case of the blast furnace, to skip every “intermediary step” that Britain had progressed through in the path to the most modern and efficient version of the technology (Allen, 149). In this sense, Britain put in the bulk of the work and investment into research and development to produce new inventions that led to the Industrial Revolution being British, while other countries could wait and later adapt technology when it suited the conditions imposed by their respective economic climates.
Another example of British inventive advancements overshadowing other countries is in the productivity rise underlying the success of the new draperies and textile production. Through the sixteenth century Italy produced fabrics made from woolen cloth and …show more content…
England had comparative advantage in the production of textiles and raw wool, where exports were very high (Allen, 110). Once population levels began to grow and economic activity increased, Britain is involved in the high wage economy that has been discussed earlier. With these high wages not only did the population benefit, but so did the livestock that lived on the rural farms. These animals were able to acquire better nutrition, like their human counterparts, and as such the quality of the product, wool, increased. Interestingly, the typical yield of wool doubled between the fourteenth and seventeenth centuries providing quantitative evidence for these developments (Allen, 110). The improved products as a result of better nutrition were best suited for the Italian imitation cloth manufactured in Britain. As such the expansion of the industry is an “inevitable response to changes in the available wool supply” (Allen, 110). Britain’s ability to outcompete Italy and the Low Countries shows the country’s resilience in the increasingly global market and is a primary reason that Britain fared so well and benefited from inventions like the spinning jenny to further improve high productivity …show more content…
This abundant natural resource paired with the high wages of employed Britons is what Allen deems to be the root and necessary caveat of the Industrial Revolution. His evaluation of why no other countries were able to capitalize and develop at the pace of Britain is also very comprehensive in that the inventions we see in Britain were simply not economically beneficial or viable in the Low Countries based on the economic climate. This point is incredibly important, and illustrates how Britain then achieved such a higher standard of living for its workers on a basis of expanded trade and higher productivity in the manufacturing of important goods, including textiles. Allen’s analysis does lack crucial perspectives incorporated by other theorists, however, including the contributions of Imperialism and the slave trade. While no one condition can be deemed the determining factor leading to the Industrial Revolution the evidence supports that it can only be attributed to the culmination of all components that made Britain stand out as an industrial superpower though the 18th
Another example of British inventive advancements overshadowing other countries is in the productivity rise underlying the success of the new draperies and textile production. Through the sixteenth century Italy produced fabrics made from woolen cloth and …show more content…
England had comparative advantage in the production of textiles and raw wool, where exports were very high (Allen, 110). Once population levels began to grow and economic activity increased, Britain is involved in the high wage economy that has been discussed earlier. With these high wages not only did the population benefit, but so did the livestock that lived on the rural farms. These animals were able to acquire better nutrition, like their human counterparts, and as such the quality of the product, wool, increased. Interestingly, the typical yield of wool doubled between the fourteenth and seventeenth centuries providing quantitative evidence for these developments (Allen, 110). The improved products as a result of better nutrition were best suited for the Italian imitation cloth manufactured in Britain. As such the expansion of the industry is an “inevitable response to changes in the available wool supply” (Allen, 110). Britain’s ability to outcompete Italy and the Low Countries shows the country’s resilience in the increasingly global market and is a primary reason that Britain fared so well and benefited from inventions like the spinning jenny to further improve high productivity …show more content…
This abundant natural resource paired with the high wages of employed Britons is what Allen deems to be the root and necessary caveat of the Industrial Revolution. His evaluation of why no other countries were able to capitalize and develop at the pace of Britain is also very comprehensive in that the inventions we see in Britain were simply not economically beneficial or viable in the Low Countries based on the economic climate. This point is incredibly important, and illustrates how Britain then achieved such a higher standard of living for its workers on a basis of expanded trade and higher productivity in the manufacturing of important goods, including textiles. Allen’s analysis does lack crucial perspectives incorporated by other theorists, however, including the contributions of Imperialism and the slave trade. While no one condition can be deemed the determining factor leading to the Industrial Revolution the evidence supports that it can only be attributed to the culmination of all components that made Britain stand out as an industrial superpower though the 18th