2 ORIGIN OF THE INDUSTRIAL, REVOLUTION’ Tr problem ofthe origin ofthe Industrial Revolution i nt a cay one butt is made even more difcaltif we lt cary it So is aswel wo begin with lite carieaon, Fis, the Industral Revolution isnt merely an acceleration ‘of economic growth, but an acceraion of gromth beens of, fand through, economic and sacl arsformation, The atiy ‘observer, whe concentrated thei tention on the qualitatively ‘new way of producing dhe machines, the factory system and {he est™~had the right instinct, though they sometimes lloned ‘ttoouneiealy. It was not Birmingham, x city which produced 1 great deal more in 18go han #750 but ently in he ‘ol! way, which made contemporarks speak of an industrial revolution, but Manchester, a cy which produced more in ‘more obviously revolutionary manne. In the late eighteenth ‘Century this ecanomic and socal transformation took place in nd through acapitalis economy. As we now fom the twentieth ‘entry, hiss noth only form nda revolution can tke, ‘thoughitwasthe carts and probably inthe ightecath century, the only pracable one. Capitals idusrazaon requites 8 Some waysaather diferent anys fom non-capitali because ‘wemust explain why the pursitof private prof led to techn logial ansformation, and tis by no means obvious that it sutomascaly does sof other ways doublese, capitan Uialation can be treated as 2 specal eae of a more general phenomenon, bu iis not clear wit extent this ef to {he historian ofthe Brith Industral Revolution, ‘Second, the Brish revolution ma the fis in history. This es not sean that it stared fom 2eo, oF that carer pases of ‘pid industri and technological development cannot be fund Neverthe, none ofthe initiated the characteristic modern phase of history, selfsustaned econumic growth by means of Origin ofthe Industrial Revolution sl technological revolution and soci rnsormain. Being the sty thtfre also in crcl epetsonie al tivejent indo revolution. I cannot be explained irimariyo to any extent, aterm tse fictrs ach a Ferinstnce ihe iain of more advanced techniques, the inpon of pit the impact of sre ndusrianed word ‘Conon, Subsequent revelone cold us the itis expe ‘ey came snd renurces. Brain cold ote thse of her ‘untsis only fo very limit and minor extent At she same lime ss ne hve se, the Be elton was preceded bya Ice two hundred years of fry continuous eeoomie develop- tment, wbich Id ts foundations. Unley intent 0 trent cetiry Rusa, Benin eee indsrazaon pre edad not aly unprepared ‘Ffoneve, the Indra Revotion cannot be expe’ in porely ih tes, for this county formed pre of wider ‘onamy, which we may ell the ‘rope cemomy" or the ‘orld ccnomy othe Earoean marine wae a part Iigernewort of conomic etieripe, wach included sever ‘Wdranced? area sme of which were areas of potenti or {sping ndanrltion, and ara of dependent ono 25 sel the arin of frig coos bo et subwantally Iiolved wih Burge. These dependent cononies costed uly of formal colonies (sin the Americ) or pots of tae {nd domination (sin the Ort), pari regions wbich mere to some extent economia specalzed in tesponse to the hands ofthe ‘advanced tet in some pars af eer Europe) The ‘advanced weld was ned to the dependent ‘orld by a cerein divin of eamonic activi: «weaved ‘en oo ae id ae ei ty [Sporting spice products or rw tater on the omer ‘TRepreatons maybe decribed system fea Bows = of ade of international payments, of epi anaes, of ‘nipaon and so on. The European economy” ad Shown {tried tp occasion and Gyre deselopvent or sevea entries, though had ss expereesd mor economic St- ‘seks orf, notably inh fourteenth eet ad seven teenth coma cyIndustry and Empire "Neverthe it important observe tht ta tended o te vded, at east om the see cntry nto independent tnd compecing paises economic unite (rial aes) ke Bris and France, ech with ie ow economic and oc stacy and contining within ii avancel and bacivard dependent sectors and repons.By the sveethconry it ‘rasfariy vious that, indaral revolution ceurredanyere inthe worl st would be somewhere within the European. ray Whs this wa canoe be cand he fr he quston belongs tan carer ers history than the on with nich is took is concemed. However, was not cles whch of the mpeg units woud tr ott be the eto indole “The problem ofthe origin ofthe Indust! Rvolaton sich cones us here, cena why was rin whch nae theft "wrkshop ote word