Did William Pitt Bring About a National Revival?
Did William Pitt Bring About
A National Revival?
On one hand, it is easy to believe that Pitt did bring about national revival but on the other hand there are many factors that may lead one to believe otherwise. For example, the end of the American war and the Industrial Revolution both would have happened whether Pitt was in power or not. But many factors, such as Pitt’s natural skill and his reform ideas, helped him to contribute to the national revival.
Pitt introduced the Eden Treaty and formed it with France. This helped to increased trade in Britain as, as a country, exports were vastly increased. Pitt also tightened the laws around smuggling items both into and out of Britain which also increased trade. He did this by introducing bonded warehouses, where goods could be stores free of tax until they were taken out of Britain for sale.
The Sinking Fund was also introduced by Pitt and helped, again, to increase the amount of money in Britain. He did this by using Britain’s profits to pay off debts instead of spending money on other goods, but this was interrupted by the war against France. Pitt also made sure that all of the government’s money was collected and spent correctly in the right places. The streamlining of the Treasury’s financial management with the Consolidation Fund Act, where all 103 exchequer accounts were replaced by one, allowed proper national accounting.
However, there were many factors that contributed to a national revival that Pitt was not responsible for. Pitt inherited the national deficit which was a huge advantage to him because it meant that the state of Britain and the government could only improve.
The end of the war in America meant that overseas trade would increase and this helped Britain’s imports and exports to boom. This was also helped along by the Industrial Revolution, beginning in the North East, which increased trade in and out of Britain.
To conclude, in many ways Pitt did contribute greatly to the
A National Revival?
On one hand, it is easy to believe that Pitt did bring about national revival but on the other hand there are many factors that may lead one to believe otherwise. For example, the end of the American war and the Industrial Revolution both would have happened whether Pitt was in power or not. But many factors, such as Pitt’s natural skill and his reform ideas, helped him to contribute to the national revival.
Pitt introduced the Eden Treaty and formed it with France. This helped to increased trade in Britain as, as a country, exports were vastly increased. Pitt also tightened the laws around smuggling items both into and out of Britain which also increased trade. He did this by introducing bonded warehouses, where goods could be stores free of tax until they were taken out of Britain for sale.
The Sinking Fund was also introduced by Pitt and helped, again, to increase the amount of money in Britain. He did this by using Britain’s profits to pay off debts instead of spending money on other goods, but this was interrupted by the war against France. Pitt also made sure that all of the government’s money was collected and spent correctly in the right places. The streamlining of the Treasury’s financial management with the Consolidation Fund Act, where all 103 exchequer accounts were replaced by one, allowed proper national accounting.
However, there were many factors that contributed to a national revival that Pitt was not responsible for. Pitt inherited the national deficit which was a huge advantage to him because it meant that the state of Britain and the government could only improve.
The end of the war in America meant that overseas trade would increase and this helped Britain’s imports and exports to boom. This was also helped along by the Industrial Revolution, beginning in the North East, which increased trade in and out of Britain.
To conclude, in many ways Pitt did contribute greatly to the