Britain's Empire: Resistance, Repression and Revolt

by Richard Gott

Overview

A magisterial history of resistance to the rising of the British empire

As the call for a new understanding of our national history grows louder, Britain’s Empire turns the received imperial story on its head. Richard Gott recounts the long-overlooked narrative of resisters, revolutionaries and revolters who stood up to the might of the Empire. In a story of almost continuous colonialist violence, Britain’s crimes unspool from the beginning of the eighteenth century to the Indian Mutiny, spanning the globe from Ireland to Australia. Capturing events from the perspective of the colonised, Gott unearths the all-but-forgotten stories excluded from mainstream histories.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781839764226
Publisher:	Verso Books
Publication date:	01/04/2022
Pages:	576
Product dimensions:	5.52(w) x 8.26(h) x 1.47(d)

About the Author

Richard Gott is a former Latin America correspondent and features editor for the Guardian. A specialist in Latin American affairs, his books include Cuba: A New History, Guerrilla Movements in Latin America, The Appeasers (with Martin Gilbert), Land Without Evil, Hugo Chávez and the Bolivarian Revolution, and Britain's Empire. He is currently an honorary research fellow at the institute for the study of the Americas at the University of London.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Part I The Challenge to Imperial Power: Native Americans, Caribbean Slaves, Indian Princes and Irish Peasants, 1755-72 9

1 Native American Resistance during the French and Indian War 14

2 The Last Great Native American Rebellions 23

3 Slave Rebellions in the Caribbean 30

4 Treaties and Proclamation Mark the End of the French and Indian War 36

5 Muslim Resistance in Bengal and Mysore 39

6 Peasant Resistance in Ireland 49

Part II White Settler Revolt in America, and Fresh Resistance in Canada, India and the Caribbean, 1770-89 55

7 Episodes of Resistance during the American War of Independence 61

8 Native American Resistance to Fur Traders in Western Canada 72

9 The Resistance in Southern India 75

Part III The Loss of America Creates a Need for New Prisons Abroad and a Place to Settle Black 'empire Loyalists', 1786-1802 79

10 The British Search for Distant Gulags 83

11 The Black Settlers of Sierra Leone 91

Part IV Britain Expands its Counter-Revolutionary Empire during the War against Revolutionary France, 1793-1802 95

12 Resistance to Empire in the Caribbean in the Wake of the French Revolution 104

13 Slaves and 'Free Coloureds' in the French Islands of the Caribbean Resist Absorption in the Empire 109

14 Europe's Revolutionary Conflict Spreads to South Africa 121

15 The Dutch Empire in Ceylon 127

16 The Great Irish Rebellion of 1798 130

17 Tipu Sultan and the Final Resistance of Indian Forces in Mysore 138

Part V Resistance to Imperial Expansion During the Wars Against Napoleon, 1803-15 143

18 Rebellions, Revolts and Mutinies in the Caribbean 149

19 The Resistance of the Marathas to the British Invasion of Central India 156

20 Mutiny and Revolt by Muslim Sepoys and European Officers 161

21 Rebellion in Australia and the Slaughter of Aborigines 164

22 Resistance in South Africa, South America and Egypt 169

23 Slave Rebellion, Xhosa Resistance, and White Settler Revolt in Cape Colony 175

24 British Penetration into the Persian Gulf 183

25 The British Seizure of Mauritius, the Seychelles and Indonesia 188

26 Bulbhadar Singh and the Gurkha Resistance in Nepal 197

27 The British Conquest of Kandy 199

Part VI Slave Revolts, White Settlement, Indigenous Extermination, and the Advance into Burma and Assam, 1816-30 203

28 Slave Rebellions in the Caribbean 207

29 The Battle of Seven Oaks, Canada 215

30 Revolts and Resistance in Central India 218

31 Revolt, Fresh Settlement and Extermination in Cape Colony 223

32 The British Base and Prison on the Island of Singapore 230

33 Years of Unrest Culminate in a Fresh Revolt in Ireland 233

34 Aborigine Resistance in Australia and White Retaliation 237

35 The Ashanti Defeat the British at Esamankow 242

36 The Burmese Empire Fights Back 244

37 Tea and Strategy: The Rajahs and Hill Peoples of Assam Rebel 251

Part VII An End to Colonial Slavery and Resistance to Fresh Settlement, 1830-38 257

