During the nineteenth century, Great Britain was a very mature industrial economy, so their low productivity levels do not automatically imply failure because their potential for industrial growth was far more limited (Magee 2004, p. 97), whereas America was still very young and was experiencing a rather abrupt shift out of agriculture and into services (Broadberry 2009, p. 379). Therefore, it must be understood, that “ factors other than manufacturing’s dynamic economies of scale can clearly affect productivity and it may well be these that are of greater importance (Magee 2004, p. 96)”, which illustrates that more than just manufacturing productivity is necessary in evaluating an economic status. With that being said, by drawing on the …show more content…
81). Therefore, all of this illustrates that the British family firms had a completely different consumer demand than America, which did not allow them to adapt similar mass-production techniques, thus explaining their lower levels of productivity. In the nineteenth century, British firms were strong competitors in exporting compared to America. British firms were responsible for forty-three per cent of world trade in manufactured goods, which is a number that confidently supports their unwavering presence, regardless of their low productivity levels (Magee 2004, p. 82). With a strong exporting presence, Great Britain was known as a ‘workshop of the world’ because many foreign countries relied on them for certain products, in comparison to the Unites States, who were only responsible for about six per cent of world trade in manufactured goods (Magee 2004, p. 83). Therefore, Great Britain’s strong exporting presence was due to their efficiency of their craft-based production system, which also explains that their low productivity levels do not imply failure because, even though America had higher productivity levels, almost half of the world depended on British products. On a final note, it is important to conclude that any comparison of growth does not reveal anything about the direction of causation, especially in the case of Great Britain and America in the nineteenth century because both economies were very different
Compared to previous times, America ended the 19th century at an all time high due to new government policies, technological advancements and population changes. With the help of federal encouragement to settle westward and unite the country, industry was able to expand to more
Britain enjoyed the significant economic advantages during the early years of the Industrial Revolution for many reasons. The Industrial Revolution built on earlier developments, but took time to progress. It eventually began to help ordinary people in the West to gain a higher standard life of living. Great Britain had more advantages such as natural resources, political stability and favorable geography. According to the textbook, A History of Western Society, “Britain possessed a unique set of possibilities and constraints, such as abundant coal, high wages, a relatively peaceful and centralized government and well developed financial systems…” (622) and the list goes on. Furthermore, agriculture played an important role in the Industrial Revolution in Britain. “English farmers were second only to the Dutch in
After 1840s, the exports of iron and steel industry from Britain increased exponentially, with the expansion of railways, in England from the 1840s and in the colonies from the 1860s. By 1873 Britain was exporting iron and steel worth about £ 77 million, double the value of its cotton export. However, this should be noted that industrialisation did not replace the traditional trade, even at the
America had a huge industrial revolution in the late 1800”s. Many changes happened to our great nation, which factored into this. The evidence clearly shows that advancements in new technology, a large wave of immigrants into our country and new views of our government, helped to promote America’s huge industrial growth from the period of 1860-1900.
Near the last decades of the 19th century, America’s industrial economy skyrocketed. As these industrial leaders like Carnegie and Rockefeller not only lead the expansion through their respective industries, but revolutionized businesses while crushing free-market competition in the process. As
From around 1750 to 1900 Britain went through major changes or transformation in industry, agriculture and transportation that affected everybody’s lives. For some it generally improved their lives, however not all were so lucky. The industrial revolution brought with it many changes good for some and bad for others.
Throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the Industrial Revolution reconstructed Britain, the United States, Russia, and Latin America through changes in means of production, the economy, and social conditions. Although all four areas ended up with similar effects of the Industrial Revolution, Britain and the United States’ means to transform were different than those of Russia and Latin America.
Nearing the end of the Civil war and the beginning of the twentieth century the United States went through an economic revolution. During this time there was abundant natural resources, a growing supply of labor, and expanding market for manufactured goods. Because of all abundances the federal government encouraged the expansion of the railroads. This would benefit the United States economically. The Railroads were so important because it made the “second industrial revolution” possible. In 1913 the United States was producing a major amount of the world’s output. Which is more than Great Britain, France, and germany combined.
During the nineteenth century the scale of industrial expansion was excessive and extraordinary. The increase in international trade and a growing of middle-class demanded for goods fueled by colonies led Britain to develop rail road network and steamships. The improvement in steam engine designed helped the availability of cheap iron which caused the sailing ships to be replaced by steamships. In the 1900s Britain produced nine million tons of iron and steel production but the iron production
What triggered America’s huge industrial growth during the period from 1860 to 1900? Economic change had been a recurring pattern in history for as long as it has been documented. During the war of 1812 the United States was fought against the British because of the embargoes of 1806. The war, in a nutshell, was fought because the British didn't want the U.S to trade with anyone but Britain, and when the U.S tried they would embargo, or ban trade, with the U.S. Because there was no trade between Britain and the U.S, no goods were transported. Since the U.S didn't receive any good they had to be responsible for their own products, resulting in the market revolution. The market revolution marked the beginning of mass production. Entrepreneurs started to bring ideas, which formed the
The Industrial Revolution in Great Britain did little to improve life for the common people; the Industrial Revolution negated the principle of Utilitarianism as seen through the lack of support given to the middle and lower classes. Although the Industrial Revolution may have provided work for the lower classes, the work required was dangerous and paid next to nothing. The Industrial Revolution also led to the creation of monopolies which prevented Adam Smith’s idea of a capitalist market driven by competition nearly impossible. Industrialization left many people poverty stricken and uneducated. The Industrial Revolution in Great Britain reduced living conditions in Great Britain through income inequality, the degradation of the environment,
It is easy to look at this time frame as a period of dishonesty, noticeable greed, and unrestricted entrepreneurship. However, this should be seen as the formative period of the United States when framers moved into a metropolitan culture that was dominated by industrial companies. The economy seen remarkable progress thanks to the trade and industry transformation. The US Economy was growing at an alarming rate in the late 19th century. Even with the Panics like 1893, the economy recuperated rapidly and still continued to flourish.
How did America become such a strong industrial country in the nineteenth century? History has credited this emergence to the Industrial Revolution; however, history has not decided if the industrialists or the immigrants are most essential to this growth, or if it is a collaboration of the efforts of both of these groups. Even though immigrants helped build the workforce of the Industrial Revolution, it is the ideals of the Industrialist business owners who transformed American to the forefront of power in the late 19th century for those immigrants.
During the 1800’s Great Britain’s empire stretched around the world, and with raw materials easily available to them this way, they inevitably began refining and manufacturing all stages of many new machines and other goods, distributing locally and globally. However, despite being the central ‘workshop of the world,’ Britain was not producing the highest quality of merchandise. When comparing factory-made products made in England to surrounding countries, most notably France, those products could not compare as far as craftsmanship and sometimes, simply innovation. It was suggested by Prince Albert that England host a sort of free-for-all technological exposition to bring in outside crafts into the country and also
There is no doubt that the Industrial Revolution plays a central role in the modern British history. The structure of British society has forever changed by the impact and consequences of Industrial Revolution. The Industrial Revolution is often stated as the increase of the number of factories, the exercise of steam power in a wide range of area and the mass-production produced by new technology in the course of 1750 to 1850 (Lane, 1978: 72). Engles (1986: 37) argued that the Industrial Revolution’s mainly development were the invention of the steam engine and the cotton industry. As the improvement of technology, the steam engine could produce more power with less