Why Did The Industrial Revolution Happen Essay
Many economists and historians tried to find the reasons why and how IR happened in Britain. The reasons are important not only to academic purposes, but also to those third world countries who had not yet unlocked their own IR and to politicians and philanthropists who tried to eliminate poverty. The BBC documentary Why the Industrial Revolution Happened Here explores the reasons that IR first happened in Britain. On showing many interesting details, it concludes that Britain had established a liberal institution that encouraged and protected technological inventions. For example, the Glorious Revolution in 1689 had greatly curbed the power of monarch’s monopolies and enhanced that of parliaments whose members were mostly manufacturers owners
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and businessmen. This political liberty paved the way for industrial revolution. Therefore, under parliament’s support, under a free, liberal, without monopolies market, private businesses, factories, workshops flourished, creating an environment favorable to technological advancements. Under parliament’s allowance (1706), private contractors began to build roads and canal systems that are essential for economic activities. These infrastructures reduced the time and cost of transporting goods and raw materials, therefore giving Britain a leap over other countries. In contrast, France, whose industrial revolution happened much later than Britain, gave very little support to mercantile interests, and restricted the free exchange of ideas and necessary financial support which were both ubiquitous in Britain. Many evidences in this documentary turns out to be wrong.
Britain was far from a democratic country during industrial revolution. It’s parliament’s support factory owners exploited workers (including children who were forced to work 10h per day). Anger amounted in the slums, workers formed unions, radicals plotted to blow up the government. Cavalry trampled demonstrators; unionists were jailed, machines breakers were shipped to penal colonies at the farthest fringes of British empire. It didn’t have well-established intellectual property system neither. Industrial Revolution was a period of time full of hatred, exploitation, violence, bloody slave trade in which British mercantile gained massive amount of wealth, unscrupulous colonization aimed to trade, and countless wars against other countries. The so-called institution favorable to economic development did not exist, at least not until the ending of second IR. Contrary to what the documentary said about Britain being a liberal country, it was absolutely not a one that followed today’s free trade policies, and in fact it put a high premium on trade protectionism. It’s tariff was among the highest level throughout the world . It directly banned imports of wools, export of some technologies and
machines. This documentary provides very modest amount information, although it is limited by the time constraint. Yet it spurred my interest. I believe its worthy to explore this issue of what caused the IR. Since the end of second world war, many western economists, in the belief that democracy, liberal institutions, no government interventions, loose control in financial sectors are keys to economic development or IR , had designed wrong policies for many developing countries which had been led to state of chaos. Even until now, they fail to know what exactly went wrong. In writing the final paper, I hope to explore the true reason behind IR. Understanding why IR happened is important to developing countries, but also to my country China who is now encountering serious developing issues. If we understand why Britain unlocked the IR, economists will design similar policies, politicians can create same environment as Britain, we, as common people, can understand better the era we now live. Such task is not easy, even well-known economists find it hard and their theories have many flaws. This is a very ambiguous and daunting topic, covering multiple areas of knowledge, but will be very interesting to explore.
and businessmen. This political liberty paved the way for industrial revolution. Therefore, under parliament’s support, under a free, liberal, without monopolies market, private businesses, factories, workshops flourished, creating an environment favorable to technological advancements. Under parliament’s allowance (1706), private contractors began to build roads and canal systems that are essential for economic activities. These infrastructures reduced the time and cost of transporting goods and raw materials, therefore giving Britain a leap over other countries. In contrast, France, whose industrial revolution happened much later than Britain, gave very little support to mercantile interests, and restricted the free exchange of ideas and necessary financial support which were both ubiquitous in Britain. Many evidences in this documentary turns out to be wrong.
Britain was far from a democratic country during industrial revolution. It’s parliament’s support factory owners exploited workers (including children who were forced to work 10h per day). Anger amounted in the slums, workers formed unions, radicals plotted to blow up the government. Cavalry trampled demonstrators; unionists were jailed, machines breakers were shipped to penal colonies at the farthest fringes of British empire. It didn’t have well-established intellectual property system neither. Industrial Revolution was a period of time full of hatred, exploitation, violence, bloody slave trade in which British mercantile gained massive amount of wealth, unscrupulous colonization aimed to trade, and countless wars against other countries. The so-called institution favorable to economic development did not exist, at least not until the ending of second IR. Contrary to what the documentary said about Britain being a liberal country, it was absolutely not a one that followed today’s free trade policies, and in fact it put a high premium on trade protectionism. It’s tariff was among the highest level throughout the world . It directly banned imports of wools, export of some technologies and
machines. This documentary provides very modest amount information, although it is limited by the time constraint. Yet it spurred my interest. I believe its worthy to explore this issue of what caused the IR. Since the end of second world war, many western economists, in the belief that democracy, liberal institutions, no government interventions, loose control in financial sectors are keys to economic development or IR , had designed wrong policies for many developing countries which had been led to state of chaos. Even until now, they fail to know what exactly went wrong. In writing the final paper, I hope to explore the true reason behind IR. Understanding why IR happened is important to developing countries, but also to my country China who is now encountering serious developing issues. If we understand why Britain unlocked the IR, economists will design similar policies, politicians can create same environment as Britain, we, as common people, can understand better the era we now live. Such task is not easy, even well-known economists find it hard and their theories have many flaws. This is a very ambiguous and daunting topic, covering multiple areas of knowledge, but will be very interesting to explore.