22. Economic Developments Flashcards
What estimated percentage of total traded manufactured goods were produced by Britain?
40%
What percentage of the worlds trade passed through British Ports?
25%
What year was the Great Exhibition at the Crystal Palace?
1851
What fraction of British goods were exported to the British Empire?
1/3
Why were many goods exported to the US?
Their own industries weren’t developed to cope with their increasing population
What was the Great Exhibition?
A showcase of Britain’s industry and invention. Open for 5 months and attracted 6 million people
What was Britain’s nickname?
The workshop of the world
Who was their competition in the world market?
USA and Germany
What was a fear in the farming community after the Corn Laws were repealed?
The price of home grown corn would collapse against competition from foreign imports
In what year did Britain enter the golden age of agriculture?
1853
Who is credited with introducing the term “high farming”?
James Caird
What was “high farming”? And why was this an advantage?
Mixed farming- growing different crops and keeping cattle, sheep and pigs. Farmers could be cushioned if there was a downturn in the price of either crops or live stock
Where was guano imported from?
Peru
How much was the agricultural industry worth by 1870?
£8 million
How much was the market for animal feedstuffs from linseed and cotton seed worth by 1870?
£5 million
How was the problem of poor drainage felt with?
The introduction of clay pipes. The government introduced loas for farmers to invest in drainage pipes
What type of labourers were among the poorly paid?
Agricultural labourers
What machinery was used in agriculture to increase the efficiency of farming?
Horse drawn reaper, ploughs, seed drills, steam driven machines
By the 1870s, what percentage of home consumption of wheat and mean was produced by British farmers?
Wheat- 50%
Meat- 90%
Why was there an element of good luck during the “golden age” of farming?
Numerous high yielding harvests between 1850 and 1873
In what year did Britain start to face an economic downturn?
1873
By how much did Britain’s population increase between 1851 and 1881?
27 million to 35 million
By how much did Britain’s output of coal increase between 1850 and 1871?
50 million tons to 130 million tons
Why was mining of coal inefficient?
It was still dug out by hand
Where was there a failed attempt to develop a coal cutting machine?
Gartsherrie in Scotland during the 1860s
What two technological advancements in the iron industry aided its development?
Neilson’s hot blast (1872)
James Nasmyth’s steam hammer (1844)
By how much did the output of coal increase between 1855-1875?
9 million tons to 15 million tons
When was the first London Underground line introduced, and what was it?
The Metropolitan line in 1863
How many passengers did the Metropolitan line in the London Underground carry in its first year?
10 million
Describe the railway statistics between 1860 and 1877
1860- 9096 miles of track, 153 million passengers, revenue of £12.2 million from ticket sales
1877- 14510 miles of track, 490 million passengers, revenue of £24.3 million
Where were British ships facing competition for American sailing boats?
The Atlantic
When was the Suez Canal opened?
1869
What did the opening of the Suez Canal do?
Cut the journey time to India, China and Australia
By how much did the tonnage of British steam ships increase between 1850 and 1880?
1850- 319,000 tons
1880- 3 million tons
How much of British exports did the cotton industry account for in 1851?
2/3
When and why did the cotton industry’s share of the export market decrease by 1860s?
Exports of other industries such as coal, iron and steel rose
When did Disraeli purchase black shares of the Suez Canal?
1875
When was the American Civil War?
1863-1866
When was the Franco-Prussian War?
1870-71
When did Britain face and economic downturn?
1873 and beyond
Why are the arguments what there wasn’t a depression?
Industry was still developing but at a slower rate
Production continued to increase
Why was there a depression?
Poor harvests, supply overtaking demand so prices fell and there was a reduction in profit margins
British industry facing more competition such as Germany
When was Germany unified? And what had it been before?
1871, a series of loose confederations of German speaking states with Austria and Prussia vying for dominance
How did German tariffs affect Britain’s economy?
Germany introduced trade tariffs
What caused the end of the “golden age” of agriculture?
A wet summer and a poor harvest in 1873.
Cheaper grain imports from USA
What is an interpretation of the cause of the depression?
Britain had come to an end of a long period of economic growth that could not be sustained
