Chapter 22 - Economic developments 1846-85 Flashcards
1
Q
What percentage of total traded manufactured goods in the world did Britain produce by the mid-19th century?
A
Over 40%
2
Q
What percentage of world trade passed through British ports by the mid-19th century?
A
25%
3
Q
What were 2 economic effects of the Great Exhibition?
A
Rapid increase in export orders and a growth in overseas markets
4
Q
When was the Great Exhibition?
A
1851
5
Q
What proportion of British goods were exported to the Empire by the mid-19th century?
A
1/3
6
Q
What was the main export market for British coal?
A
Europe
7
Q
Why was the USA such a good export market for Britain in the mid-19th century?
A
Because its own industries were not sufficiently developed to cope with the demands of a rapidly increasing population
8
Q
For how long did the growth of the export trade in Britain continue unchallenged in the mid-19th century?
A
20 years
9
Q
Why were exhibits from competitor countries allowed at the Great Exhibition?
A
To outline Britain’s commitment to free trade, and to highlight the superior quality of British goods
10
Q
How many people visited the Great Exhibition?
A
6 million
11
Q
How did many travel to the Great Exhibition?
A
Via train
12
Q
What accompanied the boom in British exports of the mid-19th century?
A
Technological developments, and a rapid increase in production across the board
13
Q
Who coined the phrase ‘High Farming’?
A
James Caird
14
Q
When was the phrase ‘High Farming’ coined?
A
1849
15
Q
What 3 principles did British governments generally adhere to throughout the economic boom of the mid-19th century?
A
- Low taxation
- Laissez-Faire
- Free trade
16
Q
In what year did British economic growth significantly slow, ending the mid-19th century economic boom?
A
1873
17
Q
What were 2 reasons for the economic boom of the mid-19th century ending?
A
- Increasing competition from nations such as Germany and the USA
- Increase in imports against exports
18
Q
What were 5 features of the golden age of agriculture in Britain?
A
- Successive high yielding harvests
- Steady prices
- Increase in farmers’ incomes
- Scientific and technological improvement
- Improvements carried out
19
Q
By what year had the golden age of agriculture begun?
A
1853
20
Q
What did ‘High Farming’ describe?
A
The farming methods which were used during the agricultural golden age
21
Q
What was mixed farming?
A
Where farmers grew crops and had animals
22
Q
There was a shift with many farmers from purely arable farming to what during the golden age of agriculture?
A
Mixed farming
23
Q
What were two advantages of mixed farming over arable farming?
A
- Protection against sudden downturn in livestock or crop prices
- Surplus crops could be used to feed animals, and manure could be used as fertiliser for crops
24
Q
How did High Farming methods affect productivity?
A
They increased it
25
Where did much of the profits in farming lie during the golden age of farming?
Livestock rearing
26
What was imported in large quantities from Peru during the golden age of farming?
Guano
27
What was the guano industry worth by 1870?
£8 million
28
What industry was worth £5 million by 1870?
Animal feedstuffs made from cotton seed or linseed
29
What did the developments in animal feedstuffs and fertilisers by 1870 do for farmers?
Eased pressure on farmers to pursue mixed farming and allowed them to specialise better in either arable or livestock
30
How was the problem of poor drainage dealt with during the golden age of farming?
Clay pipes were manufactured and the Government introduced loan schemes for drainage pipe systems
31
What two factors helped improve crop yields during the golden age of farming?
Better drainage and use of fertilisers
32
What factor meant that introduction of farm machinery was slow during the golden age of farming?
Ready supply of cheap labour
33
What technological advancements in agriculture occured during the golden age of farming?
Use of the horse-drawn reaper, better ploughs, better seed drills and introduction of steam-driven threshing machines
34
What 3 factors increased the demand for agricultural products during the golden age of farming?
1. Steady population growth
2. Rising prosperity
3. General rise in wages and prices
35
What met the greater demand for food during the golden age of farming?
Agricultural improvements
36
How did the railways benefit farming?
Meant that fresh food could be transported quickly to growing towns
37
How much of home consumption of wheat were British farmers producing by the early 1870s?
Around 50%
38
How much of home consumption of meat were British farmers producing by the early 1870s?
Around 90%
39
What agricultural areas of Britain conspicuously did not benefit from the golden age of farming and why?
The remote north and west of Scotland, as farming was under-resourced and technological improvements did not really reach these areas
40
What two things did the greater availability of good, cheap food help increase during the golden age of farming?
Standard of living and public health
41
When did the golden age of farming end and a depression begin?
1873
42
What 2 factors were important in ending the golden age of farming?
1. End of a series of fine, dry summers
2. Greater competition causing a catastrophic fall in prices
43
What was the British population in 1851?
~21 million
44
What was the British population in 1881?
~35 million
45
What were some reasons for Britain's exceptional industrial progress?
1. They were the first industrialised nation
2. Imperial power, so controlled vital sea routes and got plentiful raw materials from colonies
3. Plentiful supply of natural resources such as coal and iron ore
4. Laissez-faire giving freedom for inventors and entrepreneurs
5. Expansion of the railway network
46
What did the move towards free trade in Britain in the 1850s and 1860s do?
