1.2 Economic developments: industrialisation and agriculture

Question 1

what was the main cause of the industrial revolution

Geography

Answer 1

• Raw materials - coal and iron was abundant, especially in wales and the midlands, which could be used to power steam engines and power looms, or could be cold and exported
• Island - porvided safety from invasion and therefore made britian politically stable. Goods could be easily transported along the coastlines making prodcuts more readily available which contributed to the expansion of britains growing market. Also made britain easily accessible to the new markets in south america and the usa
• Navigable rivers - with plently of navigable rivers across the country goods could be easily transported by river. the fast flowing streams were also utilised to power the early cotton mills.
• Topography - the diversity of the british countryside enabled farmers to begin specialising their crops and begin to sell their crops for a profit, a distinct shift from the medievil sustience farming. The north was mainly pastoral farming while in the south east arable farming was more common

Question 2

What caused the industrial revolution

New inventions

Answer 2

• new inventions first appeared in the textile industry and spread to other industries such as coal and iron
• eg the spinning jenny and Arkwright’s water frame and cartwright’s power loom
• these inventions led to numerous developments such as the factory system because many of these bnew inventions were large and required a power source (water and then later steam)
• however new inventions were not the main cause of the industrial revolution but were instead something of a catalyst for industrial change
• high wages pushed employers to look for alternatives leading to many inventions in order to replace workers

Question 3

what was the cause of the industrial revolution

Social factors

Answer 3

• The rich - successful businessmen could buy their way into the upper classes, making social mobility much easier eg Arkwright who was knighted and built himself a mannor house. the arisocracy were not above getting involved in investment and buissness with ‘new money’ companoes eg the duke of bridgewater who invested in canal building
• the poor - the poor law helped keep the population high and desperate for any work whatever their conditions

Question 4

what was the cause of the industrial revolution

population

Answer 4

• provided a large market and a large workforce
• 11 mill-1760 to 16 mill-1801
• increased demand for food and goods
• perhaps the increase was caused by the industrial revolution instead of the ther way around

Question 5

What caused the industrial revolution

Government

Answer 5

• Stability - no invasion or serious threats of revolution unlike the rest of Europe eg when radicalism arose the gov was swift and decisive - attractive to foreign investors
• Did not allow monopolies - other than the east india company, gov policy looked to create competition as it encouraged innovation and creativity from companies
• Backed buissiness - gov consistantly supported comapnies and buissinesses over the needs of the working class or even the landed interest eg laisse-faire policy with a lack of regulations to prohibit the growth of industry and the pacification of majority of the work force eg combinations act 1799 banning trade unions and strikes