British Imperialism on India

Movement. It is happening all around us, all the time. Change. People and places shifting every

second of the day. Countries fighting against each other for one purpose. To win. Over the past

couple of weeks, I have doing hours and days of research on different factors that contribute to

the movement of peoples. I have found that people tend to move to places where there is more

opportunity, richer or more potential for resources, and where they feel the most comfortable. I

began my research interviewing my mother and that led me to British imperialism in the 1850’s

where the United Kingdom took over India at the time. Here is what I found out.

Interviewing my mother, Julie Swick, was an incredible experience. Not only did I get to learn

more about myself and how my family originated, I also got to look into different topics of

movement for people. Julie had many reasons for her movement. Julie and Scott Swick

originated in Simsbury Connecticut back in the 1960’s. Both of them attended Simsbury high

school making their relationship between each other even greater. They soon decided to buy an

apartment just outside of town for themselves to get out of their homes and still have a place to

stay. The Swick’s were both working very hard at the time, as they were learning how to make a

living on their own now. It happened at around 1990 when the two of them decided to make a

change in their lives. Julie felt that her job was more important at the time and that it was the

only way for her to be making enough money to support herself now that she was living alone.

Julie decided to move to Wallingford Connecticut for her job. She was currently working for

Macy’s as a visual director and by then, she had to make a big decision. If she was going to

continue working for Macy’s, she would have to move to Boston Massachusetts and she did not

want to make that commitment. So instead, she decided to work in a hair salon as a receptionist.

When making this move, she was forced to work down in Stratford Connecticut. She chose not
to live in Stratford, but in Wallingford for the taxes and the commute. Julie states, “The

commute, taxes, and electrical bills are all great in Wallingford” (6). This quote came directly

from my mother. I definitely trust this source as it is my mother and she was very strong in her

response during the interview about this answer making it seem even more reliable. This was a

major help to my research because it gave me a starting point for conducting my research and

from there, I was able to go in so many different paths and then narrow my topic down to British

Imperialism on India in the 1850’s. According to the USDA,

“For only the second time in the last century, the number of farmers under 35
years old is increasing, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s latest
Census of Agriculture. Sixty-nine percent of the surveyed young farmers had
college degrees — significantly higher than the general population” (1).

This quote addresses very important information in our current society about younger people

moving to outdoor jobs. It states that 69% of the young farmers had a college degree compared

to the general population meaning that younger adults were working outdoors rather than inside

and farming/ moving around the US. This was helpful for my paper because it addressed

information in today's society about people’s movement and I was also able to compare it to my

mothers movement and British Imperialism. ​After learning about this, I decided to take the next

steps and look deeper into people's movement across the world.

There is so many different topics and historical events to talk about because there is so much

movement that has happened and that is happening in our present day. I decided to conduct

research on British Imperialism and the United Kingdom taking over India. I chose this topic to

investigate because I had a strong interest in the United Kingdom and wanted to learn more

about it. More importantly though, I chose this because I felt there was a strong relationship

between Julie’s reason for movement and why Britain decided to take over India.
One of the main reasons that Britain decided to take over India was because they felt there was

more opportunity. Britain felt there was more opportunity in India and that was a major part of

their movement. Britain had the fire power economically to win a battle over India. “Despite the

recent recession, the United Kingdom remains a global economic power with the third largest

economy in Europe (after Germany and France)” (5). This source was used through the World

Edition book on Culture Grams. This is a reliable and efficient source for information because it

is used through Hamden Hall Country Day School by the Library Website. It also posts trustful

information regarding world issues and historical context. This source was useful for my

research paper because it gave me a lot of background information on Britain's economy and

how their economy was one of the strongest and still is, which gave them a significant advantage

to take over India. This relates to the opportunity factor because once Britain could take over

India economically, then they could use all of India for potential income. There was so much

opportunity in India that Britain took advantage of. The land for one thing. There was thousands

of miles of land in India. Also being surrounding by water played a major role in why Britain

decided to take over India specifically. Here is what Britains said about India.

“Initially, the British were interested in India for its immense potential for profit.
But with the Industrial Revolution in Britain, British interest in India changed to
become even more profit oriented. Now, India was the source of raw materials as
well as her large population was the possible market for British-made goods. With
this, India became the most valuable market and nation for British colonies” (2).

This quote was used as an important source in conducting research. It provided information

about the potential that India had and Britain knew that this was going to the right move in their

minds. This was helpful for my research because it showed how much India had to offer if the

British were to take it over. Not only was there more opportunity, but there were even more

resources that Britain was going to benefit from by taking over India.
Resources, resources, and more resources. If you think about it, that is would we live our lives

on primarily. Food, water, and shelter are all essentially to survive. Britain had such a big

advantage when taking over India. “India is a leading producer of rice, wheat, oilseed, cotton,

jute, tea, and sugarcane. More important resources include dairy products, poultry, and fish” (4).

These were all so important factors that contributed to the British taking over India. The quote

listed above was researched from the Culturegrams world edition book. This is another reliable

source because this website focus specifically on India’s economy along with what their

resources are. Again this was another database that was published through the Hamden Hall

Library making it even more secure and trustworthy. This quote helped my argument because it

gave me some more information about what India had to offer, some of which I did not know

before. “Natural resources include oil, natural gas, iron ore, and salt” (5). While conducting

research, this quote was great because it provides information about what Britain was already

producing. All of these resources plus the ones that India had to offer were a significant reason

why the United Kingdom chose to take over India. Along with resources and opportunity came

comfort and safety and that was one of Britain's challenges when taking over India.

When making the decision to move, there are several factors that run through your mind, but my

research shows that along with resources and opportunity, the most important aspect is that you

are happy and comfortable. Who wants to live in a place where you are unhappy and do not want

to live? Nobody wants to be in that position. Britain was happy with their decision of taking over

India. There was so much potential for them in India. “In general, Britons value moderate and

emotional reserve” (3). This quote speaks a lot for itself as it represents and explains the United

Kingdom’s general attitude. Based on this source of information, we can say that the British
were more of the reserved type and did not have very many social relationships besides their

trading partners. This did not affect their ability to conquer India though. In fact it probably

increased their chances of winning against India as they were fierce and determined to win.

Learning about all of these different things between the United Kingdom and India came with

many similarities to my mother’s movement and the factors she took into consideration.

The British imperializing India and my mother’s movement from Simsbury to Wallingford both

have many similarities. As stated above, one of the major reasons for my mother’s movement

was for her job. She felt as though there was more money to be made down in Stratford then

there was in SImsbury. Comparing this to British Imperialism, we can say that the British also

felt there was more opportunity in India for the resources and trading routes because India was

surrounded by water. The biggest similarity that I found between the two is that they both felt

and were comfortable with their movement. My mother felt so comfortable living in Wallingford

and she decided to start a new life there and raise a family and fortunately, it has been very

grateful to her.

In conclusion, I had so much to talk about and it all started with a simple interview. Historical

events happen all around the world each and every day, but there is so much more that can be

learned if we just learn how to analyze historical evidence and sources which is what I did. From

using the material and hot tips over the course of the semester, I was able to apply all of them

and do some amazing research and I had an incredible time doing it!