlands of England?
How many people lived in the United Kingdom at the end of the 11th century?
What were the opportunities for employment in the United Kingdom in the 1950s?
How many children died in the 18th century?
Where did the unemployed move to?
Did the United Kingdom gain from the New Commonwealth?
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How was Great Britain settled?
In AD 43 the Roman conquest of Britain began; the Romans maintained control of their province of Britannia until the early 5th century. The end of Roman rule in Britain facilitated the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, which historians often regard as the origin of England and of the English people.
What did the original inhabitants of Britain look like?
These people were strong and muscular, with large brow-ridges and relatively large brains. They shaped tools with precision. Their handaxes and other stone tools have been found at several sites around Britain.
How did the colonies feel about Great Britain?
Many colonists felt that they should not pay these taxes, because they were passed in England by Parliament, not by their own colonial governments. They protested, saying that these taxes violated their rights as British citizens. The colonists started to resist by boycotting, or not buying, British goods.
What did the British settlers want?
The British settlers came to these new lands for many reasons. Some wanted to make money or set up trade with their home country while others wanted religious freedom. In the early 1600s, the British king began establishing colonies in America.
What was the color of the first humans?
Color and cancer These early humans probably had pale skin, much like humans' closest living relative, the chimpanzee, which is white under its fur. Around 1.2 million to 1.8 million years ago, early Homo sapiens evolved dark skin.
When was the first black person in England?
The increase in trade between London and West Africa resulted in the growth in the population of Africans. The first recorded Black resident was in 1593, a man named Cornelius.
How did the British treat the natives?
The Native Americans were forced to give up their lands so the colonists could grow even more tobacco. In addition to their desire for land, the English also used religion to justify bloodshed. In 1637, New England Puritans exterminated thousands of Pequot Indians, including women and children.
What bad things did the British do to the colonists?
They had to pay high taxes to the king. They felt that they were paying taxes to a government where they had no representation. They were also angry because the colonists were forced to let British soldiers sleep and eat in their homes. The 13 original states.
Why did the colonists fight the British?
They fought the British because of unfair taxes. They fought because they didn't have self-government. When the American colonies formed, they were part of Britain. Britain increased taxes for colonists on things they bought and used every day, like tea.
Why did the British give up America?
There was no hope of conquering America — the territory was too big and available resources too meager. At the outbreak of hostilities, the British Army numbered just 45,000 men, spread over a substantial global empire.
How many colonies did Britain have?
At its most extensive, the British Empire comprised 57 colonies, dominions, territories or protectorates from Australia, Canada and India to Fiji, Western Samoa and Tonga.
How much of America did Britain own?
At the start of the Revolutionary War in 1775, the British Empire included 23 colonies and territories on the North American continent.
Who were the first humans in Britain?
The oldest human remains so far found in England date from about 500,000 years ago, and belonged to a six-foot tall man of the species Homo heidelbergensis. Shorter, stockier Neanderthals visited Britain between 300,000 and 35,000 years ago, followed by the direct ancestors of modern humans.
Who are the first inhabitants of England?
Mesolithic people occupied Britain by around 9,000 BC, and it has been occupied ever since. By 8000 BC temperatures were higher than today, and birch woodlands spread rapidly, but there was a cold spell around 6,200 BC which lasted about 150 years.
What did the Celts look like?
What did the Celts look like? Looking again at the recordings by Roman literature, the Celts were described as wearing brightly coloured clothes, with some having used blue dye from the woad plant to paint patterns on their bodies.
Who inhabited Britain before the Romans?
The people who lived in Britain before the Romans arrived are known as the Celts. Though they didn't call themselves 'Celts' - this was a name given to them many centuries later. In fact, the Romans called 'Celts' 'Britons'.
List of urban areas in the United Kingdom - Wikipedia
Definition. The methodology used by ONS in 2011 is set out in 2011 Built-up Areas – Methodology and Guidance, published in June 2013.When ONS reported the results of the 2011 UK census, it used the term "built-up area" rather than the term "urban area" as used in previous censuses.ONS states, however, that the criteria used to define "built-up area" have not changed:
Urbanization of Great Britain by Mitchell Smith
This urbanization of Great Britain affected Britain in future, greatly. One thing it did was create more factories, a lot more. More factories means more jobs which means when people move to Great Britain jobs will be plentiful. What it also did was create a new social class
The Spread of Urbanization in England and Wales, 1851-1951 - JSTOR
The Spread of Urbanization in England and Wales, 1851-1951l DOV FRIEDLANDER I. INTRODUCTION Many of the historical studies on urbanization have been made on a national basis, that is to say,
Causes of different urban growth in UK cities - BBC Bitesize
Causes of different urban growth in UK cities. There are wide differences in the rates of urbanisation in the UK. Between 2010 and 2020, some urban areas such as London and Nottingham saw ...
Industrialization And Urbanization Of Great Britain - EduCheer!
Throughout Great Britains history there has been many hills for the British society to climb. One of the most influential periods of time during the life of Great Britain is the Industrialization and Urbanization era occurring between 1760-1830.
When did the British colonize the North?
Colonization efforts began in the 17th century with failed attempts by England to establish permanent colonies in the North. The first permanent British colony was established in Jamestown, Virginia in 1607. Approximately 30,000 Algonquian Indians lived in the region at the time.
How did the colonial population grow?
Between immigration, the importation of slaves, and natural population growth, the colonial population in British North America grew immensely in the 18th century. According to historian Alan Taylor, the population of the Thirteen Colonies (the British North American colonies which would eventually form the United States) stood at 1.5 million in 1750. More than ninety percent of the colonists lived as farmers, though cities like Philadelphia, New York, and Boston flourished. With the defeat of the Dutch and the imposition of the Navigation Acts, the British colonies in North America became part of the global British trading network. The colonists traded foodstuffs, wood, tobacco, and various other resources for Asian tea, West Indian coffee, and West Indian sugar, among other items. Native Americans far from the Atlantic coast supplied the Atlantic market with beaver fur and deerskins, and sought to preserve their independence by maintaining a balance of power between the French and English. By 1770, the economic output of the Thirteen Colonies made up forty percent of the gross domestic product of the British Empire.
What colony was established in 1607?
The 1607 settlement of the Jamestown colony grew into the Colony of Virginia and Virgineola (settled unintentionally by the shipwreck of the Virginia Company's Sea Venture in 1609) quickly renamed The Somers Isles (though the older Spanish name of Bermuda has resisted replacement).
How many colonies were there in the United States?
The Thirteen Colonies, which became the original states of the United States following the 1781 ratification of the Articles of Confederation :
What was the second British Empire?
Historians refer to the British Empire after 1783 as the "Second British Empire"; this period saw Britain increasingly focus on Asia and Africa instead of the Americas, and increasingly focus on the expansion of trade rather than territorial possessions.
What was the first colony in the Americas?
The first permanent British colony was established in Jamestown, Virginia in 1607. Over the next several centuries more colonies were established in North America, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. Though most British colonies in the Americas eventually gained independence, some colonies have opted to remain under Britain's jurisdiction as British Overseas Territories .
Who were the first Europeans to settle in America?
The first documented settlement of Europeans in the Americas was established by Norse people led by Leif Erikson around 1000 AD in what is now Newfoundland, called Vinland by the Norse. Later European exploration of North America resumed with Christopher Columbus 's 1492 expedition sponsored by Spain. English exploration began almost a century later. Sir Walter Raleigh established the short-lived Roanoke Colony in 1585. The 1607 settlement of the Jamestown colony grew into the Colony of Virginia and Virgineola (settled unintentionally by the shipwreck of the Virginia Company's Sea Venture in 1609) quickly renamed The Somers Isles (though the older Spanish name of Bermuda has resisted replacement). In 1620, a group of Puritans established a second permanent colony on the coast of Massachusetts. Several other English colonies were established in North America during the 17th and 18th centuries. With the authorization of a royal charter, the Hudson's Bay Company established the territory of Rupert's Land in the Hudson Bay drainage basin. The English also established or conquered several colonies in the Caribbean, including Barbados and Jamaica .
When did Britain become a peninsula?
Did that wave help shape the national character? The coastline and landscape of what would become modern Britain began to emerge at the end of the last Ice Age around 10,000 years ago.
Why did the British sail the ocean waves?
Many millennia on from the tsunami, the British sailed the ocean waves to find new lands and build an empire. Its more recent history bristles with naval heroes, sea battles and famous explorers.
What did Hakluyt's Voyages play on?
Hakluyt's writings played on the growing desire to seek new territories after the loss of Calais in 1558. "Hakluyt's Voyages spun the idea that the English had always been stirrers and searchers abroad. But it was not really an island that had started to see a future at sea.".
What was Charles I's ship called?
By the time Charles I took the throne, the lure of maritime power had taken hold. "He called his great warship the Sovereign of the Seas. It was a statement of intent," says Rigby. For hundreds of years, ships, goods and people moved to and from the British Isles.
How far did the water hit Britain?
The water struck the north-east of Britain with such force it travelled 25 miles (40km) inland, turning low-lying plains into what is now the North Sea, and marshlands to the south into the Channel. Britain became an island nation.
Where are pre-island relics being recovered from?
Relics of these pre-island times are being recovered from under the sea off the Isle of Wight, dating from when the Solent was dry land.
When did Britain break free from mainland Europe?
The Irish Sea, North Sea and the Channel were all dry land, albeit land slowly being submerged as sea levels rose. But it wasn't until 6,100BC that Britain broke free of mainland Europe for good, during the Mesolithic period - the Middle Stone Age.
How many colonies did Britain lose in the War of Independence?
With defeat by the United States, France and Spain in the War of American Independence, Britain lost its 13 American colonies and rebuilt a Second British Empire based in Asia and Africa. As a result, British culture, and its technological, political, constitutional, and linguistic influence, became worldwide.
When did the UK become the UK?
In 1927 the United Kingdom changed its formal title to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, usually shortened to Britain and (after 1945) to the United Kingdom or UK .
How did the British film industry develop?
The British film industry emerged in the 1890s when cinemas in general broke through in the western world, and built heavily on the strong reputation of the London legitimate theatre for actors, directors and producers. The problem was that the American market was so much larger and richer. It bought up the top talent, especially when Hollywood came to the fore in the 1920s and produced over 80 percent of the total world output. Efforts to fight back were futile—the government set a quota for British made films, but it failed. Hollywood furthermore dominated the lucrative Canadian and Australian markets. Bollywood (based in Bombay) dominated the huge Indian market. The most prominent directors remaining in London were Alexander Korda, an expatriate Hungarian, and Alfred Hitchcock. There was a revival of creativity in the 1933–1945 era, especially with the arrival of Jewish filmmakers and actors fleeing the Nazis. Meanwhile, giant palaces were built for the huge audiences that wanted to see Hollywood films. In Liverpool 40 percent of the population attended one of the 69 cinemas once a week; 25 percent went twice. Traditionalists grumbled about the American cultural invasion, but the permanent impact was minor.
How did the Whig Party recover its strength and unity?
The Whig Party recovered its strength and unity by supporting moral reforms, especially the reform of the electoral system , the abolition of slavery and emancipation of the Catholics. Catholic emancipation was secured in the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829, which removed the most substantial restrictions on Roman Catholics in Britain.
What was the act of Union 1800?
The Act of Union 1800 added the Kingdom of Ireland to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland . The first decades were marked by Jacobite risings which ended with defeat for the Stuart cause at the Battle of Culloden in 1746. In 1763, victory in the Seven Years' War led to the growth of the First British Empire.
What was the most astonishing transformation in European history?
it was one of the most astonishing transformations in European history. — Simon Schama, The Act of Union 1800 added the Kingdom of Ireland to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland .
When did the United Kingdom become a state?
The core of the United Kingdom as a unified state came into being in 1707 with the political union of the kingdoms of England and Scotland, into a new unitary state called Great Britain.
What did the Englishman do to make a new home in a new land?
But the Englishman went out to make for himself a new home in a new land, to acquire competence or wealth by the methods with which he was familiar in the old home ; and he carried with him his traditional ideas of liberty and self-government. The first settlers narrowly escaped the fate of Raleigh's colonists.
