ABSTRACT
The colonial acquisitions and the development of titles, which brought Great Britain into antagonism with other world powers, belong to the third and fourth categories and fall within the world politics period of history. In tracing the expansion of the British Empire, after people have considered the groups of colonies in temperate climates that federated and became self-governing dominions, British colonial activity must be treated from the dual point of view of creating and stimulating overseas markets and the carrying trade and of protecting the markets and the merchant marine. The summary of British colonial expansion has tended to be a mere chronicle of events, with a monotonous succession of names and dates. Limitation of space has compelled us to resist the temptation of trying to explain the cross-currents of opinion in England concerning colonial expansion.
