CAMBRIDGE A-LEVEL HISTORY

INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION NOTES 2024

A. CAUSES OF INDUSTRIALISATION
1. THE AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION
Between about 1780 and 1850, Britain became the first industrialised nation in the
world. Large parts of Britain, especially the north-west of England and the English
Midlands, developed major manufacturing industries. Before this, these areas had
been open fields and farms. These new industries employed many thousands of
people, and the goods they made were transported all over the world. New forms
of transport were developed to bring in the raw materials needed and to export the
finished products.

In 1750, clothing was made by hand in the homes of agricultural workers who
created a couple of metres of cloth a week. By 1850, huge steam-powered
machines in factories produced thousands of metres of better-quality cloth a day.
The workers at home used their hands and feet as a power source, while the new
factories used coal to generate steam power to drive the new machines. This
industrialisation led to a rapid growth in the size of towns and cities, and, by 1850,
the majority of the British population lived in urban areas. The population grew at
a rapid rate and became wealthier overall.

Economic change brought social change, as a middle class formed and grew and an
industrial workforce emerged in the towns and cities. There was also major
political change as the aristocracy was no longer able to dominate parliament and
the government. Whether or not these huge changes amount to a ‘revolution’ or not
has, naturally, been debated. ‘Revolutions’ are often seen as dramatic political
events, such as in Russia in 1917, when the Bolsheviks seized power by force.
Anyone standing in Manchester in 1850 and remembering what it looked like in
1780 would see immediately that there had been huge economic, social and
political changes which affected every member of society. The process might have
taken longer than the Russian Revolution, but it might well have had a greater
impact on the lives of the people.

1
Britain was fortunate in 1750, compared with other nations, in having good
foundations on which to develop industrialisation. Its agricultural system was
capable of feeding a growing population, including the rapidly increasing section
of the population who lived in cities and did not produce their own food.
The general good health of this population and its willingness to be mobile were
additional benefits. The country’s banking system and currency were stable. There
was capital available and a willingness to invest it in new commercial ventures.
Similarly, an increasingly wealthy population were anxious to buy the goods and
luxuries being produced and imported. The country’s enormous supply of coal was
supplemented by the overseas empire, which produced other raw materials such as
cotton, and created a further great demand for manufactured goods.

These colonies could also provide additional foodstuffs to those grown at home.
Some excellent ports, navigable rivers and canals helped to transport all these
goods. The stable social structure meant that society’s leaders, the aristocracy,
were happy to invest in commerce and industry, and so make money. The
aristocracy dominated parliament and the government, and were supportive of
industrialisation. Britain was also politically stable, with an attempted invasion by
the Scots in 1745 defeated. However it was involved in several overseas conflicts,
but these stimulated manufacturing and gained Britain many colonies. Even the
climate was helpful. The mild and damp weather conditions were particularly
suitable for the development of textile industries.

Britain, and England in particular, underwent some significant changes to its

agricultural system in the century before 1750. Whether these changes amounted to
another revolution has been debated by historians, as has the question of how these
changes impacted on the rapid industrialisation. However three key factors must be
stressed: For most of the period, there was sufficient food to feed the population,
unlike in France, for example. Agricultural output increased substantially and diet
improved. This was important in supporting a growing population and in reducing
infant mortality. Britain was able to feed not only a growing city population, which
did not produce its own food, but also a rapidly growing population overall.

2
Agricultural output in Britain had increased in the century before 1750 and a
variety of new techniques for improving output had been developed. The other
significant change to occur before 1750 was the move towards larger farm units.
These developments led to a gradual change in attitudes towards agriculture.
Farming was seen increasingly as a way of making money and not just as a way to
feed a family. For a long time, these changes were referred to as the ‘Agricultural
Revolution’, but that term is now rarely used, as the changes happened over such a
long period of time. However, it is agreed that, after 1750 there was a rapid spread
of new ideas and practices in Britain and a growing entrepreneurial attitude
towards agriculture.

In short, the factors which played a major part in increasing both the quality and
quantity of agricultural output were: the enclosure movement and the growth of
larger farming units improved soil fertility crop rotation selective livestock
breeding better cereal cultivation: wheat/corn, barley, oats and rye the spread of
scientific knowledge about farming.

