The Economic Underpinnings Of The First Industrial Revolution In England Essay, Research Paper

The Economic Underpinnings of the First Industrial Revolution in England

The manufacture of military munitions and the development of a home

market were critical underpinnings of the first industrial revolution in Britain.

Military manufacturing supported by the British Government contributed directly

to technological innovation and spurred industrialization. This is because the

companies that choose to fulfill the government contracts to make military

munitions found money could be made if new processes and technology was

developed to fulfill the huge contracts. Military manufacturing was one of the

few industries where innovation was rewarded. In most other industries

conservative investors were reluctant to invest in new manufacturing technology.

But in military manufacturing the government was the investor and was

unconcerned with the manufacturing technology as long as the product was

delivered on time. Many technological advances were made through military

manufacturing some of these were new ways to manufacture iron, conveyer belts,

and the use machine tools . The technology developed for military manufacturing

then spilled over into the civilian sector of the economy. And because it was

now a tested technology investors who were normally cautious were willing to put

their capital into these ventures which instead of pouring iron to make guns now

made iron ore into stoves and pots.

The second critical underpinning of the first industrial revolution was

the development of a home market in Britain. The first British industrialists

manufactured textiles; specifically cotton for the home market. The growth of

the home market in Britain promoted industrialization in several ways. First, it

was a steady market which able to cushion the export market which was very

dynamic and had sudden fluctuations. This allowed a steady rate of growth even

when exports fell. Second, the home market started the process of urbanization

by causing people to leave the agricultural sector of the economy and move to

the cities to work in the cotton and textile factories. This urbanization had a

snowballing effect throughout the economy because it caused other business and

factories to open in the cities to support this new urban class. Third, the home

market caused investments to be made in improving infrastructure including roads,

bridges and canals. This paved the way for industrialization which needed an

efficient system to transport goods from factory to market. The home market also

provided the base for other industries such as coal. This was because the home

market created greater urbanization and thus the need for coal in urban England

grew. The military sector of the economy provided some of the key technological

innovations that promoted industrialization. And the home market that was

produced by the cotton textile trade promoted improvements in infrastructure and

spurred other industries to develop.