An Essay on Spanish and British Imperialism?

[Big Orange]

A few weeks ago I've decided to do an indepth essay on the global empires of Spain and Britain, and how the former influenced the latter, and their general impact on the world in terms of political, cultural, and economic reach. I was inspired to do this essay by this recent thread where I typically put my foot in it, although it is a very interesting topic and I'm trying to research the subject in greater depth. Spain was the first true international superpower with a powerful navy, despite the maritime innovations and potential for global domination by China, and Britain was a international superpower that usured in the Industrial Revolution, despite competing with bigger countries such as France and Russia (although they caught on quickly).

I've already owned and hired out several history books that will properly cover the topic:

Conquistadors - Michael Wood

Spain: A History - Raymond Carr

Raj: The Making of British India - Lawrence James

Enlightenment: Britain and the Creation of the Modern World - Roy Porter

Bourbon Spain: 1700-1808 - John Lynch

Spain's Road to Empire: The Making of a World Power 1492-1763 - Henry Kamen

Is this sufficient for indepth research? Although I've heard warnings of bias about Henry Kamen's book. Bourbon Spain seems to be a interesting book and covers a period of Spain that I know little about (save for the occupation by Napoleon's forces).

[Thanas]

Do you speak spanish?

Can you read renaissance handwriting?

Is this sufficient for indepth research?

For wikipedia, yes.

For a real essay, not even close. You'll need at least a couple of grand theory books (Kennedy's "The Rise and Fall of Great Powers" is the first that comes to mind), a lot more specialized essays and at least several books that look at them a lot more than the overview books you have written.

If you read all these, you have got a good overview, but nothing specialized, really.

It is sufficient for a general essay you see online every often, but not for anything you'd want to get published. At least not by my standards.

[K. A. Pital]

I'll have to echo Thanas, you'll need a lot more than that.

[Knife]

Would you not have to also dip into not only the Reconquista but also the effects of the Ottoman Empire on European trade before the Reconquista? Kicking out the Usuarys and Muslim traders out of the Iberian peninsula along with the attempts to centralize Spanish authority under the King let alone finding something to do with that huge army/navy.

[Akkleptos]

For real in-depth research you would need to come across an overlooked aspect of the matter (good luck with that), a little-known fact or facts of previously unseen relevance, or a correlation between different facts that has not already been taken into account by specialists. It is quite unlikely that you could come up with something new on this matter without being ready to dive into lots of really old documents or to read books used in university-level History courses.

Maybe you didn't really mean in-depth research but rather "comprehensive divulgatory essay for the lay man".

An important addition to your list book would be Peggy K. Liss' The Atlantic Empires.

[Thanas]

Would you not have to also dip into not only the Reconquista but also the effects of the Ottoman Empire on European trade before the Reconquista? Kicking out the Usuarys and Muslim traders out of the Iberian peninsula along with the attempts to centralize Spanish authority under the King let alone finding something to do with that huge army/navy.

I am not sure what your point is....

[thejester]

Assuming this is a casual essay, that's a truly enormous topic. Worth noting that Niall Ferguson attempted a basic analysis of some of these ideas for the British Empire and came up with Empire, which while excellent is ~400 pages and still in many ways only scratches the surface.

My advice would be:

- Read what you've got there.
- Nut out a proper question/topic.
- Research and write yourself a literature review. Doesn't have to be huge but should give you an idea of the various arguments within the field and what your further reading is.
- Complete the further reading - hopefully you've narrowed down the topic somewhat by then.
- Primary research? I think as Thanas points out it's probably beyond your reach for the Spanish stuff, but maybe worth trying to work some in?
- Write the essay.

It's a pretty big ask, but you never know - you could be the next Martin Middlebrook.

[K. A. Pital]

Some say "Empire" is an overview of the British Empire without new facts, and quite heavy on glorifying colonialism.

[Knife]

Would you not have to also dip into not only the Reconquista but also the effects of the Ottoman Empire on European trade before the Reconquista? Kicking out the Usuarys and Muslim traders out of the Iberian peninsula along with the attempts to centralize Spanish authority under the King let alone finding something to do with that huge army/navy.

I am not sure what your point is....

Well, since I'm far from an expert, I was thinking an in depth view on Spanish and British Imperialism would have to start out with how the Spanish evolved into the world power it was in the 15th century which AFAIK started with the unification of Spain and kicking out the Muslims. That hatred and distrust of the Muslims and Turks colored their views on getting all the trade from the Indies over land routes through the Ottoman Empire, leading them to look for water routes. Couple that with a large standing army and navy from the Reconquista and needing to do something with all those men and materials.

So, I guess my point is, would you not have to look at diplomatic and cultural tensions between Spain and the Muslims since it appears to me that it was a driving force in pushing Spain down the road to superpower.

[Thanas]

Ah, okay. Thanks for explaining.

[thejester]

Some say "Empire" is an overview of the British Empire without new facts, and quite heavy on glorifying colonialism.

Ferguson doesn't claim to introduce any particularly new research - as he puts it, he wanted to tell the history of 'Angloglobalization'. It's analysis rather than pure narrative, though it's essentially structured chronologically. Does it glorify colonialism? Ferguson's basic argument is that the British Empire drove the world into modernity; I suppose that could be construed as 'glorifying' colonialism though he never shys away from the brutal reality of things like the slave trade, the impact of settlement in Australia or the camps in South Africa.

