The Birthplace Of The Industrial Revolution History Essay

The Industrial Revolution started during the late 18th and early 19th centuries in Great Britain. It then spread to the rest of Europe, North America and finally to the whole of the world. As luck would have it, of the western “Civilized” nations, Great Britain was already a world power (thanks to the English Navy) but the reason is that it’s an island nation. As an island nation, and no recent invasions upon their soil, there was nothing to disrupt progress. The U.S. was still learning and growing, having not yet discovered fully its own borders and interior, was behind (but closely so) Great Britain. There were so many theories on how the Industrial Revolution started in Britain. Yet there were a lot of main contributes to it. Growth of population and inventions was a main effect because it brought in more people and ideas. Others were good natural resources and agriculture and help of the overseas trade.

Population, of course, had a big impact on the Industrial Revolution because as more people come into the Britain area, they’re more than likely going to need a job. The rising population, especially in the cities, did two things to further the Industrial Revolution. The first was that it created a better and growing group of labor. More people were ready and able to fill up the increasing job market. The following most important thing is that a growing population caused a greater insist for products that were being formed. Many famers found it hard to live due to the fact of new machines coming about, so they moved to the cities to find work. “The enclosure movement required small farmers to either take up tenant or move to cities and become part of the urban labor force.” (Martin, 230) Job openings and more chances helped increase the economy of the Industrial Revolution. More people meant more money, food, and a simpler lifestyle. More scientists that did well in studies encouraged more people to get into the science industry that will later lead to the Industrial Revolution. The growing population during the Industrial Revolution as well helped business to produce more good and products for customers. “Population growth tended to lower the relative price of manufactured goods and real wages, thus not likely to have stimulated a “search” for labor-saving innovations.” (Mokyr, 24) The British brought in more slaves to work on their land. The slaves grew products that were in turn sold on to Britain. “The rapid development of English industry has been attributed to the exploration of colonial people and the profit wrung from the slave trade.” (Ashton, 123-126)

The capture of overseas markets, one after another, until England became the workshop of the world. Britain had a lot of supplies of their own. But the ones they didn’t have, the borrowed from their many other colonies; which were loyal customers too. Their vast empire allowed them to import raw materials from the colonies to factories at home, and export the finished products back to the colonies. This spurred industrialization in the British Isles. “…now an entirely new spirit, that of the New World, was to sweep eastward overseas and along with the new forces generated from active and regular contact with orient, transform, and revivify Europe.” (Gillespie, 27) The America’s helped big time to contribute to the Industrial Revolution in Britain. “…foreign trade, especially trade with the America’s was the very center of the English development process.” (Ashton, 13-14) Progress in transportation is a reason of the Industrial Revolution because without better transport relations, Britain would not have been able to trade with the other colonies. The improvement of oceangoing transport was very significant because trade was becoming a very commercial source of profits for England. Also, people were becoming wealthier; therefore they could come up with the money to buy new inventions. Wealthy people put in money into new ideas so they would make a benefit if it were successful. This is a main reason of the Industrial revolution since without it; Britain would not have had as much money to use on things such as transport and inventions. The trade triangle was skillful because the ships never sailed empty and people made lots of money. The owners of these ships made lots of profits due to the low labor cost. The trade triangle formed a market for the factory owners in Britain, selling their products overseas.

New well-developed inventions can always open a door to success. Business people invested in the manufacture of new inventions. New inventions and machinery also made work faster than before. These new inventions included: banking systems, flying shuttles, spinning jenny, water frames, and cotton mills. Their development of the banking systems also contributed to the Industrial Revolution. Cash and freedom, England was the first country to have its own independent bank (the bank of England) it also was the only nation with the means to raise more cash and investments from across the country and the rest of Europe (The London stock exchange) People did not want to physically do their work themselves for the rest of their lives. “During the Industrial Revolution, Europe shifted from an economy based on agriculture and handicrafts to an economy based on manufacturing by machines and automated factories.” (Duiker, 405) Britain had loads of coal to use for their excellent ideas because they would use wood to heat their homes. The British soon had ideas about change for themselves. Their government also favored the change. Roads, ports and bridges played an important role in developing an industrialized nation. The products made by these factories were passed to other markets around the world by roads and rivers. Canals soon became the next most important thing to the cities. When George Stephenson made steam engine that could carry on rails which is later called railroads. After that they linked cities all over the world.

The sustained growth agriculture productivity during this period led to the fall in prices of agricultural products. Britain was the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution because of its power and resources. The small island country had extensive natural resources. These natural resources included: water power and coal to fuel the new machines, iron ore to construct machines, tools, and buildings, rivers for inland transportation, and harbors from which merchant ships set sail. Agriculture in Britain at the time was a main factor of the Industrial Revolution. Among all of the changes occurring at the time, agriculture and farming families changed as well. Cotton was an important item at the time. John Kay’s “flying shuttle” made clothes twice as much than usual. This was known as the textile industry. “Iron wares and later of cotton played vital part in the building of those industries to the point where technical change transform their momentum of growth.” (Davis, 393) Agriculture released labor to industry during this period. “The success of England was fundamentally based on the transformation of the agriculture and on major increase in agricultural activities.” (Smit, 61-63)

Economic growth continued to spread during the 19th century, and still spreading today. The Industrial Revolution reached other parts of Europe and the United States in the 1800’s. In the 1900’s, it reached Asia. Eventually, the causes of the British Industrial Revolution can be put down to a number of factors; Extending from new technologies, environmental, resources and economic reasons.Overall, with such factors it cannot be considered a surprise that Britain embraced industry. For location, resources, and transport networks all favored Britain and their empire; resulting in a large share of manufacturing output for Britain by the mid 19th century.