Britains Control Over Industrialization - Essay Example

Britain’s Control over Industrialization The Industrial Revolution took place from 18th to 19th centuries. During this period, the agrarian European and American rural societies became urban as well as industrialized. Before industrial revolution began in Britain in the late 1700s, all manufacturing was home made by the use of hand tools and some basic machines. This form of production led to a slow production of commodities and, therefore, much time and resources were wasted before a single commodity could be completed.

Notably, industrialization brought about a shift from hand tools to powered machinery and factories leading to mass production of different commodities. The industrial revolution brought about the invention of iron and textile industries as well as the steam engine that were the central roles of the revolution. Britain is known to be the leader in the industrial revolution as most of the industrial revolution revolves around it. It is also known that Britain maintained much authority over the revolution period and controlled the economic and political structures of many states.

From this perspective, it is clear that Britain had much control over the industrial revolution due to various reasons. A number of reasons have been tabled down backing up Britain’s dominance in the Industrial Revolution. Some are geographical while others seem to e social-political in nature. On the geographical factors, Britain had huge coal deposits that were used to power the newly invented machines (Dunn and Laura, 25-28). The other geographical factor was that Britain had many waterways.

Most of the rivers in the country were navigable, and much of the coal deposits were near these rivers. Also, the country had many and long coastlines that made transportation easier through the water. Therefore, the availability of both coal and waterways enabled extra coal extraction and transportation in the country possible. The other factor that made Britain dominate during the Industrial Revolution was the fact that it had created a huge empire for itself overseas. All British Empire were used to provide raw materials that were used in the Britain mills.

On the other hand, these empires had been made captive markets by the Britain for its finished products. For instance, the British had captured most of the Asian countries creating a free market for raw materials. Also, it had made it impossible for these countries to build their industries so that it could dominate the market (Dunn and Laura, 28-33). Any country that resisted Britain’s dominance faced the risk of losing the market for its raw materials, as well as the finished products.A final factor that contributed to Britain’s control was the social-political factor.

Britain’s economy was less regulated than economies of other states. Its laissez-faire style enabled it t promote upcoming innovations, and this led to the technologies that were being used. However, many states did not promote such innovations and hence remained backward in their industrialization sectors (Dunn and Laura, 30-47). Similarly, Britain was free of any internal and domestic conflicts that were the major vices in many states. Similarly, the country was well endowed with land, a natural resource that was missing in many states.

Availability of land enabled landlords to push away peasants who later became the labor force that was used in the newly made factories (Dunn and Laura, 55-92). This made it possible for the Industrial Revolution to take place smoothly in Britain. In conclusion, it is clear that Britain had all the necessary requirements to enhance Industrial Revolution. Natural resources, huge empires and the laissez-faire all contributed to its reign in the Industrial Revolution.Works CitedDunn, Ross, and Laura Mitchell.

Panorama: A World History. Vol. 2. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2015. 625-631, 671-677. Print.