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Why did Great Britain become the First Industrial Nation?

(24 marks)

Great Britain became the first nation to industrialise for a number of reasons including its
growing population, its abundance of resources and, the vast amounts of capital accumulated
which could be spent on investments and speculative and industrial projects. Transport costs
were also in low in Great Britain and the development of the canal network was a key factor
in the industrialisation process.
As Eric J. Hobsbawm mentioned in his book, Great Britain had profited enormously from the
Atlantic Slave Trade, accumulating a massive amount of Capital which could be used to
invest in new projects. Money was available to open factories, mines, and large farms or to
invest in inventions like James Watts rotary motion steam engine in 1781.
Investment was further stimulated by the low interest rate of 5% imposed on all commercial
loans by the Usury Law of 1714 which were repealed in 1832. This discouraged loaning huge
amounts of money which meant people had more money to spend.
Great Britain invested enormous sums of money in transport infrastructure, one of the reasons
as to why it was the first nation to industrialise. 22 million was invested in the Canal System
from 1761-1815, and 250 million was invested in railways from 1830-1850.
The development of the canal system and the railway network was a key contributor to Great
Britains industrialisation. In 1757 the first industrial canal was cut from the Mersey to St
Helens, its purpose was to bring Cheshire salt to Lancashire coal. Impressed by the increased
efficiency of using canals to transport bulk, the canal system was grown and from 1761-1815
stretched for more than 2,000 miles. The canals had an advantage over road transport because
the amount they could carry was many times greater than what they could carry by road; in
1765 a team of seven horses could pull a wagon by road carrying a load of 6 tons whereas

one canal horse could pull 50 tons. It was also cheaper and more efficient to use the canal
system for bulk goods such as coal. This meant that more parts of the country had better
access to the vast amounts of coal that Great Britain had which were previously inaccessible.
The canal system also led to the development of the profession of civil engineering. Likewise
the development of the railway network meant that cargo could be transported more easily.
The canal system and the railway network also generated more jobs, creating the multiplier
effect. As well as investing in transport, Great Britain also increased investment abroad from
25 million in 1815 to 100 million.
Another reason as to why Great Britain was the first country to industrialise was that it
focussed on industrialising its growing cotton and textile industries, both which had
increasing importance to the British economy and soon became Britains main exports. The
invention of James Hargreaves Spinning Jenny in 1765 and the opening of Thomas Lombes
factory in 1718 were key pioneers in the industrialisation of the textile industry. The
Spinning Jenny and Richard Arkwrights Water Frame led to the invention of Samuel
Comptons Mule and eventually Cartwrights Power Loom. The new machinery as well as
better, steam powered mills meant that textiles could be produced more efficiently and
cheaply. By 1833 there were 100,000 power looms already in use and in contrast, only 40,000
hand weavers were left. Gaslights were also introduced which meant that workers could work
during the day and during the night to ensure the factories were in constant use and although
profits quadrupled, operatives wages barely increased over the period of 1820-1845. The
rapid expansion in the cotton and textile industries stimulated demand in other industries:
coal mining; dyeing and chemical industries; iron and steel; heavy engineering;
transportation; shipping and financial service.
Great Britain was the first nation to industrialise because it invested into sceptical projects
with the capital it had accumulated from the Atlantic Slave Trade. It was also a large colonial

empire and could therefore import raw materials from around the world via steam ships, thus
increasing the resources it had at its disposal; adding to the amount that was in Great Britain
itself. It had also not suffered as much political, social or economic damage as some other
European countries as a result of the Napoleonic Wars and therefore was more stable and
could afford to invest in large scale projects. It successfully developed the canal system
which increased the efficiency of transporting bulk resources such as coal and also developed
the railway system to transport cargo more cheaply and efficiently which aided to the
industrialisation of the cotton and textile industries and well as the iron industry.

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