Britain was uniquely positioned to explode during the late 1700s and early 1800s. The country possessed large reserves of untapped coal which produced much more heat and energy that firewood. The combination of new sources of power and the better use of water power could provide the fuel for the Industrial Revolution.
The Industrial Revolution was connected to global trade. The British worked to use their political control over India to ensure economic control and to replace the dominant Indian-produced cloth with cheaper, mass produced British cotton goods. The British also increasingly enjoyed access to new markets that their empire created and were indeed global in nature. The continued ties between Britain and the United States also represented a huge market as well as potential markets for products in Europe and around the world.
Figure 4: A Women in British Textile Factory
Money was also important-capital from the British Empire, including from plantations, from the slave trade, from the take over of India created a huge influx of capital that needed to be productively invested. The slave trade, for example, created a need for British cloth to sell in Africa and helped the industry expand. The expanding British textile industry was also based on the cotton that was produced by American slaves in an expanding and increasingly harsh American system of slavery. The revolution was instrumentally connected to premodern forms of labor as well, in this case slavery. Africans traded slaves for manufactured good purchased slaves. The goods associated with the slave trade and transatlantic shipping helped fuel the growth of new industry and raw materials (sugar, cotton were produced by slave labor); the profits fueled a need to invested, and most . During the US Civil War, the British were worried about the effects of the sudden drop in US cotton production. As a result, they looked to India and Egypt for new sources of cotton, thus transforming the economic fortunes and future of this colony (India) and quasi-independent country (Egypt).
The British also witnessed a revolution in consumer culture and buying. People, especially outside of the wealthy and rising middle classes, increasingly wanted to buy the same consumer goods and were willing to work to afford these purchases. People wanted to wear different clothes (that reflected the style of their social superiors and now made of cotton) and consume sugar and tea and coffee (now drinking it either in public places or in their newly purchased ceramic mugs) Advertisements for these products only increased the overall disability of these goods.
Politically and legally, Britain was in a strong position. The Glorious Revolution created a stable political situation, ensured the supremacy of Parliament (and its ability to check the power of the Crown). Britain, unlike other areas of the world and even Europe, enjoyed limited taxation that encouraged investment but, perhaps more importantly, the protection of private property and patient rights secured by a strong and effective legal system. Thus, a successful inventor could create something new, have it be legally protected, make a fortune and even enjoy social mobility.
The growth of British agricultural productivity provided the food for expanding British cities. Between 1500 and 1750, the output of each agricultural labor dramatically increased. Rural industries started to grow. However, workers in rural industries, such as weavers, struggled with rising consumer prices and increasingly rural poverty. Rural workers and small industries were producing such products as blankets for export and the industry continued to grow. The textile industry grew from a minor industry to becoming the largest industry in the country. Additionally, the British witnessed a revolution in transportation as steam engines allowed for the quick movement of goods. Being surrounded by water and with rivers and canals, provided Britain with a cheap means of moving goods. The relatively small nature of the country encouraged the development of railroads to further move goods.
In contrast, throughout much of the European continent several factors limited the scope of the Industrial Revolution. The other countries did not possess the advantages of having an empire or the related ability to import raw materials (many countries limited imports through tariffs). Many other countries lacked the long-British coastline or coal. The tax structure or social classes did not encourage industrial growth. The British witnessed a fusion of industrial, commercial and hereditary elite (although the last was still the most favored) while the traditional elite elsewhere did not support or invest in new industries. The growing domestic but also international market further favored the British.
Still, other countries in Western Europe started to catch up to the British lead by the 1870s. Germany eventually starts to catch up; France small scale industry; by 1870 parts of the continent had started to contend with British industry in terms of production and mechanization. The phase of Industrial Revolution–now witnessing the development of steel and chemical industries–further allowed other countries, including the United States, threaten the British lead.
Railroads throughout Europe and the United States became increasingly common and industries further mechanized. This phase witnessed the rise of managers who replaced owner-operators and the rise of white-collar employment in the stock market, banking and insurance industries. White-collared female work developed with the invention and widespread use of the telephone and the typewriter. Additionally, female elementary school teachers were increasingly needed after the creation of a state-supported primary education system in the 1870s in Britain and later throughout Europe. Despite an economic depression in 1873, Western Europe and the United States continued to industrialize–iron now replaced steel which allowed buildings to be taller and changed the look of new cities. Another new industry, the pharmaceutics, developed as need the automobile and use of electricity which further transformed life. As a result, factories became further entrenched and the employment location of choice.
