Empire and Its Costs · seed 1 · A4, ink-friendly. The answer key prints on its own page for grown-ups.

Who paid for empire

History · The Modern World · ages 14-16
Name ______________________   Date ____________

  1. Which two things did empires take from the places they ruled?

    • Speeches and promises
    • Land and forced labour
    • Maps and flags

  2. The triangular trade is usually drawn with three legs. Which list names them correctly?

    • Goods to Africa, enslaved people to the Americas, crops to Europe
    • Enslaved people to Europe, crops to Africa, goods to the Americas
    • Crops to Africa, goods to the Americas, enslaved people to Europe

  3. Enslaved and colonised people resisted empire, through revolts and abolition campaigns.

    Circle one:   True   False

  4. Who paid for the wealth of the great empires?

    • Only the kings who ordered the ships
    • Enslaved and colonised peoples, through labour, land and lives
    • No one, since the wealth cost nothing

  5. Why did banning the trade in enslaved people not end slavery everywhere at once?

    • Ships became too slow to cross the Atlantic
    • Plantations stopped growing crops in the same year
    • Slavery stayed legal in places while smugglers and forced labour carried on

  6. The Middle Passage was the first leg of the triangular trade.

    Circle one:   True   False

  7. Tom says empires helped colonies by taking raw materials away. What is wrong with his claim?

    • Nothing, since taking materials always helps
    • Taking land and labour cheaply enriched Europe, not the colonies
    • Empires never took anything physical at all

  8. A port city grows rich on sugar while its people never see a plantation. What best explains the wealth?

    • The sugar was grown by forced labour an ocean away
    • Sugar turns into gold during the sea voyage
    • Port cities need no workers to grow rich
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Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

Who paid for empire W1-mt_i3Yw06vg5I-s1

  1. Land and forced labour · Empires seized land and forced people to work for little or no pay.
  2. Goods to Africa, enslaved people to the Americas, crops to Europe · The loop ran goods out, people across, and crops home.
  3. True · Resistance ran from shipboard revolts to campaigns demanding freedom.
  4. Enslaved and colonised peoples, through labour, land and lives · Port fortunes rested on forced labour and seized land an ocean away.
  5. Slavery stayed legal in places while smugglers and forced labour carried on · The ban stopped one leg, but slavery itself and forced labour continued.
  6. False · It was the middle leg, carrying enslaved people to the Americas.
  7. Taking land and labour cheaply enriched Europe, not the colonies · Raw materials sailed home as profit, while the cost stayed with the ruled.
  8. The sugar was grown by forced labour an ocean away · Cheap sweetness at home rested on bitter work abroad.
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