Why was Britain the first nation to industrialize?
Britain was the first country in the world to industrialize. “The British Industrial Revolution involved a more rapid growth rate in industrial production from about 1.5 per cent per annum from 1700 to 1780 to one between 2 and 3 per cent in half-century afterwards.” claims Evans which saw life in Britain change forever. However, the main focus of this essay is to consider why Britain was the first country to go through this radical development. Britain’s industrial revolution could not have been possible without the agricultural revolution. The essay will describe how the agricultural revolution brought about change and how the the advanced new technology, natural resources and strong social and economic conditions helped Britain advance into industrialization before any other country. Many historians have tried to argue these main reasons as evidence of why Britain was first. Throughout this essay, these factors will be analyzed as the main reasons why Britain was the first nation to industrialize.
The agricultural revolution was seen as the first stepping stone to move towards industrialization. Britain’s agricultural system was one of the main parts of the economy and was responsible for many families income. Due to the increase in crop yield, families were becoming healthier as there was now a higher food supply for the growing population. Death rates declined and saw citizens beginning to live
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
The question about why did British have a head start of the Industrial Revolution is addressed by a very different view, by the author. The author views this by analyzing the two most advanced cultures; China and England. The reader sees that colonial resources and overcoming the biological old regime played in the favor of England. The Britons used their colonial resources against the Asians; which is from India, China, and even Japan, inclining the global economic standard, power balance towards the Britons.
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.
Great Britain was the first country to really experience industrialization. A combination of the small country, agricultural improvements, large population growth, increases in national wealth, and access to cheap materials and mineral resources allowed the Industrial Revolution to grow in Britain. Because Britain was such a small area of land, the transport of goods and materials was cheap through roads, rivers, and canals. Agricultural improvements resulted in an increase in the production of food which allowed people more disposable income in which they could purchase manufactured goods. Large population growth supplied abundances of laborers who could be employed in factories. Access to cheap materials from Asia and the Americas and mineral resources increased national wealth which allowed industrialization to continue.
The Industrial Revolution was a huge turning point in history. The place where the Industrial Revolution began was in Great Britain because they had many natural resources and a strong economy. By the 1850’s many country villages had grown into industrial towns and cities, and their inhabitants bought food and clothing in stores that offered a large variety of machine-made goods. While some might argue that Industrialization had primarily negative consequences for society because of poor working conditions, it was actually a positive thing for society. Industrialization’s positive effects were transportation became more efficient, more jobs were available, and more inventions were created.
Throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth century, a lack of a consistent and reliable food supply in Britain led to a rise in prices that threatened the lives of many poor British people; the poor could not obtain food regularly due to the rise in food prices and thus, only could survive through charity. On the other hand, the rise in prices put landlords in better financial situations and caused them to make innovations in farming to further increase their agricultural profit; these innovations in farming became known as the Agricultural Revolution. The Agricultural Revolution impacted the society of Great Britain through an increase in food production, a decrease in food prices, and an increase in the amount of enclosures. The Agricultural
The Industrial Revolution is a pivotal period in human history that allowed for the complete transformation of rural life. First coined in the 1830s, the Industrial Revolution was an eruption of inventions, technical adaptations, and economic expansion. The origins of the Industrial Revolution are traced back to Great Britain, the first pioneer in Westernization and technological change. Britain’s well-developed banks, large potential labor force, and abundance of raw materials made Britain the most industrialized country in the world during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Although the Industrial Revolution brought beneficial changes to Britain and the countries that followed Britain’s path, industrialization provoked reform
The Industrial Revolution started in the eighteenth century in Britain. There were innovative advances in the society that led to the faster production of goods. Prior to this even started, agriculturists needed to leave their property and urbanize to the urban areas. The main accessible occupation that required job was the frightening industrial facilities. These factories changed the lives of these agriculturalists by making them work numerous hours.
During the 18 century, in Britain occurred the most important phenomenon that changed the history, Industrial Revolution. It was a major turning point in their history but in the world’s history as well because the impact of the inventions changed the economical, social and political field forever. The standard of living increased therefore the population had increased.
The period of agriculture in the industrial revolution saw a dramatic growth in the population of Great Britain , due to the improvement and introductions to new farming methods, which is said to be one part of the population growth. It is estimated that between the years 1300 and 1700 the population rapidly increased and decreased and that was because of the lack of food, and introductions to common diseases like the black death and the plague, which was a negative because many people were dying. Early eighteenth century the population doubled up , as cures were found and the agriculture was improved as changes in agriculture began to have an impact, more resources started to be available for food ,and larger populations could be fed. By
The high production lowered the cost of the food and raised the standard of life. On the other hand, small farmer and peasant class was unemployed as they lost their land to rich landholders. There was increase in the labour force. It seems that socially and economically England possessed everything needed to fuel the industrial revolution.
England was an ideal place for the Industrial Revolution to begin. It had a great location it was by the water, so it was perfect for employment. It had lots of natural resources; it had a good or rather a wealthy economy and also a large population. Countless people were domesticated workers. The
Before the Industrial Revolution, Great Britain’s economy relied heavily on agriculture, which at that point of time was based a flawed system dating back to the Middle Ages. This system, known as the open field system, showed agricultural inefficiencies, and was disallowing of innovation. These inefficiencies eventually led to the privatization of land for agriculture, in an effort to solve what is now commonly referred to as “the tragedy of the commons”. Great Britain was now moving forward, and as the country (and continent) began enclosing their land, Britain began a period of modernization, with new technologies that would increase productivity in industry to a level never before seen. This is the period commonly referred to as the Industrial Revolution, and was an era of unprecedented growth in industry from the middle of the 18th century until around the middle of the 19th century. In 1760, 53% of the British population worked in agriculture. By 1840, that had dropped to 29%. The evolution from water and wind power to steam engines, as well as the creation of many pieces of machinery for the textile industry (such as the Spinning Jenny, which reduced the production time on yarn) vastly improved British manufacturing of goods, and the reliance on agriculture continued to drop. The development from an agricultural focus
The Industrial Revolution has had a tremendous impact on the whole world. But because of its British origin the people living on the island bore most of the hardships and went through the quickest and most radical change out off all the people affected by this movement. The beginning of the movement can be traced to 1750 and continued through to about 1870. Although Britain was the epicenter of this change not many countries were unaffected by this. It may be argued that the reason the Industrial Revolution spanned a period of 120 years was due to it transforming a large-scale culture as opposed to a quicker change in a small-scale 'Arembepe' like culture. Subsequent to the revolution, agricultural growth took a backseat to technological
Thus, Great Britain, the first of the world countries endured industrial revolution, to the middle of 19 century turns into the most powerful power possessing the biggest colonial empire which allowed to provide own industry with necessary and cheapest raw materials, and also an extensive sales market of finished products.Orientation of the major branches of production, and in particular textile, on the colonial market will have an adverse effect subsequently on economic development of Great Britain. After Great Britain the way of fast development of large-scale industry was taken by France.