Introduction
In l690 John Locke published his highly influential Two Treatises of Civil Government. His theory of limited monarchy had vast appeal to the majority of Englishmen but especially to the new rising classes of merchants and traders now making their presence felt in Parliament.
At the expense of the king and the royal council, the initiative had been firmly established in the House of Commons. It was this house that made the empire, for it was primarily an empire based on trade.
Of all the governments in Europe, the powers that ruled England were the ones that most closely adhered to the principles of mercantilism, defined as "a system of political economy based on a national policy of accumulating bullion, establishing colonies, and a merchant marine, and developing industry and mining to attain a favorable balance of trade."
While the Kingdom of Spain may have had mixed motives in its overseas conquest, the lure of gold perhaps as equally important as the saving of souls, those who governed Britain did not disguise their motives. These were to build one of the largest and most profitable empires in history, giving their little island nation mastery of the seas and domination of almost one third of the earth.
While there are thousands of books available on Britain and its Empire, for this course I have relied extensively on Britain: Rise and Fall of an Empire by Peter N. Williams (Red Dragon Press, Newark, De l97ll, priced at l4.95). (ISBN: 0 97206416 8). Highly recommended for supplemental reading are The British Imperial Century l8l5-l9l4 by Timothy H. Parsons (Lantham, Md. Rowman and LIttlefield. ISBN 0 8476 8824 0)); Empire: the History of the British Empire by Trevor Lloyd (New York, Hambledon and London, 200: ISBN 85285 259 3); and The British Isles: A History of Four Nations by Hugh Kearney (Cambridge: Univ Press, l995. ISBN 0 521 484880
Books are optional and not required for taking this course.
Lessons
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