Plastics

One Word: Plastics

A 2009 study by Anthony L. Andrady and Mike A. Neal titled "Applications and Societal Benefits of Plastics" examines the history and uses of plastics:

Humans have benefited from the use of polymers since approximately 1600 BC when the ancient Mesoamericans first processed natural rubber into balls, figurines and bands. In the intervening years, man has relied increasingly on plastics and rubber, first experimenting with natural polymers, horn, waxes, natural rubber and resins, until the nineteenth century, when the development of modern thermoplastics began. 

In 1839, Goodyear invented vulcanized rubber, and Eduard Simon, a German apothecary, discovered polystyrene (PS). Developmental work continued through the nineteenth century on natural/synthetic polymers producing such notables as celluloid for billiard balls, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), which is used in myriad applications, and viscose (rayon) for clothing. Development of modern plastics really expanded in the first 50 years of the twentieth century, with at least 15 new classes of polymers being synthesized. The success of plastics as a material has been substantial; they have proved versatile for use in a range of types and forms, including natural polymers, modified natural polymers, thermosetting plastics, thermoplastics and, more recently, biodegradable plastics. Plastics have a range of unique properties: they can be used at a very wide range of temperatures, are chemical- and light-resistant and they are very strong and tough, but can be easily worked as a hot melt. It is this range of properties together with their low cost that has driven the annual worldwide demand for plastics to reach 245 million tonnes today…. 

Even at a somewhat conservative annual growth rate of 5 per cent, a continuation of this trend suggests that at least 308 million tonnes of plastics will be consumed annually worldwide by 2010.
The consumption patterns of the five most widely used types of plastics in their different application sectors appear to be consistent in the developed regions of the world. Well over a third of consumption is in packaging applications (with common products such as containers and plastic bags) and another third or more in building products including common products such as plastic pipes or vinyl cladding. In developing countries, usage patterns may differ slightly; for instance, in India, 42 per cent of resin consumption was reported to be in the packaging sector. Automotive applications and toy/furniture manufacture use smaller but significant volumes of plastics. Use of plastics in the developing world is increasing as the lower unit cost and improvements in performance specifications continually promote its substitution for materials such as paper, metals, wood and glass. 

Plastics clearly constitute an important component of the range of materials used in modern society. Almost all aspects of daily life involve plastics or rubber in some form or the other. These include clothing and footwear, together with products for use in food and public health applications. Over 40 million tonnes of plastics were converted into textile fibre (mainly nylon, polyester and acrylics) worldwide for use in apparel manufacture. Polycotton clothing contains high levels of PET plastic; high-performance clothing is almost exclusively plastics—polyesters, fluoropolymers and nylons. Fleece clothing is 100 per cent plastic (PET) and can be made from recycled PET. Most footwear also relies heavily on plastics; the footbed and outsoles are made from polyurethane or other elastomeric material while the uppers might be made of vinyl or other synthetic polymer.
Plastics also deliver many public health benefits. They facilitate clean drinking water supplies and enable medical devices ranging through surgical equipment, drips, aseptic medical packaging and blister packs for pills. They provide packaging that reduces food wastage, for instance in the use of modified atmosphere packaging that prolongs the life of meat and vegetables….

As suggested by the futurist Hammond in his recent publication ‘The World in 2030’, the speed of technological development is accelerating exponentially and, for this reason, by the year 2030, it will seem as if a whole century's worth of progress has taken place in the first three decades of the twenty-first century. In many ways, life in 2030 will be unrecognizable compared with life today. During this time, plastics will play a significantly increased role in our lives. Plastics are already becoming ‘smart’ and will likely serve numerous important roles in future living, including human tissue or even organ transplants, key materials used in ultra-low-emission lightweight cars and aircraft, superior insulation for homes that run on photovoltaic technology based on plastic collectors, reusable electronic graphic media for books or magazines, smart packaging that monitors food content continuously for signs of spoilage and high-efficiency solid-state lighting based on plastic organic diode technology. As petroleum reserves become more limited, new varieties of plastics are likely to increasingly be made from renewable biomass. These will contribute to the already extensive array of mechanical and aesthetic performance properties that plastics are well known for. Any future scenario where plastics do not play an increasingly important role in human life therefore seems unrealistic. Source

A portrait of British scientist Alexander Parkes (1813-1890). Parkes developed the first synthetic plastic in 1855; it bears his name: Parkesine.  Source

Following Parkes work, the next big step in the development of modern plastics was the work of this guy, Belgian-born Leo Baekeland. He too created a plastic that still holds his name, Bakelite, which was the first plastic that kept a constant shape after being molded, as well as being the first plastic that was completely synthetic in its nature. Source

The chemical structure of Bakelite. Source

These early plastics quickly acquired practical everyday uses., including the Bakelite radio above.  Other early uses included whistles, cameras, telephones, and buttons. Source

In this case, plastic served as a replacement for ivory. These celluloid dice and chip were much cheaper to manufacture than the ivory they would have been made from in the past. Source

In her book Plastic: A Toxic Love Story, Susan Freinkel discusses some of effects of our interaction with plastic over time.

