The New Childrens Encyclopedia

THE AGE OF EMPIRE

205

Gold

INDEPENDENCE

Australia

The British used convicts to establish their

first colonies in Australia. Free settlers

began to arrive in 1793. The native

Aborigines were pushed off their land by

the new settlers and forced into the

Outback—an inhospitable, unfertile area

that the settlers did not want.

Empire-builders

The main European colonial

powers were Great Britain, France,

the Netherlands, and Portugal.

By the end of the 19th century,

Great Britain’s empire covered

one-quarter of Earth’s land surface.

India

By 1900, Britain ruled the whole of

India. Many British administrators and

traders lived there with their families,

enjoying a privileged colonial lifestyle.

Owners of tea plantations became rich,

while the local workers lived in poverty.

India

Australia

Cotton Rubber

Access to raw materials was very

important to the growing industrial

countries. It was simpler and

more profitable to own the

country where these came

from rather than negotiate

with the local rulers. Colonies

also provided

cheap labor

for the mines

and the

plantations.

TAKE A LOOK: TRADE

 AUSTRALIA

The discovery of gold in the town

of Victoria in the 1850s led to a

gold rush. The European

population grew very quickly.

 INDONESIA

After the success of the Dutch East

India Trading Company in the

17 th and 18th century, the Dutch

government took control and set

up big plantations to grow crops

such as coffee and spices.

 MALAYSIA

The British

government set up

very profitable tin

mines and rubber

plantations.

Suez Canal

 EGYPT

The Suez Canal, opened

in 1869, allowed an

easier and quicker access

route to India.

Gold

Te a

 THE FIRST

FLEET In 1788,

British navy ships

transported

convicts to Botany

Bay in Australia.

Britain

France

Spain

Portugal

Italy

Netherlands

Germany

Ottoman Empire

Ivory

Russia

China

The Commonwealth Games

HISTORY AND POLITICS

After World War II, many

colonies started campaigning to

become independent countries.

During the 1940s through 1960s,

most gained independence,

although the transition for some

countries, such as India, caused

violence. Many nations still have

links to their colonial power. The

Commonwealth is an organization

of 53 countries that were once

part of the British Empire.

This map

shows the

borders and

empires in

1900.