[Frank Hipper]

Of course, all this ignores Portugal as the first European empire on a truly transoceanic scale.

[Akkleptos]

Of course, all this ignores Portugal as the first European empire on a truly transoceanic scale.

So true. From Brazil to the Far East... They could have claimed the same as Carlos I (Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire) -allegedly- said: "The Sun never sets in our Empire" (meaning, of course, that it was always daytime somewhere in the Empire, at all times.)

Too bad that after Napoleon's invasion (which was eventually repelled with the aid of -guess who- the British), it was never the same, and by the golder era of transoceanic empires, they had been on retreat from most of their possesions for a while.

Also, the Dutch would have to be considered as well.

[Adrian Laguna]

Too bad that after Napoleon's invasion (which was eventually repelled with the aid of -guess who- the British), it was never the same, and by the golder era of transoceanic empires, they had been on retreat from most of their possesions for a while.

You think the Portuguese had it bad? The British burned down all the Spanish industry that the French missed as they were kicking Napoleon out of Spain, because the Spanish had been a rival of theirs for centuries and the Brits really wanted them out of the picture. Plus, all of Spanish Latin America went into revolt, and it cost a lot of money to fail to put them down. The Portuguese just declared Brazil and independent Empire and kept good relations with it, which was considerably cheaper.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

You think the Portuguese had it bad? The British burned down all the Spanish industry that the French missed as they were kicking Napoleon out of Spain, because the Spanish had been a rival of theirs for centuries and the Brits really wanted them out of the picture.

Are there any sources to read on that? I haven't been able to find much of it around.

[Straha]

I'd suggest that instead of writing one big essay you first research Spain, Britian, Portugal, the Netherlands, and France in-depth first. Perhaps with the goal of writing essays on each one individually before getting to the much more complex task of comparing, contrasting and noting the relationship between Spain and Britain.

If you want to do it right, and if you're going to do this there's no reason to not do it right besides laziness, you're going to have to consult a huge number of books. For instance, to talk about the rise of the British Empire you'll need, at least:

- An understanding of Tudor England and the success of the Lancasters in the Civil War.

- A reasonable understanding of Henry VIII's rule, his policies towards expansion of the English Navy, internal economic policies, and (especially) his religious policies.

- A very good understanding of the Elizabethan era, especially in regards to colonization of the Americas and the West Indies, as well as England's relationship with Spain, Rome, France, and the Netherlands.

- A understanding of the East India Company, its foundation, goals, evolution and demise (but we'll get to that eventually.)

- A understanding of the rise of the Slave Trade and its implications in the British colonies and for British trade.

- A very good understanding of the dynamics of the English Navy, and its strategic utilization by the various English/British governments. (I'd recommend N.A.M. Rodger's excellent books here.)

- Knowledge of the relationship between England and Scotland, the economic dynamics of Scotland, the consequences of the Stuart take-over of England and the rise of the idea of "Britain".

- An understanding of economic, social and religious causes of the English Civil War, and its resulting effects for the same.

- A very good understanding of the Commonwealth on English/Scottish society, religion and the colonies.

- You'll also want to look into Ireland, and English policy towards Ireland from the very beginning, as it can be argued that was the first place that the English empire conquered and spread into (ignoring Wales, of course.)

And that's just the beginning, without even touching the 18th century or the rise of the British Empire proper, or any of the other nations you'd want to talk about.

I can suggest a number of good books on some of the subjects above, but if you want a true comprehensive understanding of everything you're going to have to spend a lot of time in a decent academic library. A good tip for finding sources on specific subjects is to find a good general history (like Simon Schama's A History of Britain, or Israel's The Dutch Republic [something you'll want to read as well]), flip open to its bibliography and footnotes and use the books/articles listed there. You may also need to pick up a decent understanding of a foreign language or two, or get a friend who's willing to translate books for you, if you want to get to the best sources.

Good luck, and happy hunting.

[Shroom Man 777]

If you want to have an even bigger pain in the ass, you might want to explore the effects on the various native cultures touched by Spanish and British Imperialism. Particularly the Spanish, as while you can see British culture evident in many former colonies, that's probably due to the fact that a whole lot of British culture is composed of White Anglo-Saxon Protestants. Whereas the Spanish, you can see their totally profound effect on so many native cultures - not only from cultural blending, but also genetic blending. You can say that the Spaniards have influenced almost half* of the Third World nations and cultures for centuries. The way so many people think, the way they act, the way they talk, how they go to church, everything.


*Half is a totally arbitrary 'number'.

[Knife]

or look at the Portugese and the Guanche, or the Caribs, etc...

[Androsphinx]

Start here:

S. Alcock, ed. Empires: perspectives from archaeology and history (Cambridge 2001)
William H. McNeill, ‘Introductory Historical Commentary’, in Geir Lundestad, ed., The fall of the
great powers (1994)
A.G. Hopkins (ed.), Globalization in World History (London, 2002)
Dominic Lieven, Empire: the Russian Empire and its Rivals (John Murray, 2000)
Frederick Cooper, Colonialism in Question: Theory, Knowledge, History (Berkeley, 2005)
Charles S. Maier, Among empires: American ascendancy and its predecessors (Cambridge: Mass.
2006)
D. Chakrabarty, Provincializing Europe: Postcolonial Thought and Historical Difference
(Princeton, 2000).

Then try this for more specifics.