THE ENCLOSURE MOVEMENT

The enclosure movement broke up the traditional farming units that had belonged
to a small community, and merged them into a larger unit owned by a single
individual. This process had started decades before 1750, but moved much faster
between 1750 and 1800. The traditional agricultural unit in much of southern and
central England was known as the ‘open field’ system. Families cultivated small
strips of land in various parts of the village and also had the right to let their
animals feed on common land. In order to prevent soil exhaustion, up to 35% of
the cultivated land was left fallow each year. The aim of this type of cultivation
was to produce sufficient food to feed a family, and, if things went well, a surplus
which could be sold at market. The ‘fallow’ system was wasteful, however, with
potentially productive land unused each year. Livestock shared the same grazing
land, which made it difficult to breed quality animals. Overall, it was not a
productive method of farming.

3
Enclosure meant that farming land was joined into larger units of 100 acres or
more. The original peasant farmers lost their various rights to use common land for
their animals, and the fields were hedged and ditched. Often the process required
an Act of Parliament, a complex and expensive legal process.

However, as members of parliament were all landowners, they were usually

sympathetic to such requests, and pushed them through. Enclosure enabled these
larger units to be farmed more efficiently and productively, increasing the amount
of food being produced and meaning that betterquality animals could be reared.
Between 1750 and 1800, more than 7 million acres of farmland were enclosed,
which played a huge part in increasing agricultural output.

Farmers made greater use of fertilisers, such as lime, and crops which increased
nitrogen levels in the soil. With more animals being bred and crops developed that
enabled them to be fed over the winter rather than being slaughtered, more manure
was available to prevent soil exhaustion. Greater profits meant that land previously
considered unproductive and unprofitable could be brought into use with just a
little investment in fertiliser and drainage improvements. There was also greater
awareness that certain types of soil suited specific crops or animals, which allowed
for specialisation, with the emphasis on profit and increased productivity.

One technique spread widely in the period after 1750 – crop rotation. It had been
known for decades but was not widely used. Traditionally, on the open-field
system, some areas of farmland were left fallow every third or fourth year in order
to prevent soil exhaustion. This was replaced by a system whereby land would be
planted with wheat, barley, clover and turnips in a four-year cycle. Clover put
nutrients back into the soil and turnips provided good animal feed. This meant that
significantly more land could be used productively every year.

Enclosing land and putting up fences and hedges meant farmers could ensure that
animals were bred selectively. The breeds of cattle which were best for milk or
meat, for example, could be encouraged, and isolating animals in separate fields
reduced the risk of spreading animal diseases. There was a growing awareness
throughout the agricultural community that demand was growing for food and that
prices were rising, and therefore good profits could be made by an efficient food
producer.

4
Growing the right crops on the right soil, preventing soil exhaustion, using
fertilisers and manure effectively, and a greater awareness of the different types of
seed all resulted in an increase in output per acre. With more land under cultivation
food crops such as wheat increased in output.

Many members of the aristocracy took the lead in agricultural innovation, even the
king. George III (1760–1820) had a model farm in which he took great interest. It
was quite fashionable for the leaders of British society to be involved in
developing their lands efficiently, as well as making money out of them. This was
different from countries like France, where the aristocracy did not participate in
such matters.

So, many factors in the process of industrialisation are interconnected. More food
enabled a growing urban population to be fed and producing this food was also
more profitable for farmers. These profits created a demand for manufactured
goods and produced capital for investment in new forms of transport and
manufacturing. More efficient transport enabled fresh food like vegetables to be
transported quickly to cities, helping to improve diets, which led to more babies
living and, therefore, more demand and greater profits for farmers.
ACTIVITY 2.2
GENERAL CONCLUSION
The Enclosure system had many benefits. The benefits and advantages that would
be derived from a general enclosure of common lands, are so numerous as to far
exceed my powers of description or computation. The opportunity it would afford,
of separating dry ground from wet, or well drain the latter and fertilising the rotten
parts, is of infinite consequence. Also it would, with the help of intelligent
breeders, be the means of raising a breed of sheep and cattle far superior to the
present race of wretched half-starved animals now seen.

It may be further observed that the common lands are entirely defective in terms of
labour use. No sooner has enclosure taken place than the whole scene is changed
from dreary waste to one of great activity. Every man capable of working, is
finished with plenty of employment in sinking ditches and drains, making banks
and hedges, and in planting. There is also a need for new houses, making roads,
bridges. This change will provide food and employment for a very increased
population.