A second and connected ques toni why this reakthrough acuted towards the end the ‘ishceth century and ot ele ae Before eting aout the anewer which remains a mater of debate and uncertain) may be seat imines munber of explains or poco explanations wich have en ben Earrent and res sometimes maintsined, Most the sre ‘more unexplained thin hy cate. “Ths i tre oftheir which tempt account fo the Industrial Revolution in tems of cima geoph, blo change in the popaaion or oter exogenous cars I (has ten held) the smelt forthe evoloon came frm he us long pero of god harvests inthe carr eghnth etary, then we hve to explain why sm prtads befor this ae (and they have occurred tom time te une root history ad tsar eonsequences: If Bris ample ees af zal exlin her pir, then we may well wonder why et Comparatively seancratura supplies of most oer insta ra Iter for expen oe) dns hamper her jst arc, ‘aerate why the great Sian ealel di ot prods ncaualy earl industria start Ifthemotclimateof anche itetphin th enema thot dy heen ‘re ought 0 ack why the many eer equal damp ropes of thelitish es didmotla tractor hold And soon, Climate 4 Origin ofthe Industrial Revolution acon, geography the distribution of narra resources operate tot on their own, bu only within gen economic, social and {Esttional framework Thi ttre even ofthe strongest of ch factors, eae of acess othe sea oto good iver, that {oe cheapest and most practicable udeed fr bul gods the nly econo frm of tranepor in th pre-industrial age. Tt ‘most inconceivable that total landlocked region should have ‘plonered the moder Industrial Revaluion; thoughsuch repens [frarer than onethinke Nevertheless, even ere non-geographic factors snust not be nglcted: the Hebrides ave mote aces (0 the sea than most of Yorkshire “The problem of population is somewhat diferent, for its rmovemants may be explained by exogenous factors, by the ‘anges in human society or by acombenauon ofboth. We shall, ‘onset further below At present we ned note merely that purely exogenous explanations are not t present widely held by Foran, and are not accepted in his book. Explanations of the Industrial Revelation by ‘historic acci- ent ought also to be rejected. The mere fict of overseas mach more immune to foreign competiton ‘han fxs. Tei indus therefore tends to pat = "rather more impertant pat in underdeveloped than in advanced ‘ountres. Sil, four-miling and beer-brewing were important lonces of technslogial revolution even in Britain, though they ‘tract ess attention than ete, because they donot so much ‘ransom the suroundng esnomy a appe,ike gant mor ‘ments of modersity, within it asthe Guinness brewery din ‘Dablinand thecelbrted Albion seam mile whichsoimpresed ‘the port Will: Blk) in London. ‘Te larger the city (and "London was by fr the genes in Western Esrope), and the ‘mare rapid the crbunization, the greater the scope for such ‘evelopment: Was ot the inventon of the ber-andle, known, fo every drinker ia Briain, one of the fist aumphs of Heery ‘Maudsly, one of the great pioners of engineering? "The hore maiet ao provided a major oul for what ler ‘became capital gods. Coa gre almostemiely with he number 4 Origin ofthe Industrial Revolution ‘of urban ~ and especially metropolitan ~ fireplaces ion — toa uch smaller extent ~ reflected the demand fr dames pots, pam stonesand helt, Since the quantities coal burned {ins homes were very much greater than thei seeds of ron (hanks in parcto the unusual ineficency of the Bish replace Simpared to ths continental stove), the pre-industibae of the (Gal nasty was much sounder than that of theta industry ‘Even before the Industrial Revolution ts orp could sea Be ‘eared in lions of os, the fst comsmodiy te which such {sttonomic eri were appiabe. And steam-engines were the of hemies n1769ahundred'amasphencengines had {rey been erected round Newease-o-Tyne, an fifty-seven vere actualy a work (However, the more moder cgines af James Wats ope, which were realy the foundation industal technology, made thei way nly showy in the mines) “On the athe: hand the total Bish coneumptin of iron in 170 was less than 5,000 tans, and even in 178, afer the Industral Revlon was well underway ic cannot have been rmoch more than 100,00 tos. The demand for sce was negig- ibleat the thn price ofthe metal. The grates hllan market for iron was fcbably still agricultural ~ ploughs and other implements, horseshoes, wheelzims, and so cn ~ which imsewed eubeuntly, but was hardly iarge enough yet start. an industrial vansformation. Infact as we shal 1, the real Industrial Revation in ron and coal ha to wait nil the era ‘of the valway provided a mass market not only for consumer “gps bt fr capital goods, The pre-industrial domestic market, {End even the fst phe of indutialzaio, did at yet do 80 ‘oma slicent ae The mtn average ofthe prendre ket wat sterfore its gratin and steadinens, Ieay nt have promoted ‘much in the may of industrial revolution, but it endoubeedly ‘promoted economic growth, and what i more, it was always {valbe to cushion the more dynamic expr industries against ‘the sudden focuations and eallpses which were tte pice they ‘aid for their saperio dynamism. I came to thei escue nthe "os, when wat andthe American Revolution disrpted them, and probably again ae the Napoleonic Wars. Bu ore than 8Industry and Empire this, provided the broad foundations for agenralied nde conan. If England thought tomorrow’ what Manchester ‘houghtoday twas becase thereof the country wae prepared eommunist Chins, of Ahmedabad in colonial Ind 4d noc remain a moder enclave inthe general backwardness, tut became the mode fr the rest of the country. The domestic sarket may not have provided the spark, but I provided ful and suficiene draught to kep it burning. Expat industries worked in very diferent, and potentially smuch mre revolutionary condos. They factuated wildly ~ up to fy per cent na single years thatthe manufacturer ‘who could leap in fst enough to catch the expansions could take ling. tn the long run they ao expanded much more, ‘and mow rapidly, than home mare's. Between 1700 and 1750 Thome iniuties increased their output by even pe cent, export induc by seventy se pr cent, between r750and 170 (hich we may regard asthe runway for the industrial “ale-of") by “Tother seven percent and eighty pe cent respectively. Home ‘demand increased ~ but foreign demand multiplied. Ia spark was nceled, this where i ame fom. Cocton manufacture, the fst to be industrialized, was essentially ded to overeat trade. Every ounce of is ram mater ad tobe imported fom the sub- opis or wopics, ands we hall se, ts products were tobe overwhelmingly soldarond, From theendof the eighteenth ‘century twas already am industry which exported the greater ‘pat of is ttal output ~ perhaps two thirds by 185, "The reason for this extraordinary pote of expansion was that export industries did aot depend on the modest “atu” sate of prowth of any country’s sternal demand. They could ‘rete Ueilusion of apd growth two major means capturing ‘seri of other countries export markets, and destroying dom ‘Sic competion within parscula counties, chat Is by the political o somi-poieal means of war and colonization. The ‘ountry which sdceede in taking over other people's export ‘arkets oF even i monopoisng the export markets of erge [part ofthe world ina sficiently brie period of time, could ‘pad is export industries a 2 rate which made industria 6 Origin ofthe Industral Revolution revaltion nt only practiable forts entrepreneurs bat some {nes virtually compulkoy. And ths s wha Briain seceded in daing in the eighteenth century-* Yer conquering martts by war snd colonization roqured not merely an eomomy capable of expliing those markets, bt sls Tpovemment wing to wage war and colonize for the bene {fBrich manufacturers This rings ut to the thi factor in the genesis ofthe Industrial Revolution, geveramet Here the ‘vantage of Brisin over her potential competitors i quite ‘rident Unik some of them ach a France) she war prepared ‘subordinate afore pole to economic ends. Het wat aims ‘ner commercial and (what amounted to mich theme thing) suv The great Chatham gave five reasons in his enoranum Mvocting the conquest of Canad the firs four were prey conan: Unite others (such asthe Dutch), he ecomai aim ‘rere not completely dominated by commercial and financial interes, bot shaped als, nd ineressngy, by the pressure froup of manafacturerorgiall the scl important woollen fdusuy, later the rest. The sl beween industry and com tere (represented most dramatically by the East adi Com pny) was decided inthe home market by 1700, when British Produces won protection aginst Indian exe npr it was ot won inthe foreign markt uns