Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Spotlight On...

Why Did the Industrial Revolution Begin in Britain?

Britain was the first industrial nation because it was one of the most dominant and most wealthy parts of the country.  The physical environment had a lot to do with the revolution as well.  Britain is an island surrounded by water so that made trade easy because of all of the nice harbors.  The Agricultural Revolution had an impact as well.  New methods of farming were coming about and the number of crops rotated grew each year.   During this time period prices of food and crops were low and so money could be spent on other items such as manufactured goods which only helped the industry more.  Britain also had an effective central bank and credit markets.  These helped Britain become the first industrial nation because it helped Britain show industrial leadership.  Their government encouraged personal initiative and a free market.  Other unique factors are that Britain had many laborers and the number continued to increase.  Those laborers along with cottage workers formed an industrial labor force for capitalist entrepreneurs.  The factor that I think was most important in the reason why Britain was the first industrial nation is the impact of the Agricultural Revolution.  The impact of the Agricultural Revolution is the most important factor because it allowed the people of Britain to spend their money on other items than food.  Those other items were manufactured items such as toys, leather shoes, a doll and other household items.  Spending money on these items only helped the industry to progress faster than in other countries that spent most of their money buying food.

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