Plastics freed us from the confines of the natural world, from the material constraints and limited supplies that had long bounded human activity. That new elasticity unfixed social boundaries as well. The arrival of these malleable and versatile materials gave producers the ability to create a treasure trove of new products while expanding opportunities for people of modest means to become consumers. Plastics held out the promise of a new material and cultural democracy. The comb, that most ancient of personal accessories, enabled anyone to keep that promise close…. 

Families gathered around Bakelite radios (to listen to programs sponsored by the Bakelite Corporation), drove Bakelite-accessorized cars, kept in touch with Bakelite phones, washed clothes in machines with Bakelite blades, pressed out wrinkles with Bakelite-encased irons—and, of course, styled their hair with Bakelite combs. "From the time that a man brushes his teeth in the morning with a Bakelite-handled brush until the moment when he removes his last cigarette from a Bakelite holder, extinguishes it in a Bakelite ashtray and falls back upon a Bakelite bed, all that he touches, sees, uses will be made of this material of a thousand purposes," Time magazine enthused in 1924 in an issue that sported Baekeland on the cover…. 

The flow of new products and applications was so constant it was soon the norm. Tupperware had surely always existed, alongside Formica counters, Naugahyde chairs, red acrylic taillights, Saran wrap, vinyl siding, squeeze bottles, push buttons, Barbie dolls, Lycra bras, Wiffle balls, sneakers, sippy cups, and countless more things. Source

Today, plastic is all around us, though much of it goes to waste.  The above plastic containers, however, are being recycled. 

Indeed, though hugely economically viable and extraordinarily convenient, many groups are fighting to reduce the amount of plastics we use do to their sometimes unsafe and hugely wasteful nature. The California-based Ecology Center is one such group. Their website briefly summarizes the several of the key problems associated with plastics as follows:

Americans are generating more plastic trash than ever, and very little of it gets recycled. Plastics and their byproducts are littering our cities, oceans, and waterways, and contributing to health problems in humans and animals…. 

Some plastics we know are toxic, such as #3, which is also known as PVC or vinyl. PVC contains phthalates and heavy metals, and creates dioxins when it burns. Other plastics contain Bisphenol-A (BPA), which has been identified as a chemical that disrupts hormones. Plastics can contain thousands of possible additives, and manufacturers are not required to disclose what their recipes are. Any plastic can leach, depending on the conditions (light, heat) and what additives it includes. The Ecology Center recommends avoiding plastics when possible, particularly in toys and products for children, and products that come in contact with food or drink. Source

The Green Revolution

Reflecting on the progress of the Green Revolution shortly after it happened in 1968, William S. Gaud coins the term:

Over the last five months we have seen new evidence of their progress. Record yields, harvests of unprecedented size and crops now in the ground demonstrate that throughout much the developing world - and particularly in Asia - we are on the verge of an agricultural revolution. 

In May 1967 Pakistan harvested 600,000 acres to new high-yielding wheat seed. This spring (1968) the farmers of Pakistan will harvest the new wheats from an estimated 3.5 million acres. They will bring in a total wheat crop of 7-1/2 to 8 million tons - a new record. Pakistan has an excellent change of achieving self-sufficiency in food grains in another year.  

In 1967 the new high-yielding wheats were harvested from 700,000 acres in India. This year they will be planted to 6 million acres. Another 10 million acres will be planted to high-yield varieties of rice, sorghum, and millet. India will harvest more than 95 million tons in food grains this year - again a record crop. She hopes to achieve self-sufficient in food grains in another three or four years. She has the capability to do so. 

Turkey has demonstrated that she can raise yields by two and three times with the new wheats. Last year's Turkish wheat crop set a new record. In 1968 Turkey will plant the new seed to one-third of its coastal wheat growing area. Total production this year may be nearly one-third higher than in 1965.  

The Philippines have harvested a record rice crop with only 14% of their rice fields planted to new high-yielding seeds. This year more land will be planted to the new varieties. The Philippines are clearly about to achieve self-sufficiency in rice. 

These and other developments in the field of agriculture contain the makings of a new revolution. It is not a violet Red Revolution like that of the Soviets, nor is it a White Revolution like that of the Shah of Iran. I call it the Green Revolution.This new revolution can be as significant and as beneficial to mankind as the industrial revolution of a century and a half ago. To accelerate it, to spread it, and to make it permanent, we need to understand how it statrted and what forces are driving it forward. Good luck - good monsoons - helped bring in the recent record harvests. But hard work, good management, and sound agricultural policies in the developing countries and foreign aid were also very much involved. Source

The following excerpt from an article in The Economist also summarizes many of the important positive effects of the Green Revolution:

 The first green revolution helped save the developing world from disaster. Two plant breeders, Norman Borlaug with wheat and M.S. Swaminathan with rice, persuaded governments in Asia and elsewhere to encourage the planting of higher-yielding varieties, especially of rice; 3.5 billion people, half of mankind, get a fifth of their calories or more from the stuff. When the men started work in the early 1960s, China was suffering the famine of the Great Leap Forward. And India was widely thought to be on the brink of starvation. 

Today in Asia, famines are things of the past. One reason is the spread of democracy. Another is the green revolution, which has ensured that there is plenty of rice—India even exports it. And demand seems to be shrinking: the richest Asian countries, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea, are eating less rice. This has led governments which once supported the green revolution to think that a new one would be unnecessary. Rice, they reason, is a problem that has been solved. Better to improve the diets that are causing obesity or change the intensive-farming practices that are damaging the environment.

But it is not clear that the mission has been accomplished. In Asia as a whole, consumption per person is flat, not falling. The population is still growing, so demand for rice is rising on the continent where 90% of the crop is raised. In Africa, where a third of the population depends on rice, demand is rising by almost 20% a year. At that rate rice will surpass maize as Africa’s main source of calories within 20 years. Source

Norman Borlaug, who's research led to the beginning of the green revolution. Source

Bourlag's obituary in the Seattle Times summarizes his work in the following way:

Norman Borlaug, the father of the "Green Revolution" who is widely credited with saving more than a billion lives by breeding wheat, rice and other crops that brought agricultural self-sufficiency to developing countries, died Saturday in Texas. He was 95. Source

For his influential work, Bourlag was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970. In a lecture at the Nobel Institute, Bourlag discussed the Green Revolution.

Civilization as it is known today could not have evolved, nor can it survive, without an adequate food supply. Yet food is something that is taken for granted by most world leaders despite the fact that more than half of the population of the world is hungry. Man seems to insist on ignoring the lessons available from history….

The term "The Green Revolution" has been used by the popular press to describe the spectacular increase in cereal-grain production during the past three years. Perhaps the term "green revolution", as commonly used, is premature, too optimistic, or too broad in scope. Too often it seems to convey the impression of a general revolution in yields per hectare and in total production of all crops throughout vast areas comprising many countries. Sometimes it also implies that all farmers are uniformly benefited by the breakthrough in production.

These implications both oversimplify and distort the facts. The only crops which have been appreciably affected up to the present time are wheat, rice, and maize. Yields of other important cereals, such as sorghums, millets, and barley, have been only slightly affected; nor has there been any appreciable increase in yield or production of the pulse or legume crops, which are essential in the diets of cereal-consuming populations. Moreover, it must be emphasized that thus far the great increase in production has been in irrigated areas. Nor have all cereal farmers in the irrigated areas adopted and benefited from the use of the new seed and the new technology. Nevertheless, the number of farmers, small as well as large, who are adopting the new seeds and new technology is increasing very rapidly, and the increase in numbers during the past three years has been phenomenal. Cereal production in the rain-fed areas still remains relatively unaffected by the impact of the green revolution, but significant change and progress are now becoming evident in several countries.

Despite these qualifications, however, tremendous progress has been made in increasing cereal production in India, Pakistan, and the Philippines during the past three years. Other countries that are beginning to show significant increases in production include Afghanistan, Ceylon, Indonesia, Iran, Kenya, Malaya, Morocco, Thailand, Tunisia, and Turkey….

