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England became the workshop of the world in the 19th century. This is not something that might have been expected given European history. England was for most of history a European backwater. In Roman times it was the edge of misty edge of Europe. After the departure of the Legions. England was no longer a unknown land, but it was a backwater. As the European economy evolved, England was almost entirely agricultural and pastoral. This is not what would have been expected for what would become the workshop of the world. England became the major wool producer in Europe. England's rainy climate creates the green pastures perfect for raising sheep. The Medieval wool trade was key to the British economy. But the wool was shipped to Flanders, coneniently locvated just across the Channel, not woven in England. Flanders developed as the most valuable province of Europe because the burgeoning weaving industry developing there. The royal Government was trying to get more value added done in England so the monarchy could earn more income, but this was slow in developing. It is from this point that economists debate why it was that Britain would be wear the Industrial Revolution would occur. It actually would have made more sence for it to have occurred in China which was much richer and an engine of technological development. Mogul Induia was also richer. And in Europe France was a more populace and richer country. So what was going on in England and Europe was very important to understand. It is at this time that Spain rises on the world stage witht the endof the Rebonquista and the discvovery of the Americva (1492). Huge quantities of gold and silver began to flow into Europe. England had no way of sharuing in this bonanza at first. At the same time, King Henry VIII began laying the foundation for the Royal Navy that Queen Elizabeth would use to begin seizing Spanish treasure ships. Not only did this earn England some of the treasure, but it is at this time that Britain began to excell at ship building and imprtantly began to standardize production, an important in the development of manufacturing technology. And England's began its maritime mastery with the defeat of the Armada (1588) as well as the first effort to establish an American colony at Roanoke Island (1584). Thus was amateurish compared to the vast Spanish Empire that was developing. The Dutch were earlier to get into the business of empire as part of their war of independence from Spain (1568). Which would lead the development of capitalism in the Netherlands. Something that failed to occur in the much larger Spanish Empire. It was from the Dutch that the British co-opted capitalism which is surely a major reason that thev Industrial Revolution began in England. This was important not only for econoimic reasons, but because a modern financial system would be a major reason that England prevailed in the great struggles with France, a potentially much stronger country. A factor not often mentioned is the frugality of the monarchy forced upon by Parliament while the Spanish and French monarcies engaged in massively indugent spending leading to perpetual debt. And about the same time with the Glorious Revolution (1688), led England to becoming a pillar ofv stability in Europe, another important factor. Another factor is the inventiveness of the English people creating the the early inventions that helped set off the Industrial Revolution. Just why were the English son inventive. We are inclined to think that England was emerging from the Feudal System faster than other countries, meaning that individuals could aspire and be rewarded for invention to a greater extent that countries like France, Germany, Italy, Russia, and Spain more mired in the Feudal System.
England became the workshop of the world in the 19th century. This is not something that might have been expected given European history. England was for most of history a European backwater. In Roman times it was the edge of misty edge of Europe. After the departure of the Legions. England was no longer a unknown land, but it was a backwater. As the European economy evolved, England was almost entirely agricultural and pastoral. This is not what would have been expected for what would become the workshop of the world. England became the major wool producer in Europe. England's rainy climate creates the green pastures perfect for raising sheep. The Medieval wool trade was key to the British economy. But the wool was shipped to Flanders, coneniently locvated just across the Channel, not woven in England. Flanders developed as the most valuable province of Europe because the burgeoning weaving industry developing there. The royal Government was trying to get more value added done in England so the monarchy could earn more income, but this was slow in developing. It is from this point that economists debate why it was that Britain would be wear the Industrial Revolution would occur. It actually would have made more sence for it to have occurred in China which was much richer and an engine of technological development. Mogul Induia was also richer. And in Europe France was a more populace and richer country. So what was going on in England and Europe was very important to understand. It is at this time that Spain rises on the world stage witht the endof the Rebonquista and the discvovery of the Americva (1492). Huge quantities of gold and silver began to flow into Europe. England had no way of sharuing in this bonanza at first. At the same time, King Henry VIII began laying the foundation for the Royal Navy that Queen Elizabeth would use to begin seizing Spanish treasure ships. Not only did this earn England some of the treasure, but it is at this time that Britain began to excell at ship building and imprtantly began to standardize production, an important in the development of manufacturing technology. And England's began its maritime mastery with the defeat of the Armada (1588) as well as the first effort to establish an American colony at Roanoke Island (1584). Thus was amateurish compared to the vast Spanish Empire that was developing. The Dutch were earlier to get into the business of empire as part of their war of independence from Spain (1568). Which would lead the development of capitalism in the Netherlands. Something that failed to occur in the much larger Spanish Empire. It was from the Dutch that the British co-opted capitalism which is surely a major reason that thev Industrial Revolution began in England. This was important not only for econoimic reasons, but because a modern financial system would be a major reason that England prevailed in the great struggles with France, a potentially much stronger country. A factor not often mentioned is the frugality of the monarchy forced upon by Parliament while the Spanish and French monarcies engaged in massively indugent spending leading to perpetual debt. And about the same time with the Glorious Revolution (1688), led England to becoming a pillar ofv stability in Europe, another important factor. Another factor is the inventiveness of the English people creating the the early inventions that helped set off the Industrial Revolution. Just why were the English son inventive. We are inclined to think that England was emerging from the Feudal System faster than other countries, meaning that individuals could aspire and be rewarded for invention to a greater extent that countries like France, Germany, Italy, Russia, and Spain more mired in the Feudal System.
