Rise of the "Second British Empire"

By: Tom Blanton

America wants Freedom

• During the 1760s and 1770s, relations between the Thirteen Colonies and Britain became increasingly strained.

• Disagreement over the American colonists' guaranteed Rights as Englishmen turned to violence and in 1775, the American War of Independence began.

• The loss of such a large portion of British America is seen by historians as the event defining the transition between the "first" and "second" empires

War with Napoleonic France

• Britain was challenged again by France under Napoleon.

• French ports were blockaded by the Royal Navy, which won a grand victory over a Franco-Spanish fleet at Trafalgar in 1805.

• British overseas colonies were attacked and occupied, including those of the Netherlands, which was annexed by Napoleon in 1810.