The green revolution has won a temporary success in man's war against hunger and deprivation; it has given man a breathing space. If fully implemented, the revolution can provide sufficient food for sustenance during the next three decades. But the frightening power of human reproduction must also be curbed; otherwise the success of the green revolution will be ephemeral only. Source

A graph illustrating the enormous increase in production and yield of of cereal grains world wide since 1961. Source

A large part of the green revolution was the increased use of pesticides in agriculture. Source 

Although largely successful in decreasing famine and other problems in developing countries, the Green Revolution brought problems of its own. The following is a summary of some of the criticisms of the Green Revolution from a document put out by the International Food Policy Research Institute:

A revolution of this magnitude was bound to create some problems of its own. Critics charged that the Green Revolution resulted in environmental degradation and increased income inequality, inequitable asset distribution, and worsened absolute poverty. Some of these criticisms are valid and have been or still need to be addressed. But there is a tendency today to overstate the problems and to ignore the appropriate counterfactual situation: what would have been the magnitude of hunger and poverty without the yield increases of the Green Revolution and with the same population growth?  

The Green Revolution in Asia stimulated a large body of empirical literature on how agricultural technological change affects poor farmers. Critics of the Green Revolution argued that owners of large farms were the main adopters of the new technologies because of their better access to irrigation water, fertilizers, seeds, and credit. Small farmers were either unaffected or harmed because the Green Revolution resulted in lower product prices, higher input prices, and efforts by landlords to increase rents or force tenants off the land. Critics also argued that the Green Revolution encouraged unnecessary mechanization,
thereby pushing down rural wages and employment.Although a number of village and household studies conducted soon after the release of Green Revolution technologies lent some support to early critics, more recent evidence shows mixed outcomes. Small farmers did lag behind large farmers in adopting Green Revolution technologies, yet many of them
eventually did so. Many of these small-farm adopters benefited from increased production, greater employment opportunities, and higher wages in the agricultural and nonfarm sectors. Moreover, most smallholders were able to keep their land and
experienced significant increases in total production. In some cases, small farmers and landless laborers actually ended up gaining proportionally more income than larger farmers, resulting in a net improvement in the distribution of village income. Source

Many of these problems are becoming more and more apparent in India. This video by food policy analyst Devinder Sharma discusses a number of these growing concerns with Green Revolution in India:

Source

Echoing that sentiment is the following excerpt from an NPR story headlined: "'Green Revolution' Trapping India's Farmers in Debt:

On a recent morning, a drilling rig is pounding away in the middle of a wheat field near the village of Chotia Khurd. The sound, part jackhammer and part pile driver, is becoming increasingly common in the farm fields of northern India's Punjab region.

The farmer, Sandeep Singh, is supervising and looking unhappy as the rig hammers away, driving deeper and deeper under his field in search of water. 

When India's government launched the Green Revolution more than 40 years ago, it pressured farmers to grow only high-yield wheat, rice and cotton instead of their traditional mix of crops. 

The new miracle seeds could produce far bigger yields than farmers had ever seen, but they came with a catch: The thirsty crops needed much more water than natural rainfall could provide, so farmers had to dig wells and irrigate with groundwater. 

The system worked well for years, but government studies show that farmers have pumped so much groundwater to irrigate their crops that the water table is dropping dramatically, as much as 3 feet every year. 

So farmers like Sandeep keep hiring the drilling company to come back to their fields, to bore the wells ever deeper — on this day, to more than 200 feet. 

The groundwater problem has touched off an economic chain reaction. As the farmers dig deeper to find groundwater, they have to install ever more powerful and more expensive pumps to send it gushing up to their fields. 

Sandeep says his new pump costs more than $4,000. He and most other farmers have to borrow that kind of cash, but they are already so deep in debt that conventional banks often turn them away. 

So Sandeep and his neighbors have turned to "unofficial" lenders — local businessmen who charge at least double the banks' interest rate. The district agriculture director, Palwinder Singh, says farmers can end up paying a whopping 24 percent.Another side effect of the groundwater crisis is evident at the edge of the fields — thin straggly rows of wheat and a whitish powder scattered across the soil. 

The white substance is salt residue. Drilling deep wells to find fresh water often taps brackish underground pools, and the salty water poisons the crops."The salt causes root injuries," Palwinder says. "The root cannot take the nutrients from the soil." Source

The Rise of Nationalism In the 19th Century

Nationalism is a pretty broad term. Merriam-Webster gives us "a feeling that people have of being loyal to and proud of their country often with the belief that it is better and more important than other countries." Industrialization fueled the power that European's wielded in world affairs, and as this power continued to grow, so too grew their feelings of being special - nationalism. This nationalism manifested itself in numerous ways, most notably in the avenues of colonialism and imperialism. Nationalism in the 19th century was not a uniquely European phenomenon, however, and so along with European examples, I'd also like to share some examples of Japanese nationalism, which often took the form of an air of superiority towards their powerful neighbors, the Chinese.

