Why did Capitalism first appear in Britiain rathen than any other area in the world - Essay Example

To know why it started in England also gives us an insight on the many factors that made it successful there despite early misgivings about this system. Although England already had characteristics of the rudimentary form of capitalism by 1815, it did not immediately take hold because the wealth and power structure of the country had not changed yet. This simply means the old feudal system was not yet completely erased in which peoples wealth were measured by an amount of land they possessed. In other words, the country at that time was still largely anchored on an agricultural economy.

The majority of people still depended on the produce of the land for their sustenance as income source. The other countries on continental Europe were largely weakened by frequent wars. It was only England which had remained largely untouched because it was separated from the continent by the English Channel and was therefore insulated from its ill effects. However, it must be conceded that other factors conspired to make England especially favorable to large scale developments in terms of capital and labor.

The first big industries of coal mining and its related iron and steel industries were located in close proximity in England (Sée 139). England was a major sea power at the beginnings of the nineteenth century and it gave the country undisputed dominion of the high seas. With its tremendous sea dominance, it gave England unfettered access to much of the import and export trade in agricultural commodities such as cotton for its burgeoning textile industry, back then a key element in modernization of any country.

France, which was the sole European power to seriously challenge England, was weak from the big wars of the Napoleonic era and then convulsed by its own revolution which followed to establish the first French republic. England was uniquely positioned to take some advantage of this turmoil. A study of the early economic history