Thursday, October 25, 2007

Consillence

The British East India Company created an impact that changed Indian, British and American history forever. However nothing could have happened without specific events combining together to form historical changing events. Queen Elizabeth I was queen of England, signed the English Royal Charter, giving permission to the British East India Company all monopoly over the East Indies. She signed the English royal charter (a charter granted by the sovereign in mostly great Britain) on December 31, 1600. The East Indiaman, was the first ship created for trading, and transporting goods around the Cape of Good Hope to India. Without these three political, art, and science aspects the major events in history that the British East India Trading Company caused would have never happened.

'The Queen Elizabeth I was born September 1533, and died March 1603. Her time as queen, also known as the Elizabethan era was when great play writes and power flourished. Elizabeth was queen of England, Ireland, as well as the fifth and final monarch of the House of Tudor. Queen for 45 years, she enhanced English power and created great influences, and religious influences worldwide as well within England. One of her greatest influences and enhancement to English power while she was queen was in the year 1600 she signed a royal charter giving the British East India Company a 21 year monopoly over East Indies. A monopoly is defined as "a persistent market situation where there is only one provider of a product or service, in other words a firm that has no competitors in its industry." From Wikipedia. She did this for British profits and to carry out trade with the east. However the first motive was to break the Dutch monopoly of spice trade with the East Indies. The first Dutch expedition was in April 1595. Spice trade has always been popular and lucrative, but the Dutch East India Company was formerly the largest trading company. British then wanted Dutch monopoly over the spice. When the Dutch defeated the British, the British then moved their activities to India. In India the British found several Indian made items and started selling those in Europe for British profit as well. When the spice trade failed in India, it caused the British East India company to not only have monopoly over India, but to

Queen Elizabeth I completely take over the subcontinent.

Art is not just paintings and masterpieces. "Art refers to a diverse range of human activities and artifacts." According to Wikipedia. A royal charter is meant to legitimize a company, city or incorporation. This particular royal charter, signed by Queen Elizabeth I confirming and legitimizing the British East India Company was a piece of art. The English royal charter was documentation that changed Indian and British history forever. Charter granted by Queen Elizabeth to the Governor and Company of the Merchants of London, resulting trading into the East Indies, signed 31st December 1600. "Elizabeth, by the Grace of God, Queen of England, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, et cetera. To all our Officers, Ministers, and Subjects, and all other People, as well within this our realm of England as elsewhere, under our Obedience and Jurisdiction, greeting." Without this royal charter, the British East India Company would have never been given permission to all monopoly of the East Indies, therefore creating change in history. Not only this charter effected the East India Company. The Swedish East India Company designed and created the first East Indiaman. These ships were used for trade and were taken over by the British East India Company. The charter was signed June 14th 1731 legitimizing the Swedish East India Company and giving them monopoly over everything east of India. Until they went bankrupt in 1813 because tea trade diminished and there was no profit. There are tons of royal charters, but the one that seems to make the biggest impact was the English Royal Charter.

The East Indiaman was a merchant ship created for trade by the East India

Company. The first ever made was by the Swedish East India Company named the English Royal Charter

The East Indiaman Repulse (1820) in the East India Dock Basin.Gothenburg. When Queen Elizabeth signed the royal charter, the British East India Company made a replica of the Swedish ship because of it's ability to hold cargo, passengers, goods, and to defend themselves in battle and piracy. This was a special kind of ship, made for trade because it could hold large amounts of goods to trade in India. It was different from all other ships in the 1600s and later because of its size and its outstanding ability to hold massive amounts of weight. Other ships couldn't do that in this time period. The East Indiaman could hold up to 1100 and 1400 tons. They became very popular after the British East India Company took them over, because of there special design made for merchant trade and also made for battle. Weymouth and the Madras measured 1426 tons, 175 feet in overall length of hull, 144 feet keel, 43 feet beam, 17 feet draft. The ships became a big part of the Royal Navy. The Weymouth and the Madras both purchased by the Royal Navy for use in battle. Some of the Royal Navy ships were in fact two of the largest, the Earl of Mansfield and Lascelles. There was always improvements made upon them. East Indiaman's were the largest merchant ships built in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. They would suscefully battle and defeat the French. The Elizabeth (East Indiaman) was a ship belonging to merchants made for the British East India Company trade. When it left London to unite itself with other East Indiamen on October 26th it wrecked. East Indiamen effected all other ships made after the 1600s. Every ship that went out to sea on voyages was in a similar design of the East Indaman. It could handle strong winds and currents, and carry large loads of passengers and cargo. This design of ship was what everybody wanted.

These three things came together to cause a huge impact on history. When Queen Elizabeth I signed the royal charter and the East Indiaman was created to be the ship of the British East India Company, the company had permission to

East Indiaman

run, and to run efficiently. Therefore, eventually taking over India. The first dock in India was Surat which was the first trading post in 1608. They established their first factory (trading post) in Machilipatnam off the Bay of Bengal. King James I renewed Queen Elizabeth's charter in 1609 giving the company indefinite monopoly over India. The company, having European base in India and being fully established started to deal with political aspects of India. During the war of Plassey the company started to collect taxes. They gained even more power by defeating natives in local riots. They just kept gaining more power and in the mid 1800s the company controlled a portion of India, controlling military, economy, government, politics and religion. The Indian Rebellion in 1857 was when the British heard a rumor that gunpowder cartridges were being greased with fat from hogs and cows. When they made the natives bite into them they refused because hogs are considered unclean by the Muslims and the cows sacred to the Hindus. The natives lost and resulted in the company taking complete control over India. The Indian Rebellion really started to pick up in 1857. It lasted for 13 months. There were many wars, and when the Indians lost and the British retook territory, the rebels were severely punished. There were many soldiers from both Britain and Indian armies killed. The Indian Independence Movement happened when Gandhi arrived in India. He established protests, and encouraged a new non-violent way to go about defeating the British. Eventually after tons of Indian blood was spilled, India became free of British rule. On the 26th of January in 1950 India was finally pronounced the Republic of India. However, India wasn't the only country they had effect on. The British East India Trading Company gained control over all trade from China to India to the Caribbean and controlled all commerce to and from North America in 1760. The British East India Company was the cause of the 1773 Tea Act. The tea act was a tax law passed in London that resulted to the Boston Tea Party. There was an increase in taxes paid by American Colonists. They were furious The Indian Rebellion of 1857 and protested by destroying crates on ships in the Boston Harbor and dumping all tea into the Boston Harbor on December 16, 1773. This is an event that helped cause the American Revolution.

There were several East India Companies, but the one that made the most change in history was the British East India Trading company. It changed Indian history and brought them to Independence, and also changed American history, and helped cause the events that led to the American Revolution. If it wasn't for Queen Elizabeth I, the royal charter she signed, and the East Indiaman making it possible for the British East India Company to trade, these history changing events would never have happened. Times in 1874 reported "It accomplished a work such as in the whole history of the human race no other company ever attempted and as such is ever likely to attempt in the years to come."

Timeline

India

England

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