HIST363: Global Perspectives on Industrialization

3a. Assess the effects of the Agricultural Revolution on European societies

• What accounted for agricultural improvements in England from 1500–1850?
• What are cottage industries and proto-industries?
• How was the factory system fundamentally different from the commercial production methods that preceded it?
• What were the inventions of Jethro Tull, Joseph Foljambe, Andrew Meikle, and John Fowler?
• How did industrialization contribute to urbanization in England and Europe during the Industrial Revolution?
• What was the Columbian Exchange, and what effects did it have on the New World and the Old World (Eurasia)?

Several factors prompted the Industrial Revolution in England and Europe. As we discussed in Unit 1, in England, the ready availability of water power, sources of iron ore, an abundant coal supply, and raw materials from colonies such as India created a foundation for an industrial revolution.
 
An agricultural revolution preceded these changes: new farming tools and mechanization methods made it easier for farmers to produce more food with less labor. For example, in 1701, Jethro Tull invented the seed drill, which would plant seeds efficiently in neat rows, and later developed a horse-drawn hoe. In 1730, Joseph Foljambe produced the first commercially-successful iron plow to replace its wooden predecessor. In 1786, Andrew Meikle developed a threshing machine to remove the outer husks from grains of wheat. In the mid-1800s, John Fowