Gibraltar and the British Empire from the 1830s to 1898

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>Chapter Six covers Gibraltar’s history from the 1830s to 1898. There was an ideological shift across the British Empire during this period, as humanitarian activists and imperial officials increasingly believed that British imperial power could benefit not just the people of Britain but also colonized populations and others around the world. In Gibraltar, this outlook inspired new interest in Africa. The chapter recounts the reception given to Ahmad Ibn Tuwayr Al-Jana in 1833, the 1835 trial and punishment of the officers and crew of a slave ship accused of preparing for a voyage from Gibraltar, and the ordeal of Abú Bekr, who after gaining his freedom in Jamaica, came to Gibraltar in 1835 hoping to proceed to his ancestral home in Africa. French power expanded across the western Mediterranean during the 1830s. Shipping became safer and more efficient, and by the 1840s, French steamships were outcompeting the sailing vessels that had traditionally frequented Gibraltar. Gibraltar suffered an economic slump. The territory continued to be wracked by social tension. Between 1842 and 1874, the garrison employed convict labor. During the 1860s, protests against immigration restrictions united local Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish activists in opposition to government policy. Beginning in the 1870s, the garrison and local businesses increasingly relied on day laborers from Spain. The border town La Línea grew, and southern Andalusia was absorbed into Gibraltar’s economic sphere. The region’s dependency on Gibraltar was revealed in 1898 when Spain suffered a downturn following its defeat in the Spanish-American War.</jats:p>