"Germania" by Philipp Veit, 1848.  The symbols in the painting illustrating a unified Germany include the imperial eagle, oak leaves for strength, and a hemp branch for peace. Source

The following is a German nationalistic poem that, like the painting above, strongly expresses a desire for a unified German nation. "The German Fatherland" by Ernst Moritz Arndt:

WHERE is the German's fatherland?
The Prussian land? The Swabian land?
Where Rhine the vine-clad mountain laves?
Where skims the gull the Baltic waves?
Ah, no, no, no!
His fatherland 's not bounded so!

Where is the German's fatherland?
Bavarian land? or Stygian land?
Where sturdy peasants plough the plain?
Where mountain-sons bright metal gain?
Ah, no, no, no!
His fatherland's not bounded so!

Where is the German's fatherland?
The Saxon hills? The Zuyder strand?
Where sweep wild winds the sandy shores
Where loud the rolling Danube roars?
Ah, no, no, no!
His fatherland 's not bounded so!

Where is the German's fatherland?
Then name, then name the mighty land!
The Austrian land in fight renowned?
The Kaiser's land with honors crowned?
Ah, no, no, no!
His fatherland 's not bounded so!

Where is the German's fatherland?
Then name, then name the mighty land!
The land of Hofer? land of Tell?
This land I know, and love it well;
But, no, no, no!
His fatherland 's not bounded so!

Where is the German's fatherland?
Is his the pieced and parceled land
Where pirate-princes rule? A gem
Torn from the empire's diadem?
Ah, no, no, no!
Such is no German's fatherland.

Where is the German's fatherland?
Then name, oh, name the mighty land!
Wherever is heard the German tongue,
And German hymns to God are sung!
This is the land, thy Hermann's land;
This, German, is thy fatherland.

This is the German's fatherland,
Where faith is in the plighted hand,
Where truth lives in each eye of blue,
And every heart is staunch and true.
This is the land, the honest land,
The honest German's fatherland.

This is the land, the one true land,
O God, to aid be thou at hand!
And fire each heart, and nerve each arm,
To shield our German homes from harm,
To shield the land, the one true land,
One Deutschland and one fatherland!  Source

Russia too had their glorifying imagery. In this excerpt from Prince Ukhtomskii's "Russia's Imperial Destiny," written in 1891, we see some of that:

The popular songs of Russia present us with a similar view of the secular prince of Moscow. In the letter of Ivan the Terrible to Prince Koorbsky there is a still clearer realization of the divine origin of all true autocratic thought and constant care for the good of the people: "The earth is ruled by the mercy of God and the grace of the Immaculate Virgin; by the prayers of the saints and the blessing of our fathers, and last of all, by us, its sovereigns." Where and when, in what European sovereigns, can we find more or as much humility in the estimate of their position? Such words could be used only by a sovereign deeply imbued with the Oriental view that the world is plunged in sin and falsehood; that he himself, a weak mortal, was strong and "wide ruling" only by the unseen favor of a bright and spiritual power, creating and maintaining all around him.  

It is this sacred conviction which has given birth to the steadfast belief both of our rulers and of the ruled, that Russia is the source and center of an invincible might, which is but increased by the attacks of her foes. The East believes no less than we do, and exactly as we do, in the preternatural qualities of the Russian national spirit, but values and understands them just in the same measure as we treasure the most precious of our national traditions---autocracy. Without it, Asia would be incapable of sincere liking for Russia and of painless identification with her. Without it, Europe would find it mere child's-play to dismember and overpower us as thoroughly as she has overpowered and dismembered the Slavs of the West, now suffering a bitter fate. The question is: In whose name and by whose single will shall the heritage of Russia be ruled in the future? Source

In the following 1832 letter from Tsar Nicholas I, it is evident how the Russian nationalism was earlier used to justify Russian control of Poland.

By the grace of God, Nicholas, Tsar of all the Russias, King of Poland, etc., When, by Our Manifesto of January 2, last year, We announced to Our faithful subjects the march of Our troops into the kingdom of Poland, which was momentarily snatched from the lawful authority, We at the same time informed them of Our intention to fix the future fate of this country on a durable basis, suited to its wants, and calculated to promote the welfare of Our whole empire. Now that an end has been put by force of arms to the rebellion in Poland, and that nation, led away by agitators, has returned to its duty, and is restored to tranquillity, We deem it right to carry into execution our plan with regard to the introduction of the new order of things, whereby the tranquillity and union of the two nations, which Providence has entrusted to Our care, may be forever guarded against new attempts. Poland, conquered in the year 1815 by the victorious arms of Russia, obtained by the magnanimity of Our illustrious predecessor, the Tsar Alexander, not only its national existence, but also special laws sanctioned by a Constitutional Charter. 

