Technology During Imperialism

TECHNOLOGY DURING IMPERIALISM
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Q2 How, according Headrick, Technology play an extremely important role in European and U.S. expansion
Technology played a significant role in the 19thcentury. Many argue that improved technology played a crucial role in the spread of European imperialism. The employment of technology is what is main; how did Britain's use it to achieve their aims? This paper will look at the dissimilar techniques in which Britain's employed technological advancements to emerge victorious in their imperialist enthusiasm.[Herrera, Geoffrey. Technology and International Transformation: The Railroad, the Atom Bomb, and the Politics of Technological Change. (London: SUNY Press, 2012). 54]
Transport
Technology influenced transport system significantly. Steam-powered ships played a great role in imperialism. They helped the European colonies who wanted to enlarge their empires in Asia and Africa. Since 1500s the European colonies, had been used to sea travel only that just extended to the coasts. European ships had only been built for sea and ocean trips; they could not move inland (rivers) due to their awkwardness. These limited them in their expansion of empires. Consequently, even great naval countries such as the Portuguese were time and again limited to coastal colonial chattels in Africa.
In early 19th century, the steam power ships underwent improvement that enabled river navigation; assisting Europeans navigate inland to enlarge their colonies. More powerful and smaller engines permitted smaller boats to navigate against the current with ease. European empires, mainly the British, instigated steamships in the path of Asia. For instance, The British East India Company, employed steam ships in their war in 1824 against the Kingdom of Burma that was fought mainly along the rivers.[Louis, William. Ends of British Imperialism: The Scramble for Empire, Suez, and Decolonization. (New York: I. B. Tauris publishers, 2006). 25]
The improved steam engines were more powerful and cumbersome, but they needed stronger ships that could endure their effects. The British shipbuilders started building iron ships that proved to be longer lasting than wooden vessels. Rapidly, ships were constructed in different sizes and shapes and for purposes as diverse as taking goods upriver and transatlantic travel on an even barge. These improvements assisted European in extending their colonies inland as well as in upholding their new colonial possessions. In 1830s, the British first started to employ the new shipping technologies to their gain in East Asia. Around 1830 British steamships arrived at China's coastline brewing tension between the two empires. The Chinese sought opium, and the British needed Chinese tea, which the Britons could offer; however neither of them trusted each other.
This resulted in Opium War that took place in 1842, whereby the British East India Company used iron steamships, comprising the Nemesis, which was the largest iron steamship at the point globally, against the Chinese. Powerful British steamships destroyed the outdated Chinese scrap steamships. The British forced an overwhelming peace on the Chinese; the Chinese was obliged to trade with the Britons at a little tax and surrendered Hong Kong to the Britain's.
In 1500s, numerous discoveries in Europe permitted them to navigate further, connecting them to the Indian Ocean trade routes and the new world. The chief reason for this was to connect Asia and Europe to the Americans and existing world. This type of connection influenced trade, formation of empires and exchange of ideas. The presence of Britain in Indian Ocean trade didn't profoundly affect other contributors. The trading system was mainly dominated by the Africans who had better products than the Britain.[Louis, William. Ends of British Imperialism: The Scramble for Empire, Suez, and Decolonization. (New York: I. B. Tauris publishers, 2006). 25]
Technology kept on evolving since new navigates were innovated such as employment of compass to tell out direction and astrolabe to find out latitude. The triangular sail was a chief development in steamships. Triangular sails encouraged sailors to navigate into the wind, encouraging trips further and further from home. Most of these technologies originated from Asia but were widely spread and adopted in Muslim territories, ultimately reaching Europe.
It was during 1450-1750 when transoceanic trips were mainly notable. In 1942, Christopher Columbus made a discovery of the Caribbean while on a Spanish funded trip. It's during this time when Vasco da Gama toured along the Indian Ocean coast.[Mahan, Alfred. The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660 - 1783. (New York: Cosimo publishers, 2010). 124]
Weapons
Technological advancement in the manufacture of weapons influenced much in expanding Britain and American territories. Jared Diamond an American historian who famously invented the phrase ‘guns, germs and steel' to clarify the European civilizations dominated the Amerindian peoples in the 16th and 17th centuries. Steamships that had been built by steel assisted the European colonies expand inland in Asia and Africa; and once malaria drug quinine had been revealed, exploration of the previous continent was made much simple. Nonetheless, we can't ignore the fact that research was conducted at gunpoint; and, this assisted the Europeans expand their empires through advanced weaponry. The Europeans stacked tracts of land hence being central dominant of different nations.[Headrick, Daniel. Power over Peoples: Technology, Environments, and Western Imperialism, 1400 to the Present. (New Jerse...