Impact Of The British Government And The Industrial Revolution

The British Government and the Industrial Revolution The industrial revolution during the 18th and 19th century was a time of great innovation and progress in England. British parliament helped progress industry and solve societal issues brought about by industrialization. The purpose of this essay is to display important actions and policies the British government established to advance British society during the Industrial Revolution. Parliament did several influential things during the Industrial revolution. England had to bring in capital to support its industrialization, and the capital from the cottage industry would not sustain those goals. One way the British gained capital was through the use of their navy, not only for trade, but also for privateering. This was piracy that was sanctioned by the government in order to gain capital. These ships would seize Spanish ships and take their valuables. The British also had a strong, …show more content…
It was customary that land was held in commons—public or belonging to the community. Until the government enacted law that allowed enclosures, which effectively made the land private. This was good for several reasons. Landowners could now yield more crops and livestock at a, “scale of production and a level of control…[which]…radically improved the efficiency of agricultural production”(Bookstaber). The privatization of land promoted competition between farmers, which led to the consolidation of smaller farms into the stronger larger farms. The farmers that couldn’t compete drifted to the industrial sphere, which added more people to the industrial working class. In turn, the remaining farms saw a substantial increase in food production. The surplus, made it easier to feed more people at low prices, giving the average working-class person buying power. The lower class no longer had to spend most of their wages on food and could instead buy more manufactured