Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Why Great Britain Led the
Industrial Revolution
- Natural Resources
- Coal, iron ore, etc.
- Labour
- Enclosure movement
- Population continued to grow on the base
of the 18th-century population explosion
- Better forms of transportation (such as the railway)
allowed people to migrate to the cities. . . by 1850,
one-half of the population of England and Whales and
one-quarter of the population of France and Germany
had become town-dwellers
- Capital
- The Industrial Revolution carried a domino-like
effect. With one advance came another, which
led to another in turn.
- Profit made in early industries (e.g.
textile, iron-making, etc.) was reinvested
- Markets
- The end of the French Revolution and the
Napoleonic Wars opened the continent up
to British products
- The Latin-American wars of
independence opened the markets
of Central and South America
- The United States and Canada
demanded British products
- Through its control of India, Britain
commanded the markets of southern Asia
- Transportation
- Canals
- Railways: 1830's and
1840's were the great
ages of railroad
construction
- Entrepreneurship
- Strong middle class
- Adventurous, liberal nobles who were willing to invest in new ventures
- Government Support
- Strong navy to protect merchant ships
- Commercially-minded Parliament
- Few laws to limit what
entrepreneurs could do