Hello, I'm Mr. Marchin and I'll be your history teacher for today.

I'm really looking forward to starting our learning journey together, and my role will be to make sure that you can meet today's learning objective.

Welcome to today's lesson, which is part of our unit on the British Empire, where we've been asking ourselves, to what extent was the British Empire transformed in the mid-19th century? By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to evaluate the extent to which the British Empire was transformed during the mid-19th century.

There is one key word for today's lesson and that is transform.

Something may be described as transformed if it changes significantly.

Today's lesson will be split into three parts.

And we'll begin by thinking about the British Empire in the early 19th century.

In the 19th century, there were many different empires across the world.

Britain ruled over one of the largest empires of any country at this time.

Historians studying the British Empire focus on the following areas.

Extent, how large was the empire and what areas did it have control over? Governance, how did the empire rule over its colonies? Quality of life, so what was life like for those living under British rule? And justifications, meaning how did Britain justify its rule for its colonies? So let's start by thinking about the extent of the British Empire.

Britain's Empire was global in the early 19th century.

Most of the area ruled over by the empire was located in the Americas and in Asia, although Britain did control other colonies on every other inhabited continent.

Britain had colonies in Africa such as the Gold Coast and Cape Colony.

But it's important to keep in mind that Britain's African colonies were mostly restricted to the coasts.

This can be seen really clearly on the map, which is shown on the screen.

So, thinking about what we've just heard, which two statements about a British Empire in the early 19th century are accurate? That most African colonies were restricted to the coasts, that Britain had no colonies in the Americas, that the empire was global, or that most of Britain's colonies were located in Oceania.

Remember, we are looking for two of these statements, which are correct.

So pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answers.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answers were A and C.

In the early 19th century, most African colonies belonging to the British Empire were restricted to the coasts of Africa.

And the British Empire could be described as global.

It controlled colonies on every inhabited continent around the world.

So now we can turn our attention to governance.

Britain ruled over many different types of colony.

There were Crown Colonies such as Cape Colony.

In these, they were under the direct rule of the British government.

A British appointed governor had virtually all of the power in these colonies, and those who lived in them had very little.

There were self-governing colonies such as Jamaica.

In these places, colonists were able to elect their own representatives who held a lot of power.

And then there was also East India Company territories, most prominently India.

Rather than the British government or subjects living there, the EIC, a company, ruled over these colonies.

So, let's make sure we have a secure understanding of everything that we just heard.

We have a statement on the screen that says, all British colonies were under direct rule.

Is that statement true or false? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that that statement was false, but we need to be able to justify our response.

So two justifications have appeared on the screen.

The first says that some colonies were Crown Colonies, but others were self-governing, and India was under EIC rule.

The second says that India was under EIC rule, and all other British colonies were self-governing.

So which one of those two justifications is correct? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

The correct justification was A.

We know that not all British colonies were under direct rule because although some colonies were Crown Colonies, others were self-governing, and India was under EIC rule.

So there were clearly many different ways that Britain's colonies were governed.

Now we can think about quality of life in the British Empire in the early 19th century.

Poverty was widespread in many of Britain's colonies.

High taxes on basic items such as salt in India or clothing in Jamaica contributed to this problem.

Furthermore, racial and religious differences were often not respected in Britain's colonies.

Voting restrictions prevented most of Jamaica's black population from voting although black representatives could still be elected to Jamaica's House of Assembly and were.

In India, the East India Company also interfered with some of its subjects religious beliefs.

For example, the Hindu tradition of Sati was banned in 1829.

And other actions by the EIC led to fears in India that the population which was mostly Hindu, but included significant Muslim and Sikh minorities would be forced to convert to Christianity.

So, let's think about what we've just heard.

I want you to write the missing word from the following sentence.

High taxes contributed to widespread blank in both India and Jamaica.

So what's the missing word in that sentence? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the missing word was poverty.

High taxes contributed to widespread poverty in both India and Jamaica.

And finally, we can think about some of the justifications for British imperialism in the early 19th century.

Many people in Britain believed that it was superior to other countries.

Religion was particularly important for framing this attitude.

It was widely believed that Christianity contained God's real truth and it was therefore superior to other religions.

As a result, people wanted to spread knowledge of the Bible and believe that British rule would benefit non-Christians.

All of this helped people in Britain to justify the country's rule over millions of subjects living across the world.