When did the pilgrims arrive in New England?
The enterprise of the Virginia Company was followed by one of an altogether different type, when a group of Nonconformists sailed in the Mayflower from Plymouth in 1620 and founded the first of the New England Colonies.
Why was experience needed to teach the practical principle that the colony would best serve the commercial objects of its founders?
Experience was needed to teach the practical principle that the colony would best serve the commercial objects of its founders if the colonists were left in the main to manage their own affairs with the minimum of interference from home. In 1623 the colonists were granted a constitution which vested the government in the hands of a nominated Governor and Council and an elected Assembly of "burgesses."
What was the business of the colony?
The business of the colony was not merely to be self-supporting, but to develop the products of the country suitable for export, notably tobacco, in exchange mainly for manufactured goods, A large proportion of the settlers were younger sons of the English gentry of the landowning class, Church of England men, of the type which was presently to recruit the ranks of the Cavaliers.
Which colony was primarily a Romanist colony?
Romanists as well as Puritans were allowed to seek free exercise of their religion in the New World; and the primarily Romanist colony of Maryland was also of necessity tolerationist. This group, however, was much more nearly akin to the landowning classes of the South in origin than to the Puritans of the North, and planted itself in the neighbourhood of Virginia as the second plantation colony, not in the neighbourhood of the New England group.
Why were the first settlers named after the Red Indians?
But for the vigour and abilities of one of their leaders, Captain John Smith, they would have been wiped out in their collisions with the native Red Indians, so named because it was still believed that the New World was a portion of the Indies.
What was the nucleus of the colony of Virginia?
The company's settlement at Jamestown formed the nucleus of the colony of Virginia. Here there was no native empire to be subdued, such as the Spaniards had found in Mexico and Peru, or such as that which dominated India. The native tribes were elevated only a degree above barbarism; they knew no cities, were still half nomadic, and had no political organisation higher than that of the tribe. But such an experiment as this of the English had no precedent in the world's history.
What was the history of Great Britain?
Throughout its modern human history, Great Britain was invaded several times. For example, in 55 BCE, the Romans invaded the region and it became a part of the Roman Empire. The island was also controlled by various tribes and was invaded several times. In 1066, the island was a part of the Norman Conquest and this began the cultural and political development of the area. Throughout the decades following the Norman Conquest, Great Britain was ruled by several different kings and queens and it was also part of several different treaties between the countries on the island.
What is Great Britain known for?
In addition, Great Britain is known for its history, historic architecture, and natural environment.
Where Is Great Britain on a Map?
Great Britain is located to the northwest of continental Europe and to the east of Ireland. The North Sea and the English Channel separate it from Europe. The Channel Tunnel, the longest undersea rail tunnel in the world, connects it with continental Europe. The topography of Great Britain consists mainly of low, gently rolling hills in the eastern and southern portions of the island and hills and low mountains in the western and northern regions.
What are the outlying islands of Great Britain?
In addition, Great Britain also includes the outlying areas of Isle of Wight, Anglesey, the Isles of Scilly, the Hebrides, and the remote island groups of Orkney and Shetland. These outlying areas are considered part of Great Britain because they are parts of England, Scotland, or Wales.
What are the major cities in Great Britain?
There are several large cities on the island of Great Britain but the largest is London, the capital of England and the United Kingdom. Other large cities include Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Leeds, Liverpool, and Manchester.
How long have humans been in Great Britain?
It is believed that these humans crossed a land bridge from continental Europe at that time. Modern humans have been in Great Britain for about 30,000 years and until about 12,000 years ago, archeological evidence shows that they moved back and forth between the island and continental Europe via a land bridge.
What is the British currency?
Currency: British pound (GBP) Form of Government: Parliamentary constitutional monarchy; a commonwealth realm. Climate: Temperate; moderated by prevailing southwest winds over the North Atlantic Current; more than one-half of the days are overcast.
What is the first obstacle to the cotton industry in Great Britain?
The cotton industry in Great Britain to exist and develop must overcome a first obstacle which is competition from Asian textiles.
