The Peace of Paris Essay Example for Free

The Peace of Paris Essay The years following the Peace of Paris (1763) through the outbreak of war in the wake of the French Revolution marked a period of remarkable change for England. The American Revolution effectively ended the first British empire, but England extended its power in the East, managing remarkable imperial growth. 28 The impetus for this expansion was industrialization, which fueled a need for markets in which to sell manufactured goods. Between 1750 and 1800, British imports and exports trebled in value, while growing naval superiority allowed her to win and hold trade and bases. 29 Rather than repeat the occupation and population they had in North America, the English copied the Dutch, establishing a network of trading and naval stations. 30 One of the things which captured the fascination of the English during this period was their belief n the existence of a southern continent. Its existence having been speculated as early as Ptolemy, this Terra Australis Incognita was often visualized as having fantastic size and wealth. 31 The effective search for this new continent was initially hindered by two difficulties. First, there was no effective way to measure longitude, so that which meant that effective mapping was all but impossible. Second, the ships were ill-suited to serious exploration, often in poor condition, designed for other tasks, and manned by men of no scientific interest or talent. 32 Much of this changed with the growing interest in astronomy in England. In 1763, William Herschel established that Uranus was a planet, the first planet discovered in modern times. 33 Enthusiasm over this prompted new interest in astronomy, including a decision by the Royal Society to take observations of the passage of Venus across of the sun, to occur in 1769. The Royal Society decided that it should obtained measurements of this phenomenon from various locations around the globe, including Tahiti. 34 In this endeavor, the Royal Society was offered the assistance of the remarkable James Cook. The Royal Society knew the wealth of data to be gleaned from ships’ logs and mariners’ journals, filled with numeric data, maps, and coastal profiles. 35 Cook had distinguished himself during the Seven Years War when his skill in navigation and charting helped the English to sail up the St. Lawrence River to attack Quebec, when the French believed that no landing could be made. Later, he had mapped the coastline of Newfoundland, and after carefully observing an eclipse from there, had given his notes to the Royal Society. Self-taught and with no aristocratic connections, Cook’s talents so awed the Royal Society that it chose him to lead the Tahiti voyage, to the chagrin of the aristocratic Alexander Dalrymple. 36 Outfitting his voyage for practicality rather than style, Lieutenant Cook picked as his ship a collier, a ship without style that it had no figurehead but admirably suited for a scientific expedition. Among the scientists Cook carried was Banks, the leading naturalist of his time. 37 The result was a remarkable voyage, although at the time, it was the presence of the botanist Joseph Banks which caught attention. In three years, Cook had charted some 5,000 miles of coastline, including the two islands of New Zealand and the east coast of Australia. 38 On his return, the account of his voyage was put into print, with official approval and support, setting a precedent for future publication. 39 The account of Cook’s and other voyages was soon supplemented by the report of the voyage of Henry Wilson, who with his crew was shipwrecked in the Palau Islands. The account described accurately the islanders with whom Wilson dealt, and began a trend away form the fanciful descriptions of all such people as noble savages and exemplars of natural virtue. 40 On his second voyage, Cook carried a chronometer accurate enough to allow computation of longitude based on the disparity of the sun’s position shipboard versus the position it would have had in Greenwich. Cook dispelled the idea of a huge continent in the south Pacific, mapped key features of the area, and gave order to the understanding of the ocean. 41 On his voyages, Cook observed aboriginal peoples carefully. Noting that the Australian aborigines had no houses and wore minimal clothing, Cook reported that they were remarkably happy in their lack of desire for material goods. Living in a warm climate with adequate resources, they lived happily with no need for material goods. 42 Cook then sailed a third time, trying to find the western entrance to the Northwest Passage. While failing in this endeavor, he produced maps of the coast of North America and the Hawaiian Islands, perishing there in a fight with natives. 43 This voyage did produce benefits. Cook described abundant sea otters along the north-west Pacific coast. The luxurious pelts were readily accepted in Canton, where the East India Company was building the tea trade. 44