Was the Englishman treating India with liberalism or some other form of imperialism? This question is posed in the picture by Lieutenant C. Pulley drawing about a ceremony held to honor Queen Victoria assuming the title of Empress of India. Due to a disconnect between Queen Victoria’s liberal ideals and the actual experience of the Indians, it is clear that liberalism was not the primary influence of British imperialism in India.
Queen Victoria and other governmental officials’ ideals demonstrated a clear preference for liberalism. Queen Victoria should have set the tone for British imperialism in India. She was the British queen and her opinion concerning liberalism should have held weight. Her opinions were heavily steeped in liberalism with promises of “equal and impartial protection of the law”
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Hyde Clark showed disdain for the Indians when he called them “unfortunate people” and called the British “civilized people” thus putting the Indians in a different caste then the British. Hyde’s opinion shows the beginning of the disconnect which William Cobbettt continues with. Cobbett argues that “[The British] must be motivated by sheer love of gain; a sheer love of plunder” showing to the utmost degree that the British were disconnected and divided on whether liberalism should be a major influence. In fact, Cobbett as a political commentator was writing about the general political climate, not just Queen Victoria’s opinion, revealing that liberalism would not play a major role in imperialism. Lastly, Lieutenant C. Pulley’s picture portrays a fraction of what the Indians experienced. The English governor was on an elevated platform, with all beneath him, showing the English as above the Indians. All three opinions show that on all various levels, the British did not embrace the high ideals of liberalism set out by Queen