QUESTION: WHY DID INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION OCCUR IN ENGLAND?

ANSWER:

OVERVIEW

The industrial revolution marked a period of development in the half of the 18th century.
That turned rural, agricultural societies mainly in Europe and America into industrial and
urban areas. Hand-crafted goods began to be produced in large quantities by machines in
factories, thanks to the introduction of new machinery and techniques in textiles, iron
production and other industries. Flued by game-changing steam power usage, the
Industrial Revolution began in England and spread to the rest of the world, including the
United States, in the 1830s and 40s. So we have a question: Why did Industrial
Revolution start in England?

There are many reasons for this question such as resources, geographical location,
transportation, agricultural and textile revolution, technology, government, salary,
financial innovations and the large colonial empire. All of these factors helped England to
have outstanding benefits for Industrial Revolution, so this revolution occurred in this
country.

RESOURCES

First of all, the basic necessities for industrial revolution were coal and iron. Before 18 th
century, because machineries were created from wood, their pieces were too heavy
awkward, and metals were really expensive. Meanwhile, coal was cheap and the richest
resource in England, it was used to created steam to provide engine in factories. Iron,
another profuse resource in England, was processed into steel which was lighter and more
resistant. This led to create metal ware for consumption. In addition, resources that were
not local, could be sourced out from the empire which provided the raw materials for
developing industries.
GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION & TRANSPORTATION

The second main reason for England industrialization was the country's basic geography
and transportation. An important aspect of industrialization is the ability to transport
goods and resources easily across the country. For example, goods manufactured in
factories need to be shipped cheaply and reliably to the market in order to sell and be
make a good profit. At the same time, plant owners need to transport raw materials to
their factories so that they could turn these materials into consumer goods. At that time,
the United Kingdom had consistent rivers with easy transport of goods and resources.
Improvements in shipbuilding and recommendation of steam ships further increased the
England's dominance in this term.

Another advantage of England is a great traffic system. They began paving roads in the
late 17th century. The Bridgewater canal was developed in the late 18 th century. The
transportation was not limited by existing waterways. There were also well-connected
canals, good roads and no internal regional trade barriers, so trade could move freely. In
England, waterways were allowed to develop a canal system, allowed coal and other
heavy materials from mines to factories. Although there were no coal mines near London,
the canal system was still allowed for coal to be brought into the capital city and power
factories. That helped too much in the flourishing of business.

In short, the geography and transportation of the country allows industrialization to

AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION

The Agricultural Revolution was a main event in world history and had a deeply impact
on England. Many historians considered the Agricultural Revolution to be the main cause
of the Industrial Revolution, especially about when and how it started in this country.
There were many changes in agriculture during the agricultural revolution. Before, there
were a lot of farmers and they mostly used hand tools. They had less experience, so using
land was not quite good and they did not have much food. After agriculture revolution,
farmers were less and less, people mainly worked in factories with machines, and their
life became more stable.
In particular, people started enclosure farms. Small and individually owned farms were
bought or taken away from poorer farmers and turned into large enclosure farms which
were owned by a richer farmer. This increased the number of people who were looking
for work. Small farmers were forced off their land, they had to pay for fences or walls to
surround their farms and a team of oxen and they could no longer glean or gather wood.
Moreover, small farmers often had to sell plots to large landowners, they were forced to
rent or work for someone else. This enclosure brought some benefits for large land
owners, that were: They had the political strength to pass the enclosure law, they owned
large unified farms under this system could help farming to be more efficient, they did
not need consent of the village to experiment which new crop methods and could obtain
cheap labor. In addition to enclosures, farms also increased in size because of land
reclamation. In other words, marshlands were drained, forests were cleared and poor soil
was enriched and used more.

The Industrial Revolution began partially due to the increase in food production, Food
production increased thanks to better equipment. Labor on farms had always been done
by hand. This was harder to do now with bigger farms. To solve this problem, farmers
with large farms were earning money, and now they were more interested in investing in
machines. Some examples about some helpful inventions: The seed drill (1700) which
was invented by Jethro Tull, Crop rotation by Charles Townshend and so on.

The final thing which contributed in part for Agricultural Revolution was better
techniques. There were two primarily techniques, that were crop rotation and selective
breeding. People learned that crops could be rotated to improve the nitrogen in the soil
instead of just leaving land fallow. In crop rotation method, people used Clover and
Turnips fixed nitrogen in the soil while also providing food for animals. Yields of Wheat
and Barley proved to be better than Rye, especially with the improved nitrogen levels in
the soil. About selecting breeding, farmers began this method of animals such as sheep
and cattle. Researched animals produced better animals with better offspring and
produced more milk, meat and wool.

All these things above really brought many benefits on the Agricultural Revolution. That
made agricultural production increased, cost of food dropped, increased production of
food helped to create a rapid growth of population that benefited the Industrial
Revolution in two ways: First, the increased population helped to provide workers with
factories and mines, very important for the Industrial Revolution. Second, the larger
population created a market for goods, helping owners of factories to make a profit from
the sale of goods. And large farm, using machines and scientific methods, began to
dominate agriculture, and farming became a big business.

