University of Richmond UR Scholarship Repository Master's Theses Student Research 12-2008 The elucr tant colonization of the Falkland Islands, 1833-1851 : a study of British Imperialism in the Southwest Atlantic Shannon Warnick Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.richmond.edu/masters-theses Recommended Citation Warnick, Shannon, "The er luctant colonization of the Falkland Islands, 1833-1851 : a study of British Imperialism in the Southwest Atlantic" (2008). Master's Theses. Paper 702. This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Research at UR Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of UR Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. ABSTRACT THE RELUCTANT COLONIZATION OF THE FALKLAND ISLANDS 1833-1851: A STUDY OF BRITISH IMPERIALISM IN THE SOUTHWEST ATLANTIC By: Shannon Warnick For the Degree, Master of Arts in History University of Richmond December 2008 Dr. John L. Gordon, Jr., Thesis Director After the Napoleonic Wars, British leaders increasingly objected to large burdensome formal annexations. Hence, when South American markets opened in the 1820s British leaders considered using nearby island bases to ward off regional rivals. Britain therefore occupied the Falkland Islands in 1833. Despite governing the world’s strongest industrial and naval power however, British leaders neglected the Falklands’ progress as a colony from 1833 to 1851. Dogmatic faith in “efficiency” and free trade in the 1840s led to modest commercial progress by largely unfettered private interests in the islands, but led to little improvement in defense or society.