Industrial Revolution: Why Did the Industrial Revolution Begin in Britain?

1. Why did the Industrial Revolution begin in Britain? While the French Revolution was opening a new political era, another revolution was transforming economic and social life. This was the Industrial Revolution, which began in Britain around the mid eighteen hundreds and started to influence the rest of Europe and then the world. It was a rapid period that brought about radical changes. The Industrial Revolution is usually defined as the shift from agrarian revolution to one based on the products of machine manufacturing. As a matter of fact, the revolution was much more involved rather than simply a shift to machine manufacture. It involved new and more efficient ways of organizing tasks, it led to increase in agricultural productivity, the harnessing of plentiful labor and the expanded role of financial institutions that began in the second half of the century that would transform society. So why did the Industrial Revolution begin in Britain? Well, because conditions in Britain happened to be perfect at that time. England's natural resources helped in many ways to boom the newly Industrial Revolution. For instance, England's abundance of coal provided a good power source for energy; its abundance of iron would be needed for construction (Doc. 1, 4) and the damp climate was good for cotton growing. These new source of energies replaced wind and water to create "labor saving" machines that dramatically decrease the use of human and animal labors and at the same time increase the level of productivity. As a result England's population grew rapidly providing a labor force for the industry. Another aspect of the English society that allowed the Industrial Revolution to start in England was the structural class system. In England in the mid seventeen hundreds, there was no dominant and powerful feudal class that restricted and forced changes in society. Instead, there was an abundance of free workers who did not own land. This class structure together with a