The Steamboat: First Instrument of Imperialism

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The Steamboat: First Instrument of Imperialism

Overview

American steamship inventor Robert Fulton (1765-1815) believed he had perfected a mechanism that would allow humankind to increase its productivity and create a better material life for all. He could not have imagined, however, that steamboats like his Clermont would evolve into the world's first intercontinental weapon and an instrument of Western imperialism.

Background

Western civilization's view of the world began to expand with the onset of the Commercial Revolution during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. This expansive increase in world trade was led by the English and the Dutch. It was based on the two economic ideas of mercantilism and monopoly. Mercantilism was based on the premise that there are only a finite number of resources available to the world community. A nation's power was linked to the number and amount of these resources it controlled. Worldwide economic competition was very expensive and the country that could concentrate its resources most effectively would be the nation most likely to succeed. Both England and the Netherlands created government-run monopolies to ensure their national welfare was protected. These monopolies increased the availability of goods to Europe and its colonies. The most successful of these organizations was the British East India Company.

The power of Europe would increase dramatically with the onset of the nineteenth-century Industrial Revolution, the greatest increase in productivity in the history of the world. Europe's ability to harness inanimate sources of power was the basis of this revolution. The steam engine perfected by James Watt (1736-1819) was the source of this power. It allowed machines with a hundred times the productive capacity of humans to operate without interruption. It was the Watt steam engine that served as the model for the power source of Fulton's Clermont.

European ultranationalism connected the drive to control resources and the social Darwinist philosophy of "survival of the fittest" to an unlimited, reliable source of energy. These technological, economic, political, and philosophical factors set the stage for the "new imperialism" of the late nineteenth century.

Impact

Steam first became an active instrument of imperialism in south Asia under the control of the British East India Company. The British Empire was so large that timely communication was becoming an important problem. The British East India Company had been using steamboats to help maneuver large sailing ships into the narrow harbors of India. Steam technology was then used to link the British outposts in northern India. The Ganges River runs west to east across most of the northern part of south Asia. It provided a natural highway for steamboats to deliver goods, troops, and mail across the wide expanse of the northern frontier. In essence, steam power was used to shrink the size of northern India.

The East India Company next attempted to use steam to reduce the time of travel between the British Isles and India. However, the early steamboats were not up to the task. The water and weather of the world's oceans were too formidable for this new technology. The British developed an alternative plan: they created a route that extended from India, across the Persian Gulf, and through modern-day Iraq and Syria using the Euphrates River to the Mediterranean Sea. From there it was a short voyage across the Mediterranean, which at that time was a "British lake," through the Strait of Gibraltar, to England. This route had three important effects on the British imperial system: (1) it reduced travel and communication time between south Asia and Britain; (2) enlarged the British imperial presence by giving them a foothold in the Middle East; and (3) effectively blocked the southern expansion of one of Great Britain's rivals, Russia.

The use of steam as a weapon in imperial expansion came in 1824, when the East India Company found itself engaged in a war with the Burmese people. England had always considered Burma to be part of its Asian sphere of influence. Therefore, when Burma declared its national independence, the East India Company found itself bogged down in the first Western land war in Southeast Asia. Not unlike modern U.S. involvement in Vietnam, British troops suffered great losses as a result of the hit-and-run tactics of the Burmese guerrilla forces. The British searched for a way to train their superior firepower on the enemy. Building on the success of the Ganges River experience, the East India Company decided to try to use steam power to break the deadlock of the Burmese War. Steam-powered gunboats attacked and subdued Burmese war boats on the Irrawady River. This left their seat of government open to attack, prompting the Burmese king to end the fighting.

Steam power would play an even larger role in the Opium War of 1848-49. Once again England's policy of economic nationalism would drive Britain into a military confrontation, this time with China. By the early nineteenth century, the British system of trade was based upon the movement of three products—English wool, Indian cotton, and Chinese tea. Tea had become the most important consumer good in England. Virtually everyone in the empire consumed large quantities of tea. The result was a large trade deficit with China, which Britain tried to close by increasing its opium trade. Initially, the Chinese government accepted the increase and even took part in the profits. Eventually, everyone in China could see the great social disaster the trade had created, and the Chinese government informed Great Britain that it must stop dumping large quantities of opium into their nation. When the British refused, China destroyed the warehouses that held the dangerous drug. The British responded militarily and the Opium War began.

This was a classic confrontation between a formidable land power, China, and a naval superpower, England. Britain's military planners knew they could not carry on a prolonged land war in China. The lesson of the American Revolution was that any attempt to invade and occupy a vast expanse of enemy territory would lead to a military disaster. The introduction of the steamboat drastically altered this tactical situation. The British created a fleet of small, highly maneuverable steamboats in their naval yards in India. They mounted small cannons on the boats and sailed them to China. Since the weapons were placed on revolving turrets, they could be used to both attack Chinese fortifications and to engage enemy warships. The Chinese navy was no match for the advanced British technology, and in a short period of time the Royal Navy controlled all of the inland waterways. This left China's great inland fortifications defenseless, and the government agreed to a peace settlement. By the last quarter of the nineteenth century, Britain had used steamboats to conquer and control large areas of east Asia, and south Asia, as well as the Middle East.

The continent of Africa was a much different story. European interest in Africa predates the voyages of Columbus. Seven years before his famous voyage, the Portuguese had sent expeditions to explore the Congo. Again in the late sixteenth century, the Spanish sent explorers up the Zambezi River. This interest continued into the early nineteenth century, when the English attempted to explore the Niger River. Every expedition ended in failure. For over three centuries, disease, especially malaria, blocked exploration of the continent. It was the discovery of quinine as a preventive drug that allowed Europe to use the power of steam in Africa.

Once the medical problems were solved, steamboats proved again to be a valuable instrument of imperialism. The first application was Britain's successful attempt to gain control of the Niger River and the important product, palm oil. Steamboats were used to cover the great expanse of the Niger, collecting palm oil from government outposts. The outposts would gather the oil from African villages along the river. When on occasion relations became strained, gunboats were used to gain control of the situation. Both David Livingstone (1813-1873) and Henry Stanley (1841-1904) used steam power on their expeditions. By the late 1860s the British had perfected a steamboat small enough to be disassembled and carried past the dangerous rapids of many of Africa's rivers. Both France and Belgium also used steam in their colonizing attempts. Most notably Leopold II (1835-1909) of Belgium was able to penetrate into the heart of Africa by using steamboats to gain control of the Congo River.

For the first six decades of the nineteenth century steam power was used by the industrial nations as a tactical weapon. Iron paddlewheel boats lacked both the structural integrity and power to become a significant force in the world's major sea-lanes. This began to change in 1864, as a result of the creation of the Bessemer process. This allowed for the quick, inexpensive manufacture of steel. Steel was lighter, stronger, and more flexible than iron. These characteristics caused a major revolution in steam power. They allowed for the creation of oceangoing ships that would become the first intercontinental weapons. Steel boilers increased the productive capacity of the power plant. They allowed for an increase in pressure, which expanded power and speed, and at the same time allowed for the reduction in the size and weight of the boiler. Steel also made the use of the screw propeller a reality because these could now be manufactured strong enough to withstand the stress and pounding of the world's oceans. Propellers moved ships at a much faster rate than the paddle wheel. The combination of larger, faster ships, allowed the industrial nations to completely control the world's sea-lanes. England, France, Germany, the United States, and eventually Japan would be able to project their influence around the world. This accelerated the quest for colonies and led to the first modern arms race. It helped to create the environment that led to World War I in the second decade of the twentieth century.

RICHARD D. FITZGERALD