VIII Gentlemanly capitalism and British expansion overseas I. the old colonial system 1688–1850

Abstract

Abstract In an earlier survey of the history of British imperialism we suggested that closer attention should be given to the connexions between the slow and uncertain development of British industry and the pace and direction of overseas expansion.1 P.J. Cain & A.G. Hopkins, “The political economy of British expansion overseas, 1750–1914”, Economic History Review, 33, 1980, pp 463–90. The authors would like to express their gratitude to the ESRC for personal research grants in aid of this work in 1981 and 1982–83. We also argued that insufficient regard had been paid to the influence of non-industrial forms of capitalism on both overseas development and imperial policy. In the course of that survey, the former problem was dealt with in some detail, whereas the latter was treated briefly and tentatively. The purpose of the present article is to correct this deficiency and to advance a new perspective on British imperialism for the period between the Glorious Revolution and the Second World War.