Trade and empire were very important factors in the growth of the Industrial Revolution in Britain. Britain’s empire provided it with cheap raw materials to use in factories and international trade gave Britain markets in which to sell the output of its factories. Even though trade and empire were very important, other important factors also played a role in the growth of the Industrial Revolution. Britain had a plenty of coal and a growing population both of which were necessary for the Industrial Revolution to prosper. Britain also had a stable government and a culture that encouraged business and invention. These factors were of equal importance as trade and empire in the growth of the Industrial Revolution.
As the Industrial Revolution began to grow, a steady supply of raw materials was needed, more than could be found within Britain itself. The new factories needed raw materials to create manufactured goods. Not all of these could be found in Britain. Cootes says that the American colonies were particularly valuable because they produced crops that could not be grown in Europe such as sugar and raw cotton. Cotton was a particularly important raw material. Slave labour and …show more content…
For example, the culture of making profit encouraged merchants to do the trading that provided raw materials. A parliament dominated by businessmen sought to expand the empire so that they would have more markets to sell to. Without a population of workers or ready sources of coal British factories might not have been competitive. We therefore cannot say that trade and empire were the most important factors in the growth of industry in Britain but they were certainly very important factors and it is unlikely that the revolution would have taken off anywhere near as quickly without