Why were the colonies important to the Caribbean?
The colonies of North America and the Caribbean became increasingly important markets because their population grew from 1700 to 1815; the British colonies had a population that increased from 0.4 million to more than 9 million; to this must be added the colonies and trading posts that Great Britain had on the Atlantic coast of Africa and in Asia.
What was the second condition of the cotton industry?
The second condition is an endogenous factor which is mechanization.
What is gained with the colonization of America and who wins?
What is gained with the colonization of America and who wins? It is world trade, the considerable increase that gains « is mainly due to the triangular trade in which Great Britain provides the exports of industrial goods, Africa the human goods and the American plantations the raw colonial raw materials » .
What were the major stages of European expansion?
Costs of the first European expansion (16th-18th centuries) Costs of the second European expansion (18th-20th centuries): Asia and Africa conquered by themselves. Great Britain: Colonization and the English Industrial Revolution. Great Britain: The Largest of Empires ...
What are the conditions for a sandbox?
Three conditions are needed: 1 the industry must protect 2 the industry must mechanize 3 the industry must be supplied on a regular basis
Where did the cotton come from in the 18th century?
From the middle of the 18th century, 85% to 90% of the cotton imported into Britain was supplied by the American slave plantation system from the southern part of what is now the United States, the West Indies and Brazil until the middle of the 19th century. In the 18th century, Brazil was indirectly controlled by Great Britain, ...
Who said the landform information tells us about how the last British-Irish ice sheet behaved?
Project scientist Dr Jeremy Ely said: 'The landform information tells us about how the last British-Irish ice sheet behaved.
What is Britice map?
The Britice map, created by Sheffield University, allows you to type in your postcode or city to look at how your area was affected by the ice age. Home. U.K.
How are glacial ridges sculpted?
These include glacial ridges sculpted by moving ice and winding flows of rock that travelled for miles across the country.
How much of the world was covered by ice during the Ice Age?
During the ice age, which ended about 11,500 years ago, ice covered about 30 per cent of the land in the world.
When did the last British ice sheet form?
The online map shows where corridors of ice and glacial lakes formed in the United Kingdom 22,000 years ago , when a kilometre-thick ice sheet covered Britain and Ireland.
Which region was the furthest southern region affected by the geological event?
The new map reveals that the furthest southern region affected by the geological event was Cambridge, which was covered by a huge glacial lake (blue) 'We can see how it dammed rivers, creating large glacial lakes which covered Manchester, Doncaster and Peterborough.
What are the colors of glacial lakes?
Areas where water has pooled to form enormous glacial lakes are shaded in light blue, while regions of moraine - a mass of rocks and sediment carried and deposited by a glacier - are coloured brown.
How long did the British Isles live?
Archaeologists tell us that the British Isles were settled by different groups of humans for hundreds of thousands of years prior to any Roman getting this far north. In fact, you’ll find that the prehistoric groups that lived here had a vibrant history and society of their own.
What was the impact of the invasion of Britain by the Romans?
Unquestionably, the invasion of Britain by the Romans in 43 AD was a moment of major historical significance that shaped the destiny of the country. Roman technology, architecture, and society would inevitably help to form the UK’s own society in the centuries to follow. But what of the time before the Romans arrived? Archaeologists tell us that the British Isles were settled by different groups of humans for hundreds of thousands of years prior to any Roman getting this far north. In fact, you’ll find that the prehistoric groups that lived here had a vibrant history and society of their own.
What did the Bronze Age do to the people of Stonehenge?
Not only did they begin to produce the smelted bronze tools that defined the era, but also began to work with gold, silver, and copper. The evidence of this is found in barrows which represent the earliest ceremonial burials of the dead, and jewelry adorning these corpses provides proof of wealth and status in early-Briton culture. Bronze Age Britons also began to cremate their dead with urns found at ancient cemeteries and burial sites. The genetic diversity of the population also increased as immigrants from the Rhine region mingled with the Britons.
What happened to the colonies after the Ice Age?
