W.S Jevons realised the importance of coal saying ‘Coal, in truth, stands not beside but entirely above all commodities. It is the material energy of the country-the universal aid-the factor in everything we do. With coal almost any feat is possible or easy; without it we are thrown into the laborious poverty of early times’4. The use of the steam engine in manufacturing meant a higher demand for raw materials both organic and mineral. The problem with the use of organic raw materials (mainly wood) was the land used to grow the trees for wood, meant taking up precious land that could be used to grow food. Therefore, the uses of mineral fuels were investigated more thoroughly, although coal was being used before now, manufacturers found it difficult to use in industry. Following experiments with coal, easier methods were found in its use and with this, coke pig was discovered. This discovery was essential to the rapid progress of industry, because without this there would have been no great expansion of iron, and without iron no machinery, bridges, railway and ships. Wherever coal was mined there was an immediate market, because iron deposits were found close by, the two products came together in mining and production. The problem with the mining and the extraction of the best quality minerals was the water seeping into the deep caves. The Newcomen pump was consequently used to pump out the water from these wells, so extraction could continue.
The difficulties with mining coal, was its weight and transportation around the country. On the coast and inland estuary’s this was no problem as the coal was transported by ship down the coast from the Tyne into London via the Thames. However, the transportation inland to the industrial areas was expensive and difficult. The only viable way coal could be transported into the industrial towns was by canal or railway, so there was a period of time were there was a great increase in the building of canals, railways and turnpikes. A lot of money was invested by landowners in the construction of these transporting methods, the first being the Duke of Bridgewater who invested in a canal. This particular canal started at his mines near Wolsley and finished in Manchester. Then many rich businessmen followed suit and invested in the specific method of transport that they would benefit from the most. Manufacturers of heavy goods financed the construction of canals merchants, innkeepers and landowners the turnpikes and the iron manufacturers financed the railways. Canals soon linked soon all the major rivers and by 1820, there was 4000 miles of canals. The improvement in all transporting systems and the introduction of third class travel on the railway gave the population opportunity to travel greater distances to find work.
The population of the country had already exploded before the start of the industrial revolution, this meant a substantial and accessible workforce was already available. With the acceleration of ‘enclosure’ and workers being forced off the land and into the industrial towns and cities and the state forcing all the paupers to work in the factories. Because of this, the industrial regions were over run with available and desperate unemployed workers. All this happened at a convenient time for the industrial revolution to begin. J.D Chambers ‘sees industrialisation as the response to an autonomous increase in population'5. Although working conditions were harsh the workers were well organised, disciplined, the wages they received were higher, and the hours they worked were less. Constant improvements in inventions and ever increasing investments created more employment and this tended to increase the average wage. In fact, the wages increased more significantly in the industrial regions, the increase for the labourer went from 1 shilling a day to 1 shilling 6d within ten years. Moreover, with all these new opportunities for employment came the chance for women and children to work and add to the family’s income. Now more family members were in work it created a greater income and surplus earnings to spend on luxuries, this motivated the workers to work harder in order to obtain economic surplus. The environment they had to work in for eight hours a day was very unpleasant, hazardous and uninteresting and the routine they had to follow was harsh. Nevertheless, being independent from their landlord and having the opportunity to buy foreign and domestic luxuries outweighed the working conditions. With wages increasing and workers working harder, the class culture closed up as families constantly jumped from between classes. You could no longer tell the difference in class from the clothes they wore, as the servants were dressing in silk and cotton the same as the gentry. Now that a lot of the population had increased their economic capacity, there was a change in the demand for products and consumption increased.
The government also aided the industrial revolution by keeping the interests low, and changing the beliefs of investment from regulation to ‘laissez faire’. Low rates of interest encouraged investment and increased the entrepreneur’s profit making, and with no labour or capital shortage there was nothing to inhibit enterprise. The only problem factories had (if high demand and high profit could be classed as a problem) were an ever-increasing demand for their products both domestically and overseas. This increased demand was due to the increase in surplus wages and the low cost of the goods. The low cost of domestically produced goods helped English companies overcome the transport barriers and tariffs, allowing them to infiltrate the lucrative European markets. England had an empire, which was constantly expanding, and after the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 complete control of all trade routes to the Americas, Africa and India. This meant it could export goods out of the country, import luxuries in and glean raw materials from the countries it controlled, such as cotton. With the empire, England also had a ready-made market to sell its mass-produced goods too.
Britain’s success through this period was likened to a chain, and the links being inventions, raw materials, population, supply and demand, capitalism and transport. If any of these did not exist then neither would the revolution, and if any of them failed then again the revolution would of come to a premature end. It has been suggested that a revolution never existed and the process of improvements had already begun years before, all but at a much slower pace. This may be the case, but what can not be denied is that the expansions in industry and the improvements in the countries economical standing, increased rapidly between 1750 and 1850.
Bibliography
1 GIBBONS H de B., 1897, Industry in England, London: p 341. (See Hartwell R.M., The Causes of the Industrial Revolution in England; p 11)
2 HARTWELL R.M., 1967, The Causes of the Industrial Revolution in England: Methuen and Co Ltd: London. p 113.
3 HARTWELL R.M., 1967, The Causes of the Industrial Revolution in England: Methuen and Co Ltd: London. p 93.
4 JEVONS W.S., 1865, The Coal Question: London. (See Hartwell R.M., The Causes of the Industrial Revolution in England; p 120)
5 CHAMBERS J.D.,1960, Population change in a Provincial town: Nottingham 1700-1800, London. . (See Hartwell R.M., The Causes of the Industrial Revolution in England; p63)
Further Reading
O’BRIEN P. et al, 1993, The Industrial Revolution and British Society: Cambridge University Press
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