r13, when the as India CCoospany was deprived of ts monopoly in tnd, and chat sub- tontinent opened to dsindustiizaton an the mastive import of Lancashire cations. Las, unlit al its other evs, Beth puiy inthe cightentn century wasone of systematic aggressive es most obviously agsins the chit ital, Franc. Of the five {ei was of the period, Britain was leary on the ddenive a ‘nly one | The ret of his century ointment malar wat *“klloesthacfon on dd hi es wou be viel ode sh bane for nda erin Inher oy de se ‘Sdn he aarp am rely te poe ne doe Sis ocd hl ust esa ‘Seine “tr only ne "woop of ie wr "he Sani Scene Asan Sees (139 ‘Bh ibe Seve Yar Wa (796-2) War of Aner i ‘ippe“iV and he Reveanmry aa Naat Was 9-110) ”Indusiry and Empire the greatest triumph ever achieved by any sate up to chit ‘ie! the virtual monopoly among Buropean powers of overseas tolonies, and the viral monopoly of world-wide naval power. “Moreover, wa isfy erppling Brian's major competitors in Burope ~ tendel to boost exports; peace, if anything, tended 1 alow them up. Furthermore, var — and especially that very commerily- minded and middle-class organization, the Brash Navy ~con- tebuted even mure dived) to technological innovation and indutiiation. lis demands were aot negligible the tonnage af the Navy mliplied fom about 100,00 in 1685 t0 about Sesiooo in 1760, and ts demand fr guns grew evbetanialy, ihough in les dramatic manner, War was prety ceraily the seats consumerof ron, and fms ike Wilkinson, the Walkers, ‘End the Carron Werks owed the sizeof their underkings arly to government caitacts Tor cannon, while the South Wales iron industry depended on bate. More generaly, government contracts of tote of vast quas-government bodies ike the East Tdi Compan, came in large Boks an had to beled on ine. [emis worth businsoman's while to iteduce revolutionary methods o supply them. Tie and agin we ind someinvemat ‘or entrepreneur simulated by 20 lucrative a prospect. Heary ‘Cort, who revolutonized iron manufacture, began sn the 1708 casa Novy ager, seuss to improve the quit ofthe Brisk product in conneaion with the supply of iron to the navy? “Henry Maudaly, he pioner of machine tos, begun his career {ihe Woolwich Arenal and his fortunes like those ofthe pest ‘engineer Mare Isznbard Brunel formerly ofthe French Navy) ‘remained closely tound up with naal contacts * If we ae to sam up the role of the three main sectors of demand inthe genesis of industrials, we can therefore do 0 ‘follows Expr backed bythe sjtematicand agressive help ‘f government, povided the spar, and ~ with cotton textiles the “ending seaor’ of industry. They also provided major “improvements in se transport. The home marke provided the ‘aon Burge Rem yy tp sens ee 8 Origin ofthe Industral Revolution roe bie fors generale indi ecnomyand (through the proves of rant) he ince for major amproerets in [nnd ranapre, «power base forthe cal indsty ad foe ceruin import technologie innovations. Goveraent ‘ystematcsopprt fr merchant and manufacturer, sme by no means neigh incetves fer ech ano {ato and the developmen of apt gros insti. Ite aly return to our original quests — why Bein sod ot atater country? why atthe endo” the eghceth entry andnorbelore rae “the answer caot so single By 1759 ind ther wa not mich doubt hi any ate toointheracetobe the frindurtrial power sould be Bean ‘The Datchbad rere otha cmforable lel eased buses the explo of ther vast commen ad nna appr, ad thir coloieThe Frenchy hugh expanding rs fat athe Bech (when the British dd nt prevent them by war, cou ot rein the eound they bad ot the {rat ee ofecnomi depresion, the seventh cetry. In Bosse gute they might okt the Industral Revlon tke + power of equivalent sz, but fr cpt ther trade and smautactres were even then fr bhi the ih “Oa the other hand this does nx expan why the indi twatvouph ume when taal din he ot thd or Garter ofthe eighteenth century. The prec snow to this hestion i sil uncertain, bur clea that we can find ionly By taming back othe gene Earopesno wel economy of hich Brean was spars that othe anced” ae of {tainy) Wescn Europe and thir elton rth he colonial tnd semi-colon dependent ecomomy the Paria trading [ures and the eps not set substantial need i he Esropean sytem of economic ows “The tonal pattern af Esropen expansion Meite- “don aon merchants andthe ancy Spach and Portuguese