So let's make sure we have a secure understanding of what we just heard.

I want you to correct the following sentence by changing just one word.

Our sentence reads, it was a widespread belief in Britain that Christianity was equal to other religions and so this was used to justify British imperialism.

So, consider which word seems like it's incorrect in this sentence, and what should it be changed to? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the incorrect word in our sentence was equal and that that should have been changed to superior.

It was a widespread belief in Britain that Christianity was superior to other religions.

And so this was used to justify British imperialism.

So now we are ready to put all of our knowledge about the British Empire in the early 19th century into practise.

I want you to study the four terms shown on the screen.

Those are Christianity, Crown Colonies, global and poverty.

You should use each term as part of a different sentence to describe the British Empire in the early 19th century.

So pause the video here and press play when you're ready to reflect on your responses.

Okay, well done for all of your effort on that task.

So, I asked you to use each of the four terms I provided as part of different sentences to describe the British Empire in the early 19th century.

And your answers may have included, one justification for the British Empire was that Christianity was a superior religion to others.

So British rule would benefit non-Christians.

Britain ruled over many different types of colony.

India was ruled by the East India Company.

Some colonies like Jamaica were self-governing, and others like Cape Colony were Crown Colonies under direct rule.

Britain ruled over a global empire, with colonies in the Americas, Africa, Europe, Asia, and Oceania.

And poverty was a major problem for many colonial subjects, such as in India, where high taxes left many people without enough money.

So well done for all of your effort on that task, especially if your own answers looked something similar to the models we've just seen.

And now we'll move on to the second part of today's lesson where we are going to think about the British Empire by the late 19th century.

The British Empire continued to develop throughout the 19th century.

By the late 19th century, the British Empire was widely regarded as the strongest in the world.

So if we start by thinking about the extent of the British Empire in this period, people claimed that the sun never sets on the British Empire because Britain had colonies all around the world, which meant there was always a British colony somewhere experiencing daytime.

Britain also participated in the scramble for Africa.

This led to new areas like Egypt, Nigeria, and Uganda being colonised by the British.

Colonies like Uganda were located in the African interior far away from the coast.

So, thinking about what we've heard so far, which statement is most accurate? The scramble for Africa extended British rule to parts of the African interior.

The scramble for Africa saw Britain lose its colonies in the African interior, or the scramble for Africa saw Britain lose its colonies along Africa's coastlines.

Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was A.

During the scramble for Africa, British rule was extended to parts of the African interior such as Uganda.

As well as its formal empire of colonies, Britain also expanded its informal empire.

This informal empire was not made up of colonies.

Instead, the informal empire was made up of places where British influence was very significant.

The Opium Wars placed China in Britain's informal empire by the late 19th century.

The Qing Empire, which ruled over China was forced to accept more foreign trade than it had wanted to after its defeat by Britain in the Opium Wars and key government organisations like the Chinese Maritime Custom Service were run by British officials from 1854 onwards.

So, thinking about what we've just heard, I want you to write the missing words from the following sentence.

The Opium Wars helped Britain to establish an blank blank in China.

So what's the missing words? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the missing words were informal empire.

The Opium Wars helped Britain to establish an informal empire in China.

And now we can turn our attention to governance.

Some colonies came under direct rule by the late 19th century, this was the case in India where East India Company rule ended in 1858 and the colony became a Crown Colony instead.

Similarly, after the Morant Bay Rebellion in Jamaica, self-government was ended on the island and Jamaica became a Crown Colony in 1865.

Self-government did continue in some other British colonies though, and was introduced to others such as Cape Colony and Canada around the same time that it ended in places like Jamaica.

So, let's check our understanding of what we've just heard.

We have a statement on the screen that reads, elections in Britain triggered changes in how Jamaica and India were governed.

Is that statement true or false? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that that statement was false, but we need to be able to justify our response.

So two justifications have appeared on the screen.

The first says that elections in India and Jamaica during the mid-19th century led to changes in how both colonies were governed.

And a second says that rebellions in India and Jamaica during the mid-19th century led to changes in how both colonies were governed.

So which one of those two justifications is correct? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct justification was B.

Rebellions in India and Jamaica during the mid-19th century led to changes in how both colonies were governed.

In Jamaica's case, it went from being self-governing to become like a Crown Colony, and India also became a Crown Colony.

As East India Company rule was ended.

And let's try another question.