5
2. GROWTH OF CAPITALISM
(INVESTMENT, TRADE AND COMMERCE)
There was already a healthy economic and commercial structure and a reliable
currency when the period of rapid industrial growth started in Britain. In 1720,
there had been an outburst of speculation which had damaged the economy, and
the government had reacted quickly to ensure that it did not happen again. There
was a central bank, the Bank of England, which had been set up in 1694.
Governments took care to manage the economy sensibly and, as far as possible,
government expenditure matched its income.

CAPITALISM

Another critical factor was that British financial institutions were in place, such as
a central bank, to finance new factories. British entrepreneurs such as Peter Taylor,
Thomas Lombe and Richard Cabdmen who were interested in taking risks to make
profits led the charge of industrialisation. The enormous demands made on capital
to finance these developments in industrialization helped to create the enhanced
position of banking on an international scale. The tendency in each country was for
the government to rely upon one bank as an agent for its own financial transactions
and as a means of controlling the fiscal economy of the country. This was the
origin of the central banks in all the countries to regulate and standardise the
currencies in Britain.

The most striking feature of all was the growth of international financial
operations. The notes of the bank of England enjoyed an unrivalled position in
Europe after the Napoleonic war and the immense amount of capital available in
England. It is important to note that due to her earlier industrialisation, combined
with a long experience in the handling of cheques and the clearing house system
made London the financial centre of the world. Significantly, merchant bankers in
the city, the great houses of Rothschild and Baring brothers, were the services to
which governments and businessmen all over the continent as well as in North and
South America increasingly turned for the floating of loans to finance new
industrial developments and the building of railways.

6
The activities of these London bankers spanned across the different countries in a
delicate web of international credit eventually making the economy of one country
become largely involved in the economies of other states. It is interesting to note
that international finance and increased financial dependence on Britain
consequently raised questions on new policies such as free trade or protective
customs duties. National commercial policies were directly influenced by the
strengthened position of the commercial and industrial classes after the revolutions
of 1830 in France and Belgium and the Reform Act of 1832 in Great Britain.
National policies came to be based on the assumption that in open competition, the
British industrialists had an overriding advantage over their counterparts on the
continent. Thus, whereas in Great Britain, the tendency was to continue to lower or
to remove import duties, a policy of protection for the new industries prevailed on
the continent.

INVESTMENT
Britain had an established system of country banks and respected local money
lenders. They were able to lend money at low interest rates to people who wanted
to start a business. Men who had either made large sums of money in overseas
trade or who had profits from their land were accustomed to investing it in further
enterprises. Many aristocrats developed large coal mines on their own land. The
profits from those mines were then invested in improvements in transport, such as
roads and canals, which helped to lower prices but increase profits. There was a
general belief that it was sensible to invest surplus money in business and social
enterprises. With an established insurance market, the risks of investment could be
spread. There were already plenty of success stories to show potential investors
that their money would be secure and that there was a good chance of a reasonable
return on their capital.

7
OVERSEAS TRADE
Foreign trade was an important feature of the British economy in the decades
before 1750. Those who wished to sell goods abroad found there was a well-
established system to assist them. The Royal Navy was the most powerful in the
western world at the time and saw as one of its principal functions – after
defending the country – protecting and advancing British trading interests
overseas. The government and influential parliament at the time were determined
to protect and develop British trade. The government raised much of the income it
needed to run the country through taxes on imports and exports, but was willing to
adjust, or even end, such taxes if they were felt to damage trade in any way.

Alongside the Royal Navy, Britain had developed a large merchant navy in the
course of the 18th century, capable of carrying finished goods all over the world.
Britain was overtaking the Dutch as the carriers of Europe. Many aristocrats and
members of parliament were directors or shareholders in the two great overseas
trading companies: the West India Company, which traded in the Caribbean, and
the more famous East India Company, which traded with, and eventually owned,
large parts of India. They formed extremely powerful pressure groups which
ensured that those involved in overseas trade had a real influence on policy
making. One of the reasons why a reluctant Prime Minister Walpole went to war
with Spain in 1739 was the pressure on his government from trading interests.
Britain fought four wars with other European powers between 1739 and 1783,
primarily to advance its commercial interests and acquire new colonies. New
colonies meant more markets for British goods, which in turn meant increased
profits for British companies, their owners and investors.