congueom, or Bl, and based ot German city sates had perished tn the gest economic Ti wid dod enn it epi cine ste cu fs weil wde ew bu tha al pate he med ee ted in hr eee »Indusry and Empire Aepresionof the sevententh century. Thenew centres of expan ‘on were the maritime states bardring the North Sea and North [Alinte. The shift was nt merely geographical, but structural ‘The new kindof relationship between the advanced” areas and the retofthe wold unite old tended constant riers ‘nd widen the flows of commerce. The powerful, proving and fodlerting cutent of overseas ade which swept the infant Industries of Europe with which in fit, sometimes actually ‘rested them ~ was hardly conceivable without this change. It ested on thee thing in Europe thers of amatket for overseas product for everyday use, whose market ould be expanded a {hy became avaible in ager quantities and more cheaply, and ‘vera the creation of economic systems or producing soch onde (ch 5, for nstance,lave-operaed plantations) and the ‘Sonus of colonies designed to serve the economic afantage oftheir European owners ‘Toilhsrate the frst ic around 1650 one third of the valve of East India goods sold ip Amsterdam consisted of pepper the typical commodity in which profits ae made by ‘comeing! 1 small supply and seling tat monopoly prices — by 1780 this ‘proportion had fallen eleven per cet. Conversely 1780 6 per cet of such sles consisted of textes, tea and cofe, ‘wherein 1690 they had only amounted to 17.5 per cent. Sug, tex cafe, tobacco and similar products rather than gold and spies were now the characterise imports from the opie, a thet nen, ron, hemp and Umber were those fom the east of rope, and not fre The second fas can be ustrated bythe ‘expansion of thit most inhuman taf, the slave wade In the ‘Sxteenth century fener than has malion Negroes were tans fered from Ac othe American the seventeenth perhaps 15 milons ~ mainly in the second halo i exer, 1 the Brain plantations whichantipated the ater colonial pater; in the eghtenth century perhaps seven milions.* The third fact hardy requires iluration. In 1630 nether Briain nor France had moch in the way’ of empires and much ofthe ol Spanish and Porriguese empires layin ruins, or consisted of ‘the ents ry, bt at the oder of magia » Origin of the Industrial Revolution mere outings ona world map, The eighteenth entry saw not (merely revival ofthe older empires (or exemple in Brasil and ‘Mies, but the expansion and exploitation of new ones = frist, French, aot o mention now forgotten esays by Danes, Swedes and others. Whats ore, the sher sizeof these empires fs eoonomies incresed vay. In 1701 the frure USA had fever than 300,000 inhabitants, in 1790 almost four millions, fn even Cana grew from 14,0 in 1695 t0 almost hall lio in 820. “And as he network of international ade grew tighter, so did the le of such overseas trade in the commeroe of Europe, In 16 the East India trade amounted to perhap eight pe cent of the total foreign commerce ofthe Dutch, but nthe second half ofthe eighteenth century to something like one quar, and the olution of French trade was similar. The British eid on Calon rae cri. Around 1700itamounted already often percent of our commerce ~ but by 1775 to as mucha third. ‘The genera expansion of trang i the eghtenth century was impresive enough, in almost all countries, but the expansion of trade conneced with the colonial sstem was stupendous. To fake single cumple: after the War ofthe Spanish Succession terween evo and thre thousand tons of British ships cleared Ffom Fngand every year fr Altice, manly assert he Seven Years War betwen fifeen and nineteen thousands afte the Atserican War af Independence 17) wenty-tw howsand "This vast and growing circulation of gos didnot mee} ‘ying to Europe new needs and the simulus to manvfacire foreign imports a home. “if Saxony and other counties of Europe take up fine China, wrote the Abbe Rayna in 17764 “i Vasencin manufactures Pens superior to those of Ching ‘Spizerand imitates the musing and worked alone of Benga ‘England and Franc print linens with qret elegance if 50 ‘many stu, formerly unkown in ou imats, now employ or tistarss ae wenotindebted to Indiaforallthere advantages ‘More than ths, provided s imiess horizn of sales and profit Wit on yes be oul nt be fled to mention te mot ssc iar fhe Inn, Manche 3