Background for the Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution had several roots, one of which was a commercial revolution that, beginning as far back as the sixteenth century, accompanied Europe’s expansion overseas. Both exports and imports showed spectacular growth, particularly in England and France. An increasingly larger portion of the stepped-up commercial activity was the result of trade with overseas colonies. Imports included a variety of new beverages, spices, and foodstuffs. At the same time, a growing export market took European textiles, hardware, firearms, ships, and ship’s goods around the world and brought money flowing back. Europe’s economic institutions, particularly those in England, were strong, had wealth available for new investment, and seemed almost to be waiting for some technological brakethrough that would expand their profit-making potential even more.

The breakthrough came in Great Britain, where several economic advantages created a climate especially favorable to the encouragement of new technology. One was its geographic location at the crossroads of international trade. Internally, Britain was endowed with easily navigable natural waterway, which helped its trade and communication with the world. Beginning in the 1770’s, it enjoyed a boom in canal building, which helped make its domestic market more accessible. Because water transportation was the cheapest means of carrying goods to market, canals reduced prices and thus increased consumer demand. Great Britain also had rich deposits of coal that fed the factories springing up in industrial areas and iron ore that provided the raw material for the manufacture of railroad equipment, tools, and a variety of industrial and consumer goods.

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