How did governance in the British Empire change during the mid-19th century? Was it that all colonies became self-governing, that some colonies became self-governing and others became Crown Colonies, or that all colonies became Crown Colonies? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was B.

Some British colonies became self-governing, and others became Crown Colonies after the mid-19th century.

So now we can turn our attention to quality of life in Britain's Empire.

Reforms were passed in both India and Jamaica to improve the treatment of subjects after rebellions in those colonies.

The British government promised not to interfere with Indian's religion in 1858 and less biassed judges were introduced to Jamaica after 1866, and greater access to medical services was provided.

However, poverty remained an issue in both India, Jamaica, and many of Britain's other colonies.

The unpopular salt tax continued in India, meaning that people continued losing money just from purchasing a basic good that they needed.

Similarly, many black Jamaicans still struggled to find work and received little assistance from the British government to help this.

So, which statement is most accurate? Little was done to address religious discrimination in India after 1858, little was done to address widespread poverty in India after 1858, or little was done to address either religious discrimination or widespread poverty in India after 1858.

Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was B.

Little was done to address widespread poverty in India after 1858.

For example, the unpopular salt tax continued to be collected.

And so finally, we can think about some of the justifications used to defend Britain's Empire by the late 19th century.

Social Darwinism emerged after Charles Darwin published his work on evolution in 1859.

It has been proven wrong since, but many people accepted it in the late 19th century.

The theory suggested some humans were more evolved than others, and this was used to argue that white Europeans were more evolved than groups such as black Africans, so that they almost had a right to rule over them.

However, even with some of these new justifications emerging Christianity remained a key justification for Britain's Empire.

So, considering what we've just heard, what discredited theory was used by some people to argue that Britain was more evolved than the colonies it ruled over? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the answer was Social Darwinism.

Social Darwinism was the theory used by some people to argue that Britain was more evolved than the colonies it ruled over.

Social Darwinists argued that British superiority meant that those who lived in their colonies would benefit more from British rule than if they governed themselves.

So, we're now in a good position to put all of our knowledge about the British Empire by the late 19th century into practise.

You have six numbered statements on the screen.

They read, Social Darwinism was used to argue British rule was superior.

Colonies were governed in different ways.

Britain respected Indians' religion.

Christianity was used to justify Britain's Empire.

High taxes in colonies contributed to widespread poverty.

And British rule in Africa was limited to coasts.

I want you to write each number in a relevant part of the Venn diagram to indicate whether those statements refer to the British Empire in the early 19th century, the late 19th century, or during both periods.

So pause the video here and press play when you are ready to check your answers.

Okay, well done for all of your effort on that task.

So, to complete our Venn diagram, you should have placed statement one in the late 19th century, statement two in the middle.

It applies to both the early and late 19th century for the British Empire.

The third statement refers to the British Empire in the late 19th century.

The fourth statement refers to both periods.

The fifth statement also refers to both periods.

And the final statement that British rule in Africa was limited to the coasts refers to the empire in the early 19th century.

So really well done if you got all of those six statements identified to the correct periods they apply to.

And that means we're now ready to move on to the third and final part of our lesson for today where we are going to think about transformation in the British Empire.

The British Empire certainly experienced changes during the mid-19th century.

Nevertheless, historians disagree about the extent to which the empire could be described as transformed between the early and late 19th century.

Describing something as transformed suggests that it has changed significantly.

Historians assessing the extent to which the British Empire was transformed in the mid-19th century may consider the empire's extent, its governance, the quality of life of people living in it, and the justifications of empire.

So, thinking about what we've heard so far, when would it be appropriate to describe something as transformed? If it hadn't changed at all, if it had changed slightly, or if it had changed significantly? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was C.

We could appropriately describe something as being transformed if it had changed significantly.

So, we want to think about how we can use this idea of transformation and apply it to the British Empire.

I want you to study the two maps shown on the screen.

The first shows the British Empire in 1837 and the second shows the British Empire by 1898.

Why might some historians argue that the two maps suggest the British Empire was transformed in the mid-19th century? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to reflect on your response.

Okay, so for this question, we're really interested in some of the visual differences we can see between our two maps, and then considering what that tells us about the British Empire.

From these two maps, we can see that the extent of the British Empire was transformed.

Britain gained many new colonies, including in the African interior.

