Chapter Four mainly revolves around three major ideas and/or themes. These are the ideas of industrialization, empires, and war; more specifically World Wars 1 and 2. It starts by explaining the start of the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain in the mid 1800s and how it originated and the events surrounding it. Many of the key ideas in this chapter will aid me in also discussing the economic history of Sweden.
During this Revolution, it should be noted that most of the wealth and power available went into the hands of state elites who utilized these two factors for innovation involving production. In addition to this important point, the owners had to resort to slave labor in order to produce goods and technologies and free trade was introduced
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In addition, several new, innovative inventions such as the cotton gin and the spinning jenny were developed. These inventions greatly aided the British economy since they helped in the manufacturing of cotton: the product that put Britain in a competitive advantage over other countries. During the Industrial Revolution, Great Britain also managed to undergo developments of iron ore and coal power, the latter of which was used to aid railway growth in the country. Railway growth, in turn, gave way to the growth of corporations. (Global Political Economy, 70). The era of industrialization in Great Britain introduced the heyday of the Gold Standard, which helped with the exchange of currency, and more notably renewed imperialism, which took place throughout the world and involved Britain along with many other European superpowers such as Germany and Italy. This expansion of Western powers brought about things such as enlarged empires, new colonies that were used and exploited for economic gain, and, most notably, the scramble for Africa: a race among the European nations to divide and conquer the continent of Africa for reasons such as slave labor, trade, and continuation of …show more content…
During the mid to late 1800s, however, Sweden’s economy had evolved into a highly industrialized and urbanized one. Due to this phenomenon as well as the relatively high incomes of its people (in addition to the people who emigrated from the country), the poverty levels decreased substantially. Further economic system reforms gave way to formation of banks, corporations, and more, all of which increased the country’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product input and output from areas such as trade and manufacturing), income, etc. (Swedish Society).
In its history, Sweden was also notable as being a metro pole (parent country) to several colonies, which it travelled to and taken over during its times of imperialism. Swedish imperialism first began in the mid 1600s when the nation (which was then known as the Swedish Colonial Empire, an absolute monarchy according to the divine right of kings: a religious and political doctrine granting power to kings) had taken over and colonized parts of Africa in what would be known as the Swedish Gold Coast. However, these colonies were soon lost to Denmark and the
“The Dawn of Innovation: The First American Industrial Revolution” by Charles H. Morris is, simply put, centered on the nineteenth century in America. The book opens with the lesser-known Shipbiulders’ War of 1812, which was fought between the Americans and the British and lasted about two and a half years. The chapter goes on to describe how this war was fought using what the American industry had at the time, which led to the challenge of “cutting corners without compromising performance.” (p. 7) Morris closes the chapter by describing how this forgotten war essentially spurred industrial growth in the New England area. The next chapter focuses on Great Britain’s industrial rise to power, highlighting topics such as textile production, new
British cotton textile industry grew into the worlds most productive; its railway network became the nation’s principal means of inland transportation and communication; and a new fleet of steam-powered ships enabled Britain to project its new productivity and power around the globe.
1. A metropolitan area is a core urban area of 50,000 or more people together with nearby counties that have mainly urban populations with close ties to core urban area as measured by traveling patterns. Its less-occupied surrounding regions, distribution business, organization, and housing.
Right after the war of 1812, American Manufacturing took off. Many, states depended on themselves for natural resources in the area to produced and manufactured. Cotton was one of the world’s first luxury commodities, then slaves, followed by, wheat, sugar, and tobacco. The increased productivity give the rise to the Market Revolution, which lasted from about 1800 to 1840. At the same time, changes in the structure and framework of society began, the Age of Reform from 1820 to 1840 was going on at the same time. The marked at the time when under unprecedented growth in the United States. Not everyone sees this as a good thing, were once individuals grown their own food to abstain their families, now related to goods and services provided by
The industrial revolution that swept across Europe in the 19th century was vital to both the economic and social advancements that Continental Europe was able to achieve. Starting in the United Kingdom with small textile mills run by hard labor quickly transitioned to larger factories using unskilled workers. With the progression of the 19th century, the Great Britain no longer was the only nation going through a period of industrialization. Soon after, Britain’s breakthrough, France, Germany, Spain, and Italy began their own periods of industrialization. Throughout Prussia and the other small German states, the creation of factories and the move away from farming created problems. For many factory owners, they found replication to be all
History and geography are undividable; they represent two fundamental dimensions of the same phenomenon. History is the broader field, which involves human experience from the perspective of time. Geography's concern is narrower; its main focus is on human interaction with the physical environment from the perspective of space. Therefore, it can be said that these dimensions of time and space are in a perpetual interactive feedback loop in which one dimension is affected by the other one. History is as much shaped by geography as it is by almost any other factor. The physical geography of any region is the stencil upon which its history is drawn. Knowing what the features of the stencil are, it fluently allows us to understand the history more quickly and easily.