These favors, however, would not satisfy the eternal enemies of order and lawful power. Obstinately persevering in their culpable projects, they ceased not one moment to dream of a separation between the two nations subject to our scepter, and in their presumption they dared to abuse the favors of the restorer of their country, by employing for the destruction of his noble work the very laws and liberties which his mighty arm had generously granted them. Bloodshed was the consequence of this crime. The tranquility and happiness which the kingdom of Poland had enjoyed to a degree till then unknown, vanished in the midst of civil war and a general devastation. 

All these evils are now passed. The kingdom of Poland, again subject to Our scepter, will regain tranquility, and again flourish in the bosom of peace, restored to it under the auspices of a vigilant government. Hence, We consider it one of Our most sacred duties to watch with paternal care over the welfare of Our faithful subjects, and to use every means in our power to prevent the recurrence of similar catastrophes, by taking from the ill-disposed the power of disturbing public tranquility. As it is, moreover, Our wish to secure to the inhabitants of Poland the continuance of all the essential requisites for the happiness of individuals, and of the country in general, namely, security of persons and property, liberty of conscience, and all the laws and privileges of towns and communes, so that the kingdom of Poland, with a separate administration adapted to its wants, may not cease to form an integral part of Our empire and that the inhabitants of this country may henceforward constitute a nation united with the Russians by sympathy and fraternal sentiments, We have, according to these principles, ordained and resolved this day, by a new organic statute, to introduce a new form and order in the administration of 

Our kingdom of Poland. 

Nicholas 

St. Petersburg, February 26, 1832 Source

The competing nationalisms of all the various European states led to the scramble over Africa in which states tried to colonize and imperialize as much African territory as they could. The above map illustrates the breakdown of the holdings when most of the scrambling is done in 1913. Source

To justify their actions in Africa and other places where Europeans were confronted with other races, racism was used as a justification for colonial rule. In the above graphic from the 1857 book The Indigenous Races of the World, we can see that the African is placed between the chimpanzee and the Greek head in terms of development. Source

The British Empire

A world map, highlighting the British Empire as of 1886. The map was sponsored by the Imperial Federation League. The League, founded in 1884, sought to create a unified federation government amongst the colonies of the British Empire, rather than the individual colonized governments of British imperialism. Despite some support, the movement failed to gain real traction for the most part, and seriously declined with World War I.  Source

A key outpost of British Imperialism was India, which came by British hands by the spice trading endeavors British East India Company, whose coat of arms can be seen above. Source

The following is an excerpt from an 1858 article on the end of the East India Company's  powerful influence on Indian affairs. It comes from the British magazine Bentley's Miscellany.

  "We had confidently believed, from certain semi-official announcements in the columns of the leading journal of the day, that the Queen's speech on the opening of the session would have announced, in clear and unequivocal language, the impending fall of the double government for India, and the consequent extinction of the East India Company. The document which is supposed to dimly reveal the ministerial future, and set forth the programme of the parliamentary year, disclosed, however very little of the policy of the government on this vital and absorbing subject. It is now understood that considerable difference of opinion for some time existed in the cabinet on the form which was to be given to our future administration of India. A sufficient degree of unanimity appears to have been subsequently attained to enable the government to give formal notice to the Court of Directors of the intention of the ministry to bring in a bill for the extinction of their functions; but nothing more definite can be inferred from what has already been done, and it is questionable whether the administration is even yet agreed upon the principles of a measure which must, before long, excite very general discussion. The reconstruction of the Indian government will soon form the subject of earnest debate, and, doubtless, of practical legislation, and it is one that will tax to the utmost the patience and wisdom of parliament. Let it not, however, be forgotten, that while the British arms are employed in reasserting our supremacy in the plains and cities of Hindostan, a work of equal urgency and importance is to be done at home. We have to watch the development, sift the principles, and, scrutinise the details of this forthcoming measure, which may be destined to work immense changes both in India and England—to prevent, by the exercise of free discussion, a scheme framed for the better government of our great dependency from becoming a mere bureaucratic institution, and to guard against such a deviation from a noble plan of political improvement as shall convert the intended erection into a colossal edifice of parliamentary jobbery and corruption. We propose, therefore, to consider the present position of the question; but we must, in the first place, briefly pass in review a few of the changes which the government of India has undergone, from our first connexion with it as simple traders until the final consolidation of its wide-spread and magnificent territories under the imperial say or protection of Great Britain.