Encouraged overseas trading and facilitated industrial development
47
Whose tariff reforms in the 1850s and 1860s helped stimulate Free Trade?
Gladstone, who was Chancellor of the Exchequer by this point
48
What were the two key industries of Britain by the mid-19th century?
Coal and iron
49
Why were the coal and iron industries so important to Britain's economic growth by the mid-19th century?
Almost all manufactured goods relied on coal and iron to some extent- iron to build the machinery and coal to produce steam
50
What was the annual output of coal by 1850?
~50 million tons
51
What was the annual output of coal by 1875?
~130 million tons
52
What percentage of British-produced coal was the iron industry buying by 1870?
1/3
53
What 2 things helped stimulate increased coal production by the mid-19th century?
1. Drop in coal price
2. Increase in demand for coal
54
Was there much technological improvement in coal mining by the mid-19th century? Why?
Not really, due to the laissez-faire government and private ownership of the coal mines
55
What were two significant technological improvements in the iron industry and what years did they occur in?
1. John Neilson's Hot Blast (1827)
2. James Nasmyth's Steam Hammer (1844)
56
What was iron ore production in 1855?
9 million tons
57
What was iron ore production in 1875?
Over 15 millions tons
58
What advance in metallurgy took place by the 1860s and 1870s?
Use of steel in manufacturing, as well as improvements in steel production leading to it being produced more quickly, cheaply and in larger quantities
59
Where were existing railway networks expanded during the mid-19th century?
England, Wales and the South of Scotland
60
How many rail passengers were carried in 1860?
153 million
61
How many miles of railway track were there by 1860?
9069 miles
62
How many tons of freight were carried by rail in 1860?
88 million tons of freight
63
How much money was made for railways by passenger charges and freight charges put together in 1860?
£26.4 million
64
How much money was made for railways by passenger charges and freight charges put together in 1875?
£56.4 million
65
How many tons of freight were carried by rail in 1875?
196 million tons of freight
66
How many miles of railway track were there by 1875?
14,510 miles
67
How many rail passengers were carried in 1875?
490 million passengers
68
Why was laying rail track across the Scottish Highlands a costly exercise?
The difficult terrain and sparse population
69
What were 3 prosperous railway towns?
Crewe, Doncaster and Derby
70
When did the first London Underground line open?
1863
71
How many passengers did the London Underground carry in its first year?
10 million passengers
72
How did steel rails help the railway industry?
Cut production costs, increased profits, produced more capital for future investment
73
What was the Bessemer process?
A cheap and efficient process for making steel, developed around 1850
74
Rail profits were used to fund railway expansion in what 4 nations?
India, Canada, Argentina and the USA
75
What nation's sailing boats did Britain's shipping industry receive fierce competition from by the mid-19th century?
The USA
76
What was the most important stimulus for the increase in shipbuilding after 1850?
The growth in world trade
77
When did the Suez Canal open?
November 1869
78
How did the Suez Canal boost British steam shipping?
Was too narrow for large sail ships to get through
79
What was the tonnage of steam ships registered in Britain in 1880?
Over 3 million tons
80
What was the tonnage of steam ships registered in Britain in 1850?
~319,000 tons
81
What industry accounted for almost 2/3 of Britain's exports in 1851?
The textile industry
82
What caused textiles' share of the export market to fall in the 1860s?
Exports of other commodities such as coal, machinery, iron and steel goods
83
What proportion of cotton sold in the world markets until 1900 was British?
2/3
84
What was the economic growth rate of Britain by the mid-19th century?
Around 2% per year
85
What did the profits of Britain's export market provide in the mid-19th century?
Capital for further investment at home and overseas
86
How did trade affect Britain's foreign policy and diplomacy?
It increased its influence abroad and promoted peace, especially when Gladstone was in power
87
What sustained Britain's economic progress during the mid-19th century?
Gladstone's reduction of taxation and free trade policy
88
What were 4 factors in the economic downturn after 1873?
1. Depression in agriculture
2. Falling prices
3. Narrowing profit margins
4. Foreign competition increasing
89
Why was the British workforce falling behind that of nations such as Germany by the 1870s?
Most children left education at 12 with no industrial training which could support innovation- this was not the case abroad
90
Which 2 nations had potentially stronger home markets than Britain by the 1870s?
Germany and the USA
91
What problem for Britain's economy came in 1879?
Germany introduced trade tariffs, whilst Britain stuck to Laissez-Faire
92
What was the state of British industry technologically by the 1870s?
Britain had fallen behind the latest technology, and there was a reluctance to invest new capital to remedy this
93
What was more damaging to the farming industry after 1873, wet summers or increased foreign competition?
Foreign competition, especially from North American wheat production
94
How did Britain's own foreign investment harm its farming industry by the 1870s?
British money had helped railway building in the USA, but this now allowed large amounts of American wheat to be taken to the east coast and transported to Britain to compete with its wheat, causing a fall in British wheat prices
95
Did Disraeli introduce tariffs to protect British agriculture and why?
No- he accepted free Trade, in part because of the decrease in the power of the landed interest