Over the years the economy of the industrial revolution has developed a tremendous growth with the use of inventions. This would cause the economy of certain places would grow into a more first world type of country with the use of manufacturing and transporting goods. Some essential inventions were founded in England then later spread to other continents in Europe and the Americas. Inventions like the Watt steam engine mainly benefited capitalists in England. Not only did this help England create the first fully functional railroads, this led to their complex trading system. However, not all inventions were ever so beneficial, in fact most have caused inadequate living conditions to the working poor. The cotton gin was another
The Industrial Revolution of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries was arguably the most important turning point in history. It transformed the manufacture of goods from craftsmanship to commercialism, exponentially increasing output and decreasing production cost leading to prosperity and an unprecedented supply of goods for the markets of the world. Industrialization and mass production was the fuel which ignited the flame of capitalism which was already established creating bringing sweeping changes in wealth and its distribution. Within a few generations the very fabric of society was virtually remade as millions left the farms and villages of the countryside for jobs in the cities. This monumental change did not immediately sweep
Industrial revolutions changed the dynamics of the European society. Fewer people worked the land, more people moved into manufacturing and services industry. The distinctions between nobles and upper middle class became blurry described by the Authors (Thomas,661). Many aristocrats were quite poor and noble families often married their children to the offspring of wealthy merchants. This allowed the upper middle class to become powerful by
During the 1800s and 1850s one of the most important revolutions began. Historians call this the early Industrial Revolution. This is where machinery, more jobs, and dangers came to be. The economy changed immensely because of this revolution, and would end up helping a lot of people, but also posing a threat to the people.
As the world’s empires began stretching to all corners of the globe, colonization provided growing empires with the much needed resources to sustain their exponential growth. As a small island nation, roughly the size of Louisiana, the British Empire was quickly becoming the world’s super power as the eighteenth century approached. With industrialized centers such as Manchester and London leading the world’s technological advancement, resources imported from colonies and foreign alliances were key to Britain’s economic and technological growth as the globe’s premier superpower. Taking place primarily from 1760-1850, the industrialization in England was fueled by a need for sustainment as nation. Due to minimal land mass of the British Isles, heavy reliance was placed on colonies and foreign nations for acquiring the needed resources to produce goods. With such goods as America’s cotton, Britain’s cotton gins could mass produce clothing and linens to all corners of the globe providing the nation with an influx of capital required to obtain much needed food sources and materials necessary to further along the industrialization. With greater capital inflows, British industries could purchase materials needed for production, keeping factories open year round and people of England off of the streets as employment provided for greater personal opportunity.
By the introduction of factory systems, there were more jobs for the people of the society, more production of goods, and an increase in the economy. As a result of more jobs, many people moved to the cities, leading
The Industrial Revolution of the 18th century changed Europe forever. At the front of this change was Great Britain, which used some natural advantages and tremendous thinking and innovation to become the leader of the Industrial Revolution.
There are many identifying factors unique to Britain that were responsible for industrial innovation, change, growth and contraction during the period defined by the industrial revolution in Britain. By about 1750 Britain had become a world leader as a trading nation, with London becoming the warehouse of the world. London also had an efficient financial centre selling services such as insurance, including shipping insurance. It is estimated that 600,000 people lived in London at this time and a quarter of them were connected with trade. Britain also had an economic system that moves from mercantilism to free trade, coupled with a government that believes in minimal economic interference (laissez faire), helping to ensure political stability, which encouraged the pursuit of scientific breakthroughs as people set up in business and sought profit. This essay is primarily focusing on the factors of proto industrialisation, the communication revolution, that is the development of roads, canals and railways, mineral wealth, population growth and the agricultural revolution.
Industry and business flourished at this time of modernization, while being fueled by Englands overseas empire. Englands industry grew massively at this time, resulting in factories popping up everywhere in Victorian England. While innovations such as rail systems and steam engines, assisted in growing the success of Englands industry, it wasn’t what fueled it. Surging industry at the time made England economically strong, how they reinforced this strength is by imperialism.3 It allowed England to venture into countries, like the ones in Africa, and forcibly take what they wanted by force and eventually forcing the people of the country to be subjected under the English rule. However, England would not