The East India Company is, or rather was, an anomaly without a parallel in the history of the world. It originated from sub-scriptions, trifling in amount, of a few private individuals. It gradually became a commercial body with gigantic resources, and by the force of unforeseen circumstances assumed the form of a sovereign power, while those by whom its affairs were directed continued, in their individual capacities, to be without power or political influence. This extraordinary commercial body was first formed in London in 1599. In the following year it [111/112] obtained a charter from the Crown, and was formed into a corporation for fifteen years under the title of "The Governor and Company of Merchants trading to the East Indies." The clear profits of the trade were said to have reached, in a few years, from 100 to 200 per cent. In 1611 the Company obtained permission from the Mogul to establish factories on several parts of the coast of India, in consideration of a moderate export duty upon its shipments. The success of its commerce was so great, that its capital was from time to time augmented, and its exclusive privileges renewed, for which the state received due equivalents in the shape of large pecuniary payments and loans without interest, and many leading statesmen, it is believed, more direct advantages. A Duke of Leeds, who was charged in the reign of Charles II with receiving five thousand pounds from the Company, was impeached by the House of Commons, and it is said that the prorogation of parliament, which occurred immediately afterwards, was caused by the tracing of the sum of ten thousand pounds to a much higher quarter." Source

Soldiers in the British Indian Army, 1895. 

British authority in India did not come without its opponents. The results of an 1857 Indian rebellion are discussed in the following by Professor Peter Marshall:

"After the rebellion had been put down, the new royal government of India that replaced that of the East India Company promised that it had no intention of imposing 'our convictions on any of our subjects'. It distanced itself further from the Christian missionaries. A stop was put to the deposing of princes, and greater care was shown to the rights of landlords. The major part of the army was in future to be drawn from so-called 'martial races'. The huge parades, or durbars, at which the new empress of India received the allegiance of the hierarchies of traditional India through her viceroy, seemed to symbolise the new conservatism of the regime." Source 

A political cartoon from 1878 illustrating what's known as the Great Game, the struggle for Afghanistan and other territory in Central Asia between the British and the Russians. In the cartoon we see the Russian bear and the British lion ready to pounce from either on the Afghan leader Sher Ali Khan. The caption satirizes the claims of both sides that they were truly his friends. Source

Another political cartoon, this one depicting John Bull, equivalent to our American Uncle Sam character, along with the second character in the back representing the French's attempts to keep hold on Egypt. The text reads "'Hold on!' 'An allegory on the banks of the Nile.'" Source

A well-known 1888 political cartoon with John Bull  as an octopus, almost over extending himself by laying claim to too many colonial territories and about to place another arm on Egypt. Source

For an modern satirical look back on the British Empire, let's look to Caryl Churchill's weirdly awesome play Cloud 9. The first act takes place in British Colonial Africa. Clive is a colonial administrator, Joshua is a servant of his family. The character of Joshua is black, but, ironically, the actor playing Joshua is meant to be white. 

ALL (sing).  Come gather, sons of England, come gather in your pride. 

Now meet the world united, now face it side by side;

Ye who the earth's wide corners, from veldt to prarie, roam.

From bush and jungle muster all who call old England 'home'.

Then gather round for England,

Rally to the flag,

From North and South and East and West 

Come one and all for England!

CLIVE.  This is my family. Though far from home

We serve the Queen wherever we may roam.

I am a father to the natives here,

And father to my family so dear.

My boy's a jewel. Really has the knack.

You'd hardly notice that the fellow's black.

JOSHUA. (black servant, played by a  white) My skin is black but oh my soul is white.

I hate my tribe. My master is my light.

I only live for him. As you can see,

What white men want is what I want to be.

Churchill, Caryl. Cloud 9. New York: Theatre Communications Group, 2010. Print

The Spread of Disease 1450-1750

An overview of diseases spread between the Old and New Worlds.

Source: http://faculty.humanities.uci.edu/bjbecker/PlaguesandPeople/lecture8.html

One example of a disease that is thought to have traveled to Europe from the Americas is syphilis. The following is the abstract from an analysis of a number of studies on the origins and history of the spread of the disease. 