No development in modern history has affected individuals more than the Industrial Revolution. And the manufacture of textiles, especially cotton textiles, played a key role in the Industrial Revolution. Historians debate just where and when the Industrial Revolution began. We would set it at about the mid-18th century in the English Midlands. Some authors might take issue with this, but this would be the most widely accepted view. The first industry affected was the textile or clothing industry--one reason that the study of the clothing indusytry is so important. Cotton was at first first spun by machinery in England (1730). And as a result, workers instead of weaving piece work at home, began to work in factories where machinery could be installed. And cotton was especially important. Only so much wool could be produced. Cotton could be produced in greater quantities and at lower cost than wool. Here cotton manufacture became especially important and it was the first industry to be fully mechanized. [Ashworth, pp. 7-8.] Several inventions at this time were responsible, including the spinning jenny, flying shuttle, and a water-powered loom. This was soon followed by the key invention of our time which served as a catalyst for industrial expansion--the steam engine. John Newcomen and James Watt developed the steam engine. Watt between 1769-84 developed an efficient engine. The abundant supplies of coal in Britian combined with the technological advances by British inventors in part explain why Britain led the way in European industrial expansion. The significance was that the steam engine was an efficent source of energy that could be put to work in virtually every industry and because inexpensive energy was available, helped develop new industies. The railroad was essenially a steam engine on wheels. The railroad in turn revolutionalized the world economy. Many bulk goods like grain could not be sold at any significant distance from where it was grown or produced. The railroad allowed bulk goods to be transportd at great distance for limited costs, including ports where goods could be conducted aound the world. At at those ports awaited steam-powered boats, floating steam engines, to effiently move cargos at low cost around the world, including India which before the industrial Revolution wa produicung cloth at lower cost than England. The spread of the Industrail Revolution to the Continent generally followed the same pattern as in Britain with the mechanization and inroduction of the factory system first in cotton mills. [Ashworth, p. 12.]
Prince Albert was the main backer of the 1851 Great Exhibition. This was the first "world's fair", with exhibits from most of the world's nations. The exhibition was held in Hyde Park, and the showpiece was the Crystal Palace, a prefabricated steel and glass structure like a gigantic greenhouse, which housed the exhibits. The Great Exhibition proved to be theb turning point in Albert's official responsibilities and public image. Before the Exhibition he was seen as primarily the Queen's husband. After the Exhibition is talents and abilities were increasingly seen and Giovernment ministers increasingly sought his council. The Great Exhibition was not exactly a novel effort--te French had been holding tem for years, but it was novel for Britain. In may ways it served as the protype for future international expositions and world fairs. It was Albert who conceived of it and promoted it.
The key to the Industrial Revolution was power. For millennia the power available to a man was his own mussles. This limited the area he could farm and otherwise produce. If he vhad a horse or other large farm animal he could do more and for millennia, this mean 1 horse power. The horse was so imoprtant that we stillmmeasyreengnes in terms of power. But this meant for most of human histiry, productivity did not increasesignificantly -- he was limuted yo his own mssles or the power of a horse. This finally began to change in England. Thomas Newcomen's 'atmospheric engine' was he first commercially successful steam engine using the principle of the piston and cylinder. It was first used ton pumpn water outb if mines. This was one of several English inventions that would make the Industruial Reolution possible and launch it in England. Water wheels was the first mechanical energy available, but were not avilabke everwhere and privide insufficent power. Steam engines did not have ton be built by rivers. Abnd coukd deliver massive anounts of energy. Wood could be used to fire a steam engine, but expensive and not available in the quantities needed. The answer was coal and it would be coal that would power industry for two centuries. Here manufacturing merged with with mining and transportation. It was. however, not sufficent to mine the coal, there had to be a inexpensive way to transport it to the factories. This was a problem solved by improvements in transport--especially the steam engine. .
There are various ways of defining manufavturing sectors. The most common is light and heavy industry. The textile industry which was the first to be transfornmed is an example of light industry. The all important iron and steel industry is heavy industry as well as many substabntial finished goods are heavy industry. And Britain had important advantages in both. Britain by the 19th century had a substantial textile weaving industry as well as a large merchant fleet and an increasingly powerful navy to protect it. And imoortant for the iron and steel industry, Britain had readily available coal and iron deposits. The coal deposits were huge. The iron deposits were sufficent to bide Bruitain through the early stages to get the industry started. But for this to happen, the ransport system needed to have an inexpensive way of transporting bulk goods like coal and iron ore inexpensively and this was made possible by canals and then making it all possible--the devlopment of the steam engine making inexpensive rail and sea trabnsport possible. A vital factor in all of this was British inventiveness, an intangiable factoir that was key to Britain being the first country to launch the Industrial Revolutiion.
Ashworth, William. A Short History of the International Economy Since 1850 (Longman Paperback: London, 1977), 318p.
Ferguson, William. E-mail message (June 20, 2023).
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