Reading
Assignment 1.
Do bear in mind that you are taking your first steps into an unknown
period of history.
It will take a while for things to make sense. Be patient!
Topic: British interests - 1783-93.
1. First do some armchair reading: AS book pps 7-12.
Do not take notes at this stage; concentrate instead on trying to get
a general sense of what was going on.
2. Then turn to AS book p.21 (extract from Evans ‘Forging of the
Modern State.’) and work on this note taking exercise.
The aim of the exercise is:
to produce clear, brief, bullet points in answer to structured questions
with a view to being able to discuss the topic with confidence in class.
Objectives:
1. Skills: to develop effective note taking skills
(ie understanding, appropriate selection and clear recording).
2. Knowledge: to evaluate the main themes and developments in foreign
affairs and trade during Pitt’s ministry between 1783 and 1793.
Hints:
Put dates in the margin of your file paper
Don’t copy out huge chunks from the text. Summarise, paraphrase,
reduce etc
Use the questions as sub-headings to make your notes clearer.
Section I.
p.21-2
Outline briefly how Britain’s position in foreign affairs changed
between 1763 and 1783.
Section II.
p.22 para 1.
Briefly explain how the Triple Alliance of 1787 with Prussia helped
Britain:
a) in general terms
b) in the crisis of 1790?
p.23 para 2,3 and 4.
Theme: Fear of Russian expansionism and the desire for European
leadership.
The Triple Alliance failed by 1793. Explain why.
(Include the 1791 fight over the port of Ochakov and the advance into
Poland in your answer)
p.24-5 paras 5-9.
Theme: trade.
Between 1783 and 1793 the value of British trade to Europe almost doubled
and a trading deficit of £2.5m was converted into a surplus of
over £2m.
Outline the variety of things which stimulated trade in this period.
Section III.
p.26-7 paras 1,2, 3 , 4 and half of para 5.
Theme: America.
Between 1783 and 1793 Pitt’s new Committee of Trade (under Jenkinson)
attempted to cut the newly independent United States out of the imperial
economic system without damaging domestic shipbuilding and links with
the West Indies .
How was this done?
p.27 second half para 5 p.28 para 6.
After 1793 “economic logic and the exigencies of war dictated
a more liberal policy towards the USA.” Briefly explain
this statement.
As a result the Jay treaty of 1794 was passed. What did this
do and what impact did it have?.
p.28/9 para 2.
Theme: Eastern links.
The loss of the American colonies focussed government attention on the
East.
India: what were the problems with the monopoly of the East
India Company?
Pitt’s India Act endeavoured to deal with these problems. How?
p.29 paras 3 and 4.
How effectively did Cornwallis and Dundas ‘get a grip’ on
India?
p.30 paras 5, 6, 7.
Check that you know where else we had commercial links with.
p.30/1 paras 8, 9, 10.
Points to clarify:
a) that the impact of loss of the American colonies was in no way ‘disastrous’
for Britain, neither did it involve a ‘swing to the east’.
b) that Pitt had no grand commercial design nor did he have a sufficiently
developed civil service to closely supervise colonial matters. |