This warming of the islands following the Ice Age led to renewed efforts to settle, but lower numbers of settlers during the British Lower Paleolithic period saw hardly any of these settlements become permanent as reproduction below replacement levels inevitably meant that colonies either became abandoned or died out.
Where did the first human settlements occur?
The earliest evidence of human settlement in Britain comes from about 900,000 years ago, with stone tools and footprints found in Norfolk. The oldest human remains found are about 500,000 years old and were discovered in Sussex.
What is the evidence of the Bronze Age?
The evidence of this is found in barrows which represent the earliest ceremonial burials of the dead, and jewelry adorning these corpses provides proof of wealth and status in early-Briton culture. Bronze Age Britons also began to cremate their dead with urns found at ancient cemeteries and burial sites.
What was the result of the collapse of coal mining and heavy industry in the North and the West Midlands of England?
During the 1980s the government largely abandoned subsidies for industry and adopted a program of rationalization and privatization. The result was the collapse of coal mining and heavy industry in the north and the West Midlands of England and in the Lowlands of Scotland and a similar loss of heavy industry in Northern Ireland; this unleashed a wave of migration from these regions to the more prosperous south of England, especially East Anglia, the East Midlands, and the South West. As the economy stabilized during the 1990s, migration from Scotland, Northern Ireland, and northern England subsided. While the South East (including Greater London) was the chief destination of external immigrants into Britain, this region, along with the West Midlands, produced a growing internal migration to surrounding regions of England during the 1990s. This pattern reflected a larger trend of migration out of older urban centres throughout Britain to surrounding rural areas and small towns at the end of the 20th century.
How many people lived in the United Kingdom at the end of the 11th century?
The assumption is that a population of about three million lived in what became the United Kingdom at the end of the 11th century and that this figure had increased to about 12 million by 1801.
What were the opportunities for employment in the United Kingdom in the 1950s?
In the 1950s opportunities for employment in the United Kingdom improved with government-sponsored diversification of industry, reducing the volume of migration to the south.
How many children died in the 18th century?
It is estimated that in the first half of the 18th century three-fourths of the children born in London died before they reached puberty. Despite the appalling living conditions it produced, the Industrial Revolution resulted in an acceleration of the birth rate.
Where did the unemployed move to?
Declining or stagnating heavy industry in Clydeside, northeastern England, South Wales, and parts of Lancashire and Yorkshire swelled the ranks of the unemployed, and many migrated to the relatively more prosperous Midlands and southern England.
Did the United Kingdom gain from the New Commonwealth?
Nevertheless, the United Kingdom continues to gain people from the New Commonwealth. Although historical records refer to emigration to North America in the 17th and 18th centuries, there is little quantitative information about such movements before the middle of the following century.
Overview
The British colonization of the Americas was the history of establishment of control, settlement, and colonization of the continents of the Americas by England, Scotland and, after 1707, Great Britain. Colonization efforts began in the 17th century with failed attempts by England to establish permanent colonies in the North. The first permanent English colony was established in Jamestown, …
Background: early exploration and colonization of the Americas
Following the first voyage of Christopher Columbus in 1492, Spain and Portugal established colonies in the New World, beginning the European colonization of the Americas. France and England, the two other major powers of 15th-century Western Europe, employed explorers soon after the return of Columbus's first voyage. In 1497, King Henry VII of England dispatched an expedition led by Joh…
Early colonization, 1607–1630
In 1606, King James I of England granted charters to both the Plymouth Company and the London Company for the purpose of establishing permanent settlements in North America. In 1607, the London Company established a permanent colony at Jamestown on the Chesapeake Bay, but the Plymouth Company's Popham Colony proved short-lived. Approximately 30,000 Algonquian peoples l…
Growth, 1630–1689
The success of colonization efforts in Barbados encouraged the establishment of more Caribbean colonies, and by 1660 England had established Caribbean sugar colonies in St. Kitts, Antigua, Nevis, and Montserrat, English colonization of the Bahamas began in 1648 after a Puritan group known as the Eleutheran Adventurers established a colony on the island of Eleuthera. England establishe…
