The main reason for any imperialistic expedition is money. The want of economic pull in remote regions can almost guarantee a stable and strong economy for a nation. With this in mind, the United Kingdom branched across the globe, founding colonies in Asia, Africa, and the Americas.
According to Vasco de Gama, the main reason for imperialism was "Christians and Spices" (Duiker & Spielvogel, p. 663) By the end of the 19th century, however, the UK was using colonies to seize raw materials that could fuel it's rapidly growing industrial sector. Oil, tin, and rubber were in particularly high demand. The remote locations, and poor economic standing of the base countries, provided the industrial sector of the UK with cheap raw materials.
Of course, glory was associated with imperialism. More territory meant that the.
United Kingdom could exercise more control over global affairs, including trade negotiations. This influence would establish a permanent seat in any negotiation about territory, trade, or diplomatic policy. Control of these colonies was established through the formation of councils. This style of government was heavily promoted in India. Consuls worked directly with the Indian government to ensure that legislation would benefit British interests. Lucrative magistrates were also set up in other colonies, such as the American cities. Magistrates merely relayed messages on the well being of the colonies back to London. Tax laws, and several other edicts from the legislative body, would then be relayed by back to the officials for processing. The two styles of governing were inherently inefficient in that direct control could not be applied to the citizens. As in the case with the American colonies, no official Member of Parliament was elected from the area to represent their views.
Imperialism, as with any structure, had both good and bad implications. Positive impacts of imperialism were: establishment of schools in the area that educated the native people, a building of the industrial and commercial sectors of the colonies, and a building of sanitation systems that would have otherwise been neglected.