TEXTILE REVOLUTION

By the beginning of 18th Century there were sizeable concentrations of manufacturing

There are some outstanding inventions in this revolution:

In 1733, Jane Kay invented Flying Shuttle.

In 1764, James Hargreaves invented Spinning Jenny.

In 1769, Richard Arkwright brought Water Frame.

In 1785, Edmund Cartwright invented Power Loom.

These were the inventions which brought a complete revolution in the textile industry. As
a result of the industrial revolution, cotton has become the most important non-food
agricultural product in the world and it still exists until nowadays.

GOVERNMENT

The next main reason why England was the first country to industrialize was the political
atmosphere at this time. In the 1700s, the United Kingdom had a stable government after
experiencing civil war and revolution in the preceding decades. In contrast, Germany and
Italy are divided in politic, France underwent its own revolution in the late 1780s and
1790s (French Revolution), that made it indifferent industrialization and just focused on
its own internal conflict instead. At the same time, the UK government was open to
capitalist ideas. That is necessary for industrialization to occur. For example, the UK
government has promoted free trade policies with its neighbors to help to create markets
for England manufactured goods. Promote private property, and allow rich land owners
to expand their farms. This then led to the mass migration of small farmers to towns and
cities in search of work. Ultimately, the UK government supports other aspects of
capitalism, helping entrepreneurs create wealth by owning and operating factories and
mines. For example, in the early years of the Industrial Revolution, the government
allowed child labor and did not restrict its owners to rules and regulations, such as
minimum wage laws or workers' rights. Thus, the political atmosphere has created a
system in which wealthy business-minded people can easily set up companies. Low
taxation, low corruption, representative government, free trade and a small state were
ideal conditions for the industrial revolution as well as a generally well-functioning
economy and society.

FINANCIAL INNOVATIONS

A lot of financial innovations happened in England in the 17 th and 18th century. Stock
exchange, stock market, joint stock companies, and all these came to England very early.
These things helped the investors to take on ambitious business ventures and risks in
investments and it paid off. Another big thing is the Central Bank, the 1st central bank of
England started in 1694 and it was this is the first time the idea of credit had been
introduced. the deposited money could give to people on an interest. The government
spent all its money on military spending and copied the concept of National Debt by
issuing government bonds. That freed up other capital to fund new ideas and industrial
development.

SALARY
Black Death reduced the UK population by about half. This made labor scarce and
allowed workers to charge for their services and ended serfdom for centuries ago in most
of Europe. This prosperity meant that it was a (relatively) high-paying society, so it made
technological advances in Industry economically become more attractive. It was cheaper
to invent a steam engine to exploit hollow coal mines than to pay slave labor to do so.
That was not most of cases in Europe at this time, including in France, where many
experts chose to operate traditionally because of cheap labor. British high wages
facilitated the invention and producing of machines that sparked the industrial revolution,
as they were more economical than cheap manpower.

TECHNOLOGY

By the time of the Industrial Revolution, inventions and discoveries were celebrated more
in Britain than any country on Earth. That inspired many people to attempt to invent or
discover the next great oddity whether it be gravity, evolution, vaccination, modern
sanitation or the steam engine. England had some of the first and best universities.
Inventors and engineers were encouraged throughout Europe, especially in England and
Scotland. They have been taken care seriously, supported by wealthy customers, and
could test new technologies. Moreover, England was the first country in the world which
had a railway. Two inventions brought this miracle were:

In 1708, Thomas Newcomen invented Simple Engine.

In 1769, James Watt, developed Steam Engine.

Steam Engine not only brought railways, but it changed the face of every industry on
Earth.

THE LARGE COLONIAL EMPIRE

The last reason for why England was the first industrialized country was due in large part
to the growth of the British colonial empire at that time. When the industrial revolution
began, England was in the middle of an era of imperialism. At this time, European
nations discovered and dominated vast lands around the world. The United Kingdom had
the largest empire of all the nations participating in the Age of Imperialism. For example,
in the 1700s, England controlled areas such as North America, South Africa, Egypt, India
and Australia. This was important because it gave England access to the vast amount of
natural resources that they could use in develop factories during the Industrial
Revolution. At the same time, the colonies also granted exclusive trade rights to the
United Kingdom, amounting to hundreds of millions of people. The colonial empire was
a huge advantage for British factory owners, because it meant that their exports abroad
could be safely transported. Colonies abroad also provided British industrialists with
opportunities to trade slaves, Indian teas, Chinese silks and West Indian sugar.

CONCLUSION

All of these factors came together in the late 18 th century to create the unique conditions
in England that culminated in the first-ever Industrial Revolution. This Industrial
Revolution had changed the face of a capitalist country, labor productivity was high,
many industrial parks and big cities had appeared. From small manual production to large
machine production, this was an industrial revolution. England changed from an
agricultural country to the most developed industrialized country in the world. There
appeared two basic classes of capitalist society, the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. That
was a rapid change in the field of manufacturing - from small production, handicraft to
mechanical production, machinery. The development of capitalist production took place
first in England and then spread to other countries.