Expansion and conflict, 1689–1763
After succeeding his brother in 1685, King James II and his lieutenant, Edmund Andros, sought to assert the crown's authority over colonial affairs. James was deposed by the new joint monarchy of William and Mary in the Glorious Revolution, but William and Mary quickly reinstated many of the James's colonial policies, including the mercantilist Navigation Acts and the Board of Trade. The Massac…
The Americans break away, 1763–1783
The British subjects of North America believed the unwritten British constitution protected their rights and that the governmental system, with the House of Commons, the House of Lords, and the monarch sharing power found an ideal balance among democracy, oligarchy, and tyranny. However, the British were saddled with huge debts following the French and Indian War. As much of the …
Second British Empire, 1783–1945
The loss of a large portion of British America defined the transition between the "first" and "second" empires, in which Britain shifted its attention away from the Americas to Asia, the Pacific, and later Africa. Influenced by the ideas of Adam Smith, Britain also shifted away from mercantile ideals and began to prioritize the expansion of trade rather than territorial possessions. During the nineteent…
Decolonization and overseas territories, 1945-present
With the onset of the Cold War in the late 1940s, the British government began to assemble plans for the independence of the empire's colonies in Africa, Asia, and the Americas. British authorities initially planned for a three-decades-long process in which each colony would develop a self-governing and democratic parliament, but unrest and fears of Communist infiltration in the colonies enco…
Overview
The history of the United Kingdom began in the early eighteenth century with the Treaty of Union and Acts of Union. The core of the United Kingdom as a unified state came into being in 1707 with the political union of the kingdoms of England and Scotland, into a new unitary state called Great Britain. Of this new state of Great Britain, the historian Simon Schama said:
18th century
The Kingdom of Great Britain came into being on 1 May 1707, as a result of the political union of the Kingdom of England (which included Wales) and the Kingdom of Scotland under the Treaty of Union. This combined the two kingdoms into a single kingdom and merged the two parliaments into a single parliament of Great Britain. Queen Anne became the first monarch of the new Great Britain. A…
1800 to 1837
On 1 January 1801, the first day of the 19th century, the Great Britain and Ireland joined to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
The legislative union of Great Britain and Ireland was brought about by the Act of Union 1800, creating the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland". The Act was passed in both the Parliament of Great Britain and the Parliament of Ir…
Postwar reaction: 1815–1822
The postwar era was a time of economic depression, poor harvests, growing inflation, and high unemployment among returning soldiers. As industrialisation progressed, Britain was more urban and less rural, and power shifted accordingly. The dominant Tory leadership, based in the declining rural sector, was fearful, reactionary and repressive. Tories feared the possible emergence of radicals who might be conspiring to emulate the dreaded French Revolution. In rea…
Victorian era
Victoria ascended the throne in 1837 at age 18. Her long reign until 1901 saw Britain reach the zenith of its economic and political power. Exciting new technologies such as steam ships, railways, photography, and telegraphs appeared, making the world much faster-paced. Britain again remained mostly inactive in Continental politics, and it was not affected by the wave of revolutions in 1848. The Victorian era saw the fleshing out of the second British Empire. Scholar…
Early 20th century 1901–1918
Prime Ministers from 1900 to 1945: Marquess of Salisbury, Arthur Balfour, Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, H. H. Asquith, David Lloyd George, Bonar Law, Stanley Baldwin, Ramsay MacDonald, Stanley Baldwin, Ramsay MacDonald, Stanley Baldwin, Neville Chamberlain and Winston Churchill.
The Liberal Party was in power from 1906 to 1915, when it formed a wartime co…
Interwar era 1918–1939
Historian Arthur Marwick sees a radical transformation of British society resulting from the Great War, a deluge that swept away many old attitudes and brought in a more equalitarian society. He sees the famous literary pessimism of the 1920s as misplaced, arguing there were major positive long-term consequences of the war to British society. He points to an energized self-con…
Second World War 1939–1945
The King declared war on Nazi Germany in September 1939, after the German invasion of Poland. During the quiet period of "phoney war", the British sent to France the most highly mechanized army in the world; together with France they had more tanks than Germany, but fewer warplanes. The smashing German victory in Spring 1940 was due entirely to "superior combat doctrine. Realistic t…