Some of the country’s rivers leading to major ports, such as Bristol and Liverpool,
were developed as far as possible to make it easy to import and export goods.
There was huge investment in the ports themselves to make them more efficient.
As early as 1700, groups of British merchants placed agents, known as ‘factors’, in
major ports throughout the world, from China to South America. These men were
responsible for importing goods to Britain but, above all, for developing markets
for British goods overseas. While domestic demand for manufactures steadily
increased in the early 18th century, foreign demand grew at a faster rate. Not only
could the factors sell every item of woollen cloth and cotton that they could import,
but demand around the world was rising for British manufactured goods such as
those made from pottery, glass and metal.

8
Manufacturers in Britain knew that they could sell abroad almost anything they
could make and that the means were there to ensure the goods arrived and their
profits returned. Underpinning much of this overseas trade was slavery. A
significant amount of the investment in the great ports of Liverpool and Bristol
came from merchants who made huge sums of money in this trade. Ships sailed to
Africa with cargoes of metal goods and textiles, which were sold in return for
slaves. The slaves were then transported to the British colonies in the West Indies
and North America and sold there. The proceeds were used to buy sugar, cotton
and tobacco, which were sold at immense profit back in Britain. Although a risky –
and barbaric – business, returns of 200–300% on investments were not unusual.
Much of the capital earned this way was used to fund other major entrepreneurial
projects, such as canals and railroads.

COMMERCE
Britain in the 18th century did not suddenly go from a nation where the vast
majority of the population were engaged in subsistence farming to a nation where
the majority of the population worked in city factories making manufactured
goods. In 1750, it already had a flourishing trade in woollen goods, which were
sold all over the world. This trade had been going on for centuries. There were also
many other industries, such as nail making, boot and shoe making and cutlery
manufacture, that explorted their products and provided for a growing domestic
market. Many of these centred on specific areas (often those with low agricultural
productivity), like the wool industry in Yorkshire, lace making in Bedfordshire and
metal work in Sheffield. Sophisticated systems of bringing in raw materials and
distributing the finished products around Britain, as well as exporting them abroad,
had existed for a long time. In 1750, for example, over 70% of the woollen goods
manufactured in Yorkshire were exported to Europe or America. A highly complex
production and distribution network for textiles, as well as other industries, which
involved large amounts of capital, already existed when the industrial ‘revolution’
came to Britain.

The major difference between this type of manufacturing and in the period
between 1750 and 1800 was that, in the earlier period, the manufacturing process
occurred largely in the home. This was known as ‘cottage’ or ‘domestic’ industry.
Families – and often the entire family was involved – might primarily work on
their land, or the land of others, during the spring and summer months. For the rest
of the year, they might spin raw wool into yarn, or weave the yarn into woollen
cloth, for example.

9
In parts of Worcestershire and Warwickshire, they might make nails in small
furnaces attached to the rear of their cottages, and, in the area around Sheffield,
they might make knives and forks. Pins and needles made in homes in
Worcestershire were being sold in New York and Hamburg in 1750. So, Britain
already had a thriving commercial system by the middle of the 18th century. What
happened in the decades after was that mass production built on an already
established system of commerce, which was capable of almost indefinite
expansion.

3. GROWTH OF POPULATION
People are essential to any industrialisation process. The rapid growth of
population in this period was an important factor behind industrial growth for two
reasons. Firstly, a manufacturer needs people to work in his factories and a railway
company needs men to build and run the railway. Secondly, there is no point in
producing large amounts of textiles if there are few people to buy them. Domestic
demand is important. As by means of water-carriage a more extensive market is
opened to every sort of industry than what land carriage alone can afford, so it is
upon the sea coast and along the banks of navigable rivers, the industry of every
kind naturally begins to sub divide and improve itself. A broad wheeled wagon,
attended by two men and drawn by eight horses in about six weeks’ time carries
and brings back between London and Edinburgh four ton weight of goods. In about
the same time a ship navigated by six or eight men, frequently carries and brings
back about two hundred ton weight of goods.

