The concept of a first and second British Empire was developed by historians in the late 19th century, and is a concept usually used by advanced scholars [REF].
Historians, however, debate whether 1783 was a sharp line of demarcation between First and Second, or whether there was an overlap (as argued by Vincent T. Harlow[REF]) or whether there was a "black hole between 1783 and the later birth of the Second Empire.