If we look at the map from 1837, we can see that the shaded areas indicating Britain's colonies are quite small compared to the overall size of Africa and are very much restricted to coastal regions.

Whereas if we look at the map of the British Empire in Africa by 1898, we can see that large areas of Africa had become British colonies, including many locations in the African interior.

So, let's reflect on what we just heard.

I want you to write the missing word from the following sentence.

The scramble for Africa helped to increase the blank of the British Empire.

Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the missing word was extent.

The scramble for Africa helped to increase the extent of the British Empire.

If Britain gained new colonies, the extent of its empire grew.

And let's try another question.

Which example would best demonstrate that quality of life was not transformed in the British Empire during the mid-19th century? Is it that the empire still included some self-governing colonies? That Christianity was still used to justify Britain's Empire, or that unpopular salt taxes were still collected in India? Pause the video here and press play when you are ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was C.

Unpopular salt taxes still being collected in India meant that many people were still losing money that they needed to help support their daily lives.

And this contributed to the problem of poverty in India in the late 19th century.

That shows us that quality of life was not transformed during the mid-19th century.

Although A and B both tell us about some continuities in the British Empire, they're not referring specifically to issues related to quality of life.

So, we are now ready to put all of our thinking from today's lesson into practise.

I want you to study Jacob's view of the British Empire.

Jacob says, "Britain's Empire changed in the mid-19th century, but it was not transformed." How far do you agree with Jacob's view? And you need to explain why.

Your answer should consider why some historians would agree and why other historians might disagree with Jacob's view.

And you must also offer your own conclusion.

So pause the video here and press play when you're ready to reflect on your response.

Okay, well done for all of your hard work on that task.

So, we had Jacob's view that Britain's Empire changed in the mid-19th century, but it was not transformed.

And I asked you, how far did you agree with that view? Your answer may have included, some historians may agree with Jacob's view because of the ways in which the British Empire was governed.

For example, during the mid-19th century, both Jamaica and India became Crown Colonies, meaning they were placed under direct rule.

However, other places such as Cape Colony and Canada experienced the opposite change as they became self-governing colonies.

As a result, by the late 19th century, Britain continued to rule over a diverse mix of self-governing colonies and Crown Colonies in its empire.

You may also have written, some historians may disagree with Jacob's view because of changes in the extent of the British Empire.

Although the British Empire was global throughout the 19th century, it still grew significantly in size.

In the early 19th century, British colonies in Africa were limited to the coast.

However, during the scramble for Africa, Britain gained new colonies such as Egypt and Uganda.

This shows that not only did the empire grow in size, but it also gained control over new types of areas like the African interior.

And so your answer should also have included a conclusion which may have looked like, overall Jacob is correct, because although in some ways such as its extent the British Empire changed significantly during the mid-19th century, there were many other ways in which it remained very similar across the 19th century.

For instance, Britain continued to rule over both self-governing colonies and Crown Colonies.

Poverty remained an issue for many subjects, and many people continued to justify British rule by suggesting they were somehow superior compared to other people who lived in their colonies.

So, well done, if your own conclusion looked something like that.

Alternatively, you may have written a conclusion that went the other way and looked like, overall Jacob is not correct.

Because there were many important changes in the mid-19th century that did transform the British Empire.

For instance, more efforts were taken to improve the quality of life of subjects in the colonies, such as by not interfering with people's religion in India.

Furthermore, the empire grew significantly bigger and Britain gained power over new areas such as through colonisation in the African interior or the establishment of informal empire over China after the Opium Wars.

So really well done for all of your work on this task, especially if your own response included different elements from those models, which we've just seen.

And that means we've reached the end of today's lesson, which puts us in a good position to summarise our learning about transformation in the British Empire.

We've seen that historians can study the British Empire by focusing on its extent, governance, quality of life, and justifications.

Britain's Empire grew significantly during the 19th century as it acquired new colonies and expanded its informal empire.

Rebellions in India and Jamaica led to the beginning of direct rule in both colonies and some reforms which benefited ordinary people living there.

Ideas such as Christianity and Social Darwinism were used to suggest the British were superior and to justify Britain's Empire.

So really well done for all of your work throughout today's lesson.

We may not all have arrived at the exact same conclusions about exactly how much Britain's Empire was transformed in the mid-19th century, but we have been equipped to think in a lot more depth about Britain's Empire, about how it affected other parts of the world, and that is really powerful knowledge to take away for future.