38 Slave Rebellions in the Caribbean Hasten the End of Slavery 263

39 White Settlers Devise New Ways to Hunt the Australian Aborigines 268

40 The Whitefeet in Ireland Oppose the Payment of Tithes and Rent 274

41 White Settler Rebellions and Buddhist Resistance in the East 281

42 Resistance in the Strait of Malacca 284

43 Resistance on the Gambia River in West Africa 291

44 The End of Slavery in Cape Colony, the Rebellion of Maqoma, and the Flight of the Boer Farmers 294

45 White Settler Rebellions in Canada 307

Part VIII Imperial Humiliation and Further Expansion, 1839-47 319

46 The Capture of Useful Imperial Harbours 326

47 Revolts among the Hill Tribes of Assam 329

48 Resistance to the British Invasion of Afghanistan 333

49 The Resistance of the Amirs of Sind Is Reinforced by Their Baluchi Soldiers 339

50 The Long Struggle of the Sikhs in the Punjab 345

51 Aborigine Resistance in Victoria and Queensland 354

52 Maori Resistance in New Zealand 357

53 Muslim Resistance in Sarawak 369

54 The Penultimate Battles of the Xhosa in Cape Colony 377

Part IX Prelude to the Mutiny, 1848-53 383

55 William Smith O'Brien and the Rising of the Young Irelanders 388

56 Dr Christopher Elliott, Wikrama Sardawa Siddhapa and the Rebellion of the Kandy Pretenders 395

57 The Final Rebellion of the Xhosa in Cape Colony 404

58 West African Resistance 409

59 The Start of an Endless Saga: The North-West Frontier Territories of India 412

60 The Burmese Empire Resists Further Invasion 417

Part X The Gathering Storm, 1854-58 421

61 The Taiping Rebellion Spreads Unrest among Chinese Communities Elsewhere 426

62 White Settler Rebellion in Australia and Further Aborigine Resistance 429

63 The Santals in Bengal and the Moplahs in Malabar 435

64 James Sayers Orr and the 'Angel Gabriel' Riots in Guyana 441

65 Nongqawuse and the Self-Destruction of the Xhosa in Cape Colony 444

66 The Great Rebellion in India 448

Epilogue 471

Acknowledgements 477

Notes 479

Bibliography 531

Illustration Credits 549

Index 551

Editorial Reviews

Gott’s … contribution is to restore—or in many cases to introduce—the British Empire’s rebels and resisters to the general picture; which of course bears out his view of its tyranny (otherwise why would they have resisted?), but also, and more importantly, elevates the subjects of the Empire to a higher and more dignified status that that of mere ‘victims.’ He is right to say that this ‘tale of resistance over two centuries has never before been considered over the wide sweep of Empire.’”
—Bernard Porter, Times Literary Supplement

“A welcome, even necessary, corrective.”
—Stephen Howe, Independent

“Vivid and startling … Gott’s achievement is to show, as no historian has done before, that violence was a central, constant and ubiquitous part of the making and keeping of the British Empire.”
—Richard Drayton, Guardian

“Gott … faults the conventional history of Empire which, while celebrating the victories of the conquerors, ‘omits the accounts of the conquered.’ Gott aims to fill the gap with brisk accounts of the oft en fierce resistance that native people put up to imperial conquerors.”
—Pankraj Mishra, Financial Times

“His message is stark but Gott is never shrill. He writes as a scholar, not an accuser.”
—Jonathan Steele, Red Pepper

“Stimulating, inspirational and much needed.”
—Dan Glazebrook, Morning Star

“Pungent and provocative … a rich compendium of revolt.”
—Gavin Bowd, Scotland on Sunday

“A tour de force.”
—History Today

“A relentless chronicle of resistance to British rule and the brutality with which that resistance was suppressed.”
—Socialist Worker

“Throughout its history the British Empire was drenched in blood. Gott’s book makes an indispensable contribution towards establishing this truth.”
—John Newsinger, Socialist Review

“A salutary counterblast and a goodbye to all that Niall Ferguson and his ilk would like to establish as the official history to be taught in British schools.”
—Irish Left Review

“Gott does for the enslaved peoples of the Empire what E. P. Thompson did for the ordinary English working classes—he rediscovers their histories and gives them back their voices of resistance to British imperialism.”
—Andy Gregg, Chartist

“By putting resistance at the heart of the story of the British Empire, Richard Gott has perhaps made one of the clearest statements yet about the reality of British imperial rule.”
—Resolute Reader

“He provides, for the first time, a sense of the sheer extent of the injury suffered by the colonised people.”
—William Jackson, Reviews in History

“Anyone tending to view the British Empire as benign or civilising will get a jolt from this painstaking and detailed history … an excellent antidote to the voguish apologists for Empire currently influencing the school curriculum today.”
—Mike Phipps, Labour Briefing

“The importance of Gott’s book is its range—many instances of imperial brutality are catalogued with almost gleeful precision. It is also true that much of the tough, fighting side of empire has been glossed over in a series of saccharine, Boy’s Own accounts, which tend to romanticise the achievements of soldiers and generals. Gott provides a useful corrective … he should be admired for the enthusiasm, dedication and thoroughness with which he has set about his task.”
—Kwasi Kwateng, Literary Review

“At the heart of Gott’s argument … lies a fundamental truth: violence was implicit and a quotidian fact of empire. It is equally true that historians have not attended sufficiently to that fact.”
—Richard N. Price, H-Empire

“Remembering the forgotten and ignored stories of Empire—the victories as well as the failures of the conquered peoples, the atrocities of the conquerors—is one important step in building respect and beginning the long hard work of making amends for centuries of injustice. In this important task, Richard Gott’s latest book is a powerful resource.”
—Joshua Paetkau, Catholic Commons

“His originality lies in retrieving the names and reputations of rebels and resisters, looking at the empire from below … He demonstrates conclusively that the establishment and maintenance of the British empire was a source of constant struggle: in nearly all areas of the world, few accepted its arrival with equanimity.”
—John MacKenzie, BBC History Magazine

“An epic work of popular history examining the resistance to empire on the part of its victims.”
—Musab Yunus, Oxonian Review

“Britain’s Empire brings together and archives the history of diverse people who share a sad tradition: that of those who were oft en outgunned, scared, tired, broken and oppressed, and still fought. These were real people, and while many of their names will never be known, they are lent back moments of their lives and trials over 500 excellent pages.”
—Joe Glenton, Counterfire

“For many years a radical journalist, Gott is good on the detail … his great strength is the way he draws out the links and reverberations of events in the British Empire.”
—James Heartfield, Spiked-online

From the Publisher

His message is stark but Gott is never shrill. He writes as a scholar, not an accuser ... His book deserves to be the definitive record that other scholars will build on for years to come.

Jonathan Steele - Red Pepper

Gott’s meticulous research and quotations from primary sources bring the stories to life in a gripping yet scholarly narrative. Stimulating, inspirational and much needed.

Dan Glazebrook - Morning Star

A welcome, even necessary, corrective.

Stephen Howe - Independent

A tour de force.

History Today

A pungent and provocative book ... a rich compendium of revolt.

Gavin Bowd - Scotland on Sunday

Vivid and startling ... Gott’s achievement is to show, as no historian has done before, that violence was a central, constant and ubiquitous part of the making and keeping of the British Empire.

Richard Drayton - Guardian

His message is stark but Gott is never shrill. He writes as a scholar, not an accuser ... His book deserves to be the definitive record that other scholars will build on for years to come.— Jonathan Steele

Red Pepper

Gott’s meticulous research and quotations from primary sources bring the stories to life in a gripping yet scholarly narrative. Stimulating, inspirational and much needed.— Dan Glazebrook

Morning Star

A welcome, even necessary, corrective.— Stephen Howe

Independent

A pungent and provocative book ... a rich compendium of revolt.— Gavin Bowd

Scotland on Sunday

Vivid and startling ... Gott’s achievement is to show, as no historian has done before, that violence was a central, constant and ubiquitous part of the making and keeping of the British Empire.— Richard Drayton

Guardian

A salutary counterblast and a goodbye to all that Niall Ferguson and his ilk would like to establish as the official history to be taught in British schools.

Irish Left Review

A relentless chronicle of resistance to British rule and the brutality with which that resistance was suppressed.

Socialist Worker

A welcome, even necessary, corrective.”— Stephen Howe

The Independent