The Industrial Revolution Commerce and Imperial expansion (1815-1870)

What was the Industrial Revolution? The Industrial Revolution changed labour patterns, social structure, the function of the family and the values and attitudes of the individual. It involved more than simply technological expansion - it was driven by a massive social shift… Pre 1750 Europe was agricultural. Aristocratic landowners leased their land to tenant farmers who paid for it with the goods which they produced. Commerce and Imperial Expansion 1815-1870

Commerce and Imperial Expansion 1815-1870 The nature of the shift Non-agricultural items were created by individual families with specific skills (such as making wagon wheels). Many machines were already known, and there were factories using them, but these were the exceptions rather than the rule. Wood was the only fuel, water and wind the only power. In a single generation shift to a capitalist-based urban system. Commerce and Imperial Expansion 1815-1870

Commerce and Imperial Expansion 1815-1870 New tech Pre 1800 new tech forced the development of FACTORY: The steam engine. James Watt's steam engine, patented in 1769. Watt's 75% saving in fuel made the steam engine far more efficient and practical for industry. The Spinning Jenny, invented by James Hargreaves in 1797 allowed sixteen strands of cotton to be spun together at the same time – doing the work of several labourers in a fraction of the time. The effect on cotton output was dramatic. The Cotton Gin, invented by American Eli Whitney in 1793 mechanised the separation of seeds from cotton fibres. Commerce and Imperial Expansion 1815-1870

Commerce and Imperial Expansion 1815-1870 Economic changes The mercantile economy was also assisted by the ease and price of travelling around England. Trade thrived in England because there were no internal tariffs or duties on commerce, which was not true of the continental European states. Moving goods around cheaply meant that profits soared and industry thrived. The big railway boom between 1844 and 1847 meant that cargo could be transported around the company cheaply. Commerce and Imperial Expansion 1815-1870

Why did Britain succeed ABROAD ? ECONOMY: Increased demand in the international market for European goods also drove the conversion to a marketing economy. FLEET in place: policing foreign markets from the mid nineteenth century. COLONIES which could furnish raw materials and act as captive markets for manufactured goods. WARFARE: As almost every war that Britain fought in the eighteenth century resulted in the acquisition of foreign territory, the country monopolized overseas trade. Commerce and Imperial Expansion 1815-1870

Why did Britain succeed at home? 1. A STRONGLY CAPITALIST GOVERNMENT. As a result, there was much parliamentary legislation that favoured mercantile interests. 2. ENCLOSURE LAWS: The enclosure laws of the eighteenth century saw an increase in agricultural production and turned the established rules of land ownership on their head. 3. DISPLACED LABOUR FORCE AVAILABLE FOR FACTORIES. Enclosure caused the displaced peasants to head for the cities. Subsequently, there was an abundant labour supply to mine coal and iron, and man the factories. Commerce and Imperial Expansion 1815-1870

Commerce and Imperial Expansion 1815-1870 4. A STRONG MIDDLE CLASS The revolution moved economic power away from the aristocratic classes and into the hands of the new middle class, the bourgeoisie. This new force in society was intent on making money, as much and as quickly as possible. Adam Smith’s account, The Wealth of Nations, proposed that the only legitimate goal of government and human activity is the steady increase of the overall wealth of the nation. Wealth had replaced religion, politics and power as the driving force of society. Commerce and Imperial Expansion 1815-1870

The Legacy of the Industrial revolution It changed the face of nations, giving rise to urban centres requiring vast municipal services. It created a specialized and interdependent economic life and made the urban worker more dependent on the will of the employer than the rural worker had been. Relations between capital and labour were aggravated, and Marxism was one product of this unrest. Doctrines of laissez-faire, developed in the writings of Adam Smith and David Ricardo, sought to maximize the use of new productive facilities. Commerce and Imperial Expansion 1815-1870

Interventionism or Laissez-Faire ? But the revolution also brought a need for a new type of state intervention to protect the labourer and to provide necessary services. Laissez faire gradually gave way in the United States, Britain, and elsewhere to welfare capitalism. The Industrial Revolution also provided the economic base for the rise of the professions, population expansion, and improvement in living standards. These remain primary goals of less developed nations. Commerce and Imperial Expansion 1815-1870