Niall Ferguson - Empire: How Britain Made the Modern World - White Plague 1/5

Historian and presenter Niall Ferguson takes us on a fascinating journey in both time and space to explore the impact of the British empire on the modern world. From the earliest British settlers in Virginia to the decline of the empire in the aftermath of the two World Wars, positive and negative aspects of the empire are illustrated through key events and players.

Niall Ferguson uses a wealth of original sources such as quotes, documents, film footage and photographs, as well as taking a contemporary look at key locations and drawing parallels with recent history, such as the USA's war against terrorism.

The series is highly entertaining, informative and thought-provoking, and provides an excellent and balanced overview of the British empire and its continuing legacy in the world.

Part two: White Plague

The concept of 'plantation' is explored in this programme, yet presenter Niall Ferguson is not referring to crops but the settlement of British people into the colonies. Without this mass white emigration there would have been no empire. Visiting Northern Ireland, the USA and Australia, we explore how the first colonies of the British empire developed.

In contrast to the Spanish, the British viewed the colonies as a way to gain land to settle on and use, rather than just conquest and plunder. The east coast of the USA was first settled by puritans wanting religious freedom, including those who sailed on the famous ship 'The Mayflower' in 1620. The combination of cheap land and abundant natural resources made this an ideal location for sugar and tobacco plantations. Niall goes on to describe the American War of Independence a century and a half later.

From Native American Indians to the Aborigines of Australia, the indigenous people of the 'New World' were treated appallingly, with little or no respect for land rights. One of the great ironies of the British empire is the difference between official policy in London and the actions of white settlers in the colonies.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• niall
• ferguson
• empire
• britain
• made
• modern
• world

[cityflyguy]

Just to help anyone out, the correct order is: Episode 1= Why Britain?, E2= White Plague, E3= The Mission, E4= Heavens Breed, E5= Maxim Force, E6 Empire for Sale

[51wins]

think the documentary is misleading for example...the plantation wasn't about religion. Londonderry was built for settlers, those kept outside the walls weren't kept out because they were catholic they were kept out because they were natives and although often both got on well sometimes violence could start so it was unsafe to have them inside settler towns.

The native Irish weren't all Roman Catholics anyway many still had pagan beliefs.

[ashleylloyd8]

I was in class.

And the song at 6:22 got my attention.

Please, what is the name of it?

[bmclaughlin01]

@thewhitethorn - I don't believe he is actually saying that. Perhaps you should read his book, i.e, engage brain before making such stupid remarks.

[gmhendry73]

@gmhendry73 aye and we just voted to get the snp in again and to get to vote for independance and break away from the empire! and we did it in a democracy without riots or bullets. 

[gmhendry73]

@thewhitethorn no such thing as a scotchman. it is scotsman. and mr ferguson is a highly regarded educated academic at that. the richard dawkins of history. it does make me chuckle at what youtube has become. what was once an innovative information medium has become corrupted by the commments from those less educated than the documentry host. have you read the book? in other words get it right up ye.

[Deadeye012011]

@thewhitethorn i agree with you how the fuck could most of the people who originaly conlonized America have been mostly Irish and Scots when the North Eastern region was named New England cant imagin Scots or Irish calling it that this is a warped view of history and totally ignores the far larger English and German migration .

[ChaosDynamics]

@ChaosDynamics

Well the Irish certainly weren't barbaric as he tries to make out - that was the thing that annoyed me the most.

[ulizinho]

@ChaosDynamics

the book is not about how English culture is composed: Irish, Anglo-Saxons, Celtic, Vikings from Scandinavia and the Normans from France, the Romans and who else.

The book is about, how Britain built the Empire. Ferguson writes indeed about how Ireland became the first english colony and how Scots and Irish contributed to the Empire.

[ChaosDynamics]

This documentary doesn't consider how the Irish help civilise Britannia after the fall of the Roman Empire - it's a fact that a lot of British tend to look over - the British didn't make it alone. In fact if the Christian Irish weren't so placid in nature 1400 years ago the history of the Isles would have been completely different. The notion of Ireland being "barbaric" is highly biased. It was only considered barbaric in that it didn't adhere to the same cultural traditions as England.

[thewhitethorn]

This is what you get putting a scotchman in charge of history. Why start at Ulster if not to perpetuate the LIE that America was colonized mainly by scotch and irish and to write the English out of the narrative? Yeah LIES - like the 'scots-irish' myth. The families transplanted to Ulster from BOTH sides of the English/Scottish border were of ENGLISH (German) descent. Lies about America's south, built by the English and, only to a degree, Scots. The irish stayed further North. Fuck the media.