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The population of the world in 1800 is estimated at between 800,000,000 and 1.1 billion. Asia accounts for about three-fifths, with 300 million people in China. Canton, with a population of around 1.5 million, is the biggest city in the world. London, by comparison, has a population of 864,000. Australia The first convict ships, with 520 male and 197 female convicts aboard, arrive at Botany Bay in Australia in 1788. In 1793, they are followed by the first free settlers. The island of Tasmania is first settled in 1803. The killing of the Aboriginals has also begun. China Despite being the world's most populous nation, China is virtually a closed society, more or less impenetrable to outsiders. The British try to send an ambassador in 1816, but he is turned away without being seen. Trade, however, has prised open a few doors – particularly through the British national drink, tea (see Class and customs), which is now very big business. Trade in tea is the monopoly of the British East India Company, which operates a complicated trade triangle, shipping Indian cotton to Canton from Calcutta and then using the proceeds from the sale of the cotton to buy tea for shipping back to Britain. Egypt Following the French defeat in Egypt in 1801, Muhammad Ali is made 'pasha' by the Ottoman sultan, who has nominal control over the country. Ali rules Egypt as an independent state – and with a grip of iron, massacring the Mamelukes, who had been running the country for centuries. He also invades Arabia to defeat the new puritanical Muslim sect, the Wahhabis, who have taken control of two of Islam's holiest places, Medina and Mecca. Haiti During the French Revolution, Toussaint l'Ouverture leads a slave uprising in the French part of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola (which will become modern Haiti). His support for the Revolution causes the new French republic to make him lieutenant governor of the French side of the island. In 1801, Toussaint gives his backing to a revolt on the Spanish side (which will become the modern Dominican Republic); he frees the Spanish slaves and establishes rule over the entire island. Napoleon, who had ordered him to stay out of Spanish territory, is furious. He despatches General Charles Leclerc – who is accompanied by his wife Pauline, Napoleon's favourite sister – to take back control. After much bloodshed, the French troops succeed in 1803, despite Leclerc's death from yellow fever. Toussaint dies in a French jail. India Britain has taken effective control over the whole of the subcontinent, ruling either directly or through client rulers. Louisiana In 1800, Spain sells France the Louisiana Territory – an area covering 828,000 square miles, now occupied by the present-day states of Louisiana, Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Oklahoma. Napoleon's initial plans for the territory as a kind of colonial 'breadbasket' for his empire are scuppered by the British control of the seas and his realisation of how difficult it would be to defend if it came under attack. He decides to respond to US interest in buying the territory, and in 1803 – in what will become known as the Louisiana Purchase – agrees a price of 60 million francs, or $15 million. New Spain In 1800, New Spain (modern Mexico) is the wealthiest country in the New World. Mexico City, its capital, with 250,000 inhabitants, is the largest in the Americas. (New York at this time has just 60,000.) It is blessed with public monuments and institutions comparable with those in Europe and many believe that it will become a great power in its own right. Its population is about 6 million, including 10,000 Roman Catholic clergy. United States The United States fights another war with Britain in 1812-14, barely 30 years after the American War of Independence. This time it is over the British embargo on trade with Europe and their habit of seizing crew members as well as goods, and 'pressing' the men into service on British navy vessels. The war – which the Americans will call the 'War of 1812' – is fought to an inconclusive end, despite the British seizing Washington and burning the White House. |
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