What does acquired in a fit of absence of mind mean?

Answer 1

The phrase comes from British historian J. R. Seeley to describe how the British Empire of the 18th century was amassed, not by conscious militaristic expansionism from the state, but by a post hoc protection of economic interests already secured by private enterprise in foreign lands. The issue by the British Crown of monopolies of trade with (and colonising of) Virginia, the "East Indies" under Elizabeth I and James I eventually produced institutions greater than the British state itself. In the case of the American colonies, they eventually broke away; in the case of Indian sub-continent, Parliament eventually took the management of affairs, including relations with native rulers, under its own control. The colonisation of Africa was a much more conscious state effort, as part of a power struggle with other European powers, but here too urged on and provoked by those with private interests in expansion such as Cecil Rhodes. The establishment of penal colonies in Australia after the loss of the American colonies also involved direct state administration.