There is some debate about whether this population growth was a cause or a
consequence of agricultural and industrial change, but the link between the growth
and industrialisation can be clearly seen. The population tripled in the 150 years to
1850. It provided labour for the factories, and the essential domestic demand for
Britain’s manufactured goods. The decades after 1780 saw real acceleration in the
industrialisation process. It is the truly ‘revolutionary’ period. Productivity in all
areas of manufacturing soared. The conditions were right and there were no major
obstacles. A large number of interconnected factors influenced the changes.

10
4. AVAILABILITY OF RAW MATERIALS.
(IRON AND COAL)
The availability of large quantities of the relevant raw materials needed for
manufacturing was very important in the rapid industrialisation process which
Britain underwent in the period after 1780. There were huge supplies of coal, iron
ore, wool and cotton.

COAL
Coal was available in unlimited quantities at a reasonable price once transport
costs dropped. Newcomen’s steam-engine pump and the development of canals
and, later, railways, ensured that as much coal as necessary could be transported
efficiently to where it was needed. Britain also had the different types of coal
required for different processes, such as making iron, heating houses and driving
steam engines. Coal was mined in many parts of Britain, from Kent to central
Scotland, which made getting it to where it was needed easier. The importance of
coal to the industrialisation process cannot be underestimated.

IRON
To produce iron for factory machines, steam engines and railway lines, there has to
be iron ore in the ground. Britain was again fortunate in having large supplies of
iron ore, and it was quite easy to dig out. Again, the development of canals made
transporting the ore to where it was refined straightforward. There were large iron
ore deposits in south Wales, central Scotland, and the north-east and north
Midlands of England. Many of these deposits were close to major coal mines,
which led to the growth of large-scale iron-making industries nearby, including
near the ports of Cardiff and Swansea in south Wales. Good-quality iron ore and
vast quantities of coal meant that iron could be made on a large scale and, of
course, transported out via the canal system. The interconnection between the
various causes of industrialisation is evident here.

11
While Abraham Darby had made a vital innovation in 1709 with the use of coke
rather than charcoal in making iron (see ‘Early mechanisation: steam engines and
spinning machines’), it was still an expensive process and difficult to achieve a
high-quality product. It was still cheaper to import iron. In 1783 and 1784, Henry
Cort took out two patents on ‘puddling’ and rolling iron which were to lead to the
production of better-quality, cheaper iron in Britain.

As with many other inventions, Cort’s innovations were built on the work of others
and needed others to make them fully commercial. Peter Onions, an ironmaster
working in Wales, had carried out many experiments in puddling, which Cort both
knew of and refined. Then, a series of Welsh ironmasters in the late 1780s and
early 1790s took Cort’s innovations and developed them commercially. One iron
foundry in south Wales produced 500 tons of quality iron in 1785. After adapting
the new techniques, it produced 10 000 tons in 1812. Britain now had all the good-
quality iron it needed.

TEXTILES
Cotton was not grown in Britain; it had to be imported. Britain had an advantage
again, however, in having (before 1783) colonies which could produce large
amounts of raw cotton and a large merchant navy to transport it from America to
Britain under protection by the highly effective Royal Navy. After the War of
Independence between Britain and the new United States of America, political
relations between the two countries were not good, but cotton growers in the
American South and British cotton manufacturers took great care to ensure that
this vital trade was not affected.

The other vital raw material behind industrialisation was wool. The wool trade had
existed in Britain for centuries before cotton began to arrive on a large scale, and
there was more than enough raw wool to meet the demand before mechanisation of
the industry. Mechanisation, however, increased the quality and supply, and price
reductions along with this improvement in quality also increased demand. While
the wool industry did not enjoy the huge increases in output that cotton did, there
was steady growth throughout period. Until about 1815, Britain could produce
sufficient raw wool, with specialist breeding and greater use of marginal land
ensuring greater output.

12
When British farmers could not produce enough raw wool to meet demand, as in
the early 19th century, sheep farming was developed in British colonies such as
Australia and New Zealand. These colonies were themselves growing rapidly,
which further increased the demand for British manufactured goods – and so
industrialisation continued.Britain had vast supply of mineral resources used to run
industrial machines, such as coal. Since Britain is a relatively small country, these
resources could be transported quickly and at a reasonable cost. The British
government passed laws that protected private property and placed few restrictions
on private business owners. Britain’s merchant marine could transport goods to
foreign markets. Lastly, Great Britain’s colonial empire created a ready supply of
consumers to purchase its manufactured goods.

13