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Why did the British need a third port in the Malay Archipelago during the early 19th century? [6m]


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tarix26.06.2016
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Why did the British need a third port in the Malay Archipelago during the early 19th century? [6m]

During the early 19th century, the Dutch had a strong control over the Malay Archipelago and they were rapidly expanding their trade monopoly to more areas. This kept the British out of the profitable trade in SEA.

A third port in the Malay Archipelago was needed by the British because they had to break the trading monopoly of the Dutch. With the Dutch taking more and more of the Malay Archipelago, they shut the British out of the trade. Since the ports in Bencoolen and Penang that the British had were too inaccessible for trade in South East Asia, they had to find a location for a port which was south of the Straits of Malacca. This way, they would also have their fair share in the Malay Archipelagic trade, breaking the trading monopoly of the Dutch. This is the first reason why a third port in the Malay Archipelago was needed.

Secondly, the British had to protect their trade with China. At that time, they were managing a profitable trade with China, rapidly supplying them with the opium which the Chinese craved for. The British shipped over 23 million pounds of tea from China in the 19th century, and silk, raw cotton cloth, sugar, dyes, and other products proved to be a trade with huge potential. However, maintaining their trade with China was hard because of the ineffectiveness of Bencoolen and Penang. They were far away from the trade routes to China and the Dutch, having much more accessible and strategic ports placed in the Malay Archipelago, could easily cut off the trade that the British held with them. The British’s port in Penang, which was nearest to the Malay Archipelago, was easily overtaken by the Dutch’s port in Malacca, which was much more effective as ships trading in the Malay Archipelago could easily and more conveniently stop by. With a port south of the Malaccan Straits, the British would be able to maintain their trade with China.



Lastly, the British had to develop a stable trade with SEA. Having ports far away from the main trade routes, the British were rather inactive in the SEA trade. The entire SEA trade was monopolized by the Dutch. Bencoolen was on the western coast of Sumatra and was a great disappointment to the British. Penang lacked timber for ship building and repairing. Being too far north from the trade, Penang was not at all attractive for ships to stop by and therefore, could not be a trading centre. A port south of the Malay Peninsula would be even more effective than the Dutch port in Malacca and, following where the wind in the area took ships by sail, would be a more natural location to dock. More importantly, it would be in the middle of the trading centre, and this had obvious benefits to the British. In order to enjoy the benefits of trading with resource-rich SEA, the British had to find a third port in the Malay Archipelago.

In conclusion, the British needed a third port in the Malay Archipelago to gain a firm spot in the SEA trade and compete with the Dutch. Compared to the ineffectiveness of the ports in Bencoolen and Penang, this new port, south of the Malaccan Straits, would be more location-competitive and beneficial for the British trade in SEA.


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