For nearly 500 years, scholars have argued about the origin and antiquity of syphilis. Did Columbus bring the disease from the New World to the Old World? Or did syphilis exist in the Old World before 1493? Here, we evaluate all 54 published reports of pre-Columbian, Old World treponemal disease using a standardized, systematic approach. The certainty of diagnosis and dating of each case is considered, and novel information pertinent to the dating of these cases, including radiocarbon dates, is presented. Among the reports, we did not find a single case of Old World treponemal disease that has both a certain diagnosis and a secure pre-Columbian date. We also demonstrate that many of the reports use nonspecific indicators to diagnose treponemal disease, do not provide adequate information about the methods used to date specimens, and do not include high-quality photographs of the lesions of interest. Thus, despite an increasing number of published reports of pre-Columbian treponemal infection, it appears that solid evidence supporting an Old World origin for the disease remains absent.

Source: Harper, K. N., Zuckerman, M. K., Harper, M. L., Kingston, J. D. and Armelagos, G. J. (2011), The origin and antiquity of syphilis revisited: An Appraisal of Old World pre-Columbian evidence for treponemal infection. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol., 146: 99–133. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ajpa.21613/abstract

Though some diseases did travel from the New World to the Old, far more went the other way around. The following is an excerpt from a scholarly article on the Columbian exchange which discusses the extent of the destruction Old World diseases wreaked on Native American populations:

The list of infectious diseases that spread from the Old World to the New is
long; the major killers include smallpox, measles, whooping cough, chicken pox, bubonic plague, typhus, and malaria. Because native populations
had no previous contact with Old World diseases, they were immunologically
defenseless. Dobyns writes that “before the invasion of peoples of the
New World by pathogens that evolved among inhabitants of the Old World, Native Americans lived in a relatively disease-free environment. . . . Before Europeans initiated the Columbian Exchange of germs and viruses, the peoples of the Americas suffered no smallpox, no measles, no chickenpox, no inflfluenza, no typhus, no typhoid or parathyroid fever, no diphtheria, no cholera, no bubonic plague, no scarlet fever, no whooping cough, and no malaria.” 

Although we may never know the exact magnitudes of the depopulation, it is estimated that upwards of 80–95 percent of the Native American population was decimated within the first 100–150 years following 1492. Within 50 years following contact with Columbus and his crew, the native Taino population of the island of Hispanola, which had an estimated population between 60,000 and 8 million, was virtually extinct. Central Mexico’s population fell from just under 15 million in 1519 to approximately 1.5 million a century later. Historian and demographer Nobel David Cook estimates that, in the end, the regions least affected lost 80 percent of their populations; those most affected lost their full populations; and a typical society lost 90 percent of its population.

Source: Nunn, Nathan, and Nancy Qian. 2010. "The Columbian Exchange: A History of Disease, Food, and Ideas." Journal of Economic Perspectives, 24(2): 163-88.

http://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/jep.24.2.163

Here is a more detailed description of an epidemic that broke out in Mexico by Bernardino de Sahagún, a Spanish Franciscan friar who spent time in Mexico, or as it was called at the time, New Spain, along with his accompanying illustration:

. . . an epidemic broke out, a sickness of pustules. It began in Tepeilhuitl. Large bumps spread on people; some were entirely covered. . . .[The victims] could no longer walk about, but lay in their dwellings and sleeping places, . . . And when they made a motion, they called out loudly. The pustules that covered people caused great desolation; very many people died of them, and many just starved to death; starvation reigned, and no one took care of others any longer.

Source: http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/nattrans/ntecoindian/essays/columbianb.htm, Historia general de las cosas de Nueva España, c. 1575-1580; ed., tr., James Lockhart, We People Here: Nahuatl Accounts of the Conquest Mexico (Univ. of California Press, 1993)

One disease that had been around for quite a long time, and continued to affect people around the world in this time period was smallpox. Despite differences in cultures, many peoples from around the world attributed the smallpox disease to various gods and goddesses. Here are several depictions of gods and goddesses associated with smallpox from various places:

Smallpox god of the Western African Yorubas  Sopona.  

Hindu goddess of smallpox, Sitala Mata.

Chinese gods and goddess associated with smallpox.

Source: Fenner, et al. Smallpox and its Eradication. http://whqlibdoc.who.int/smallpox/9241561106_chp5.pdf

The following maps illustrate how smallpox was spread. The first focuses on Africa, the second on the Americas, from the Old World. 

Though the worst of the plague hit the world with the Black Death in 14th Century, the plague continued to be a problem in this time period. The above is a mortality bill listing those who died in London during a week ion the Great Plague of 1665.

Source: http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/explore-online/pocket-histories/london-plagues-13481665/great-plague-1665/