ABSTRACT
Starting points have origins w hich lie beyond the antecedents chosen to define them. A plausible case could be made for beginning this study in the late sixteenth century, as this would encompass the Elizabethan explorers, the foundation o f the East India Company, and the establishment o f the first colonies in the N ew W orld. In taking the Glorious R evolution as our point o f departure instead, w e do not intend to minimise the importance o f these events, to suggest that our argument is incompatible w ith them, or indeed to claim that 1688 was itself a cataclysmic year in the making o f imperial history. W e do, however, wish to argue that the R evolution brought together and lent impetus to forces that left a deep im print not only on domestic history, as is well known, but also on the character and course o f colonial developm ent — a proposition that is less well appreciated. By taking this additional step, we hope to establish a systematic connection betw een British and imperial history from the outset o f our study; by tracing the evolution o f this relationship, we hope to. show how one phase in the history o f the empire dissolved into another in the nineteenth century.
