Commercial reasons the telegraph was integral to

commercial reasons. The telegraph was integral to British control in India. The British put up lines all over the country connecting their military posts so they
could relay information about needed supplies or emergencies. Before the telegraph, a message could only travel as fast as a train. With the telegraph, a
message about a riot, for example, could be communicated while it was in progress and soldiers could be sent quickly to stop the revolt and gain control once
again.

Map of the All Red Line as drawn in 1902 or 1903. The All Red Line was a telegraph
line put up by the British government to connect all of its colonies around the world.
It was submerged underwater for transoceanic connections.
Image is courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and is Public Domain
The progress of the century - the lightning steam press, the electric telegraph, the
locomotive, [and] the steamboat.
Image is courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and is Public Domain

Document Set 4
The British East India Company’s interest in India was commercial and under the British government, making money remained an important goal. The textile
industry, in particular, made the British government and British companies very wealthy. They used Indian labor to grow and harvest the raw materials they
needed to make cloth, like cotton to make the yarn, and plants like indigo to make dye. The British forced Indian farmers to grow “cash crops” like these instead
of food that could be used to feed local populations. Later, when famine hit India those policies were identified as one of the possible causes.
The raw materials were then sent back to Britain and made into finished clothing. The British brought the manufactured goods back to India and sold them to
Indians to make a profit. Indian businesses could not compete with cheap British-made goods so they closed down and the British were the only suppliers. The
Indian economy was devastated by the effects of British manufacturing dominance. Before British rule, India produced about 17% of the world’s Gross Domestic
Product (GDP), but afterwards, it was less than one percent.
“British Imperial Power, 1858-1947,” Encyclopaedia Britannica.
Parker Thomas Moon (1892-1936) was an American political scientist who was
a professor at Columbia University. The following excerpt is from a book he
wrote entitled, Imperialism and World Politics.
. . . First and foremost among the active imperialist groups come certain
business interests. Not the whole so-called “capitalist class,” as many an
earnest Socialist would have us believe, but only a minority of business
interests are directly interested in imperialism. They are easily identified. To
begin with, there are the exporters and manufacturers of certain goods used in
colonies. The following figures of English exports to India tell the story.