Why the British were successful 

The British Empire was one of the largest colonial empires in history, which is a masterful feat, given the country's comparatively small size. How did the empire become so wildly successful at expanding?  There were many factors at play, and we will dive into some of the major ones below. 

Colonial expansion was often a costly endeavour. The British, however, were skilled at expanding on a shoestring budget. The budget set aside for supporting colonies was minimal. Instead, the pressure was put on the colonies to be self-sufficient. The British further reduced costs by ensuring that financial risks would be shouldered by privatized individuals, while profit would be kept larger in the hands of the government. The result? Higher margins of profit, making further expansion more possible. 

Britan was engaged in an expansion competition with France, to the degree that French and British colonies settled in North America began in-fighting throughout much of the early 18th century. British settlements in the Canadian prairies and into British Columbia enabled British influence to expand to the Pacific, but France would expand along Canada's St. Lawrence River. In the early 1500's Jacques Cartier would take possession of modern-day Quebec in the name of the King of France. The competition for expansion would drive both sides to seeks further growth for years to come. 

Private companies and enterprises led much of the growth of British expansion. The London Company, the Plymouth Company, and the East India Company, just to name a few, were independent entities doing business with the British Empire for profit. Taking on the financial burden of risks of establishing colonies meant that individuals had the potential to amass vast amounts of wealth, at comparatively small risk to the Crown. Yet the British were able to impose favourable taxes and trading to those colonies to increase profits for themselves. 

In 1649, Britain established the Commonwealth, and the legislation that followed would assert British rule over all British Colonies, giving them further economic power. Policy changes meant that all cargo from Europe going to the Americas had to be sent to England first to be exported and then re-exported, being taxed along the way. This pursuit of profit would be justified with religion. The pressure to expand further into the Americas for increased profit would have new settlers to the country pushing out the native indigenous communities, leading to tragic and large scale decimation of indigenous people, including their heritage, art, culture, religion and language.

As far as landmass is concerned, Britain is not an overly large country. Growth of economy requires the accumulation of a surplus of resources, and resources are limited as long as you are restrained by your geography. The answer to the growth of British power and influence? Expansion outside of their native borders. With firm and long-established nations round them, Britain turned to yet "undiscovered" lands. Of course, the lands they "settled" had already been inhabited by indigenous populations, but what British explorers were most interested in were resources like spices, textiles, and natural resources like cotton, food stocks, tobacco, tea, sugar and anything they could grow and ship abroad for profit. The need for resources fueled their growth.

Without question, economic opportunity paved the way for the growth of the British Empire. Trade, land and the exportation of resources were critical for increased profit, but secondary industries and careers were also booming. Growth in industries like shipbuilding, merchant development into international markets, and individuals interested in "claiming their fortune" through new opportunities abroad helped shape the face of global prosperity. While this spread English culture (and by extension European culture as a whole) across the world, it also came at the cost of human exploitation.

worldatlas