One of the most prolific imperialist powers was Great Britain. The British Empire stretched across the globe. There were British colonies in Africa, India, China and the Americas. “The sun never sets on the British Empire,” is a well-known quote that illustrates the extent of the vast empire. This article will analyze the positive, negative and overall influence of the imperialist empire. Influenced by the Industrial Revolution, imperialism allowed countries like India access to advanced technologies and innovation, which in turn allowed them to become major players in trade. In addition to increased trade, British influence also prevented the collapse of their colonies' political and social systems. However, there were still negative aspects of British rule over different peoples. Additionally, each different colony ruled by the English desired a sense of nationalism and hence the riots and unrest. To fully understand the influence Britain had on its colonies, it is necessary to define imperialism itself. Winfried Baumagart explains the social conception of nationalism and the "white man's burden" which is not only to expand into foreign lands and establish dominion, but is also to educate people culturally. This is the definition of imperialism; however, as he continues to explain, there is more to imperialism. The importance of trade, missionary activities, technological advances, naval developments and exploration are all highlighted as important drivers of imperialism. This allows you to establish an evaluation criterion for this article. You can evaluate questions such as what progress and how trade changed with British influence. Including all these factors in imperialism opens up a… paper center… thrive in the times they did and established countries' resources, which those countries still rely on in modern society. Works Cited Baumgart, Winfried. Imperialism: The Idea and Reality of British and French Colonial Expansion, 1880-1914. Oxford. Oxford University Press. 1982 Keay, John. The Honorable Company: A History of the English East India Company. New York, Scribner Press. 1994Fay, Peter Ward. The Opium Wars: 1840-1842.Chapel Hill. The University of North Carolina Press. 1998Marshall, Peter. "The British Presence in India in the Eighteenth Century". BBC News. BBC, 17 February 2011. Web. 4 May 2014."Economic Reasons for British Imperialism in Africa: British Colonization of Africa." Economic reasons for British imperialism in Africa: British colonization of Africa. Np, nd Web. 05 May 2014."Foreign imperialism in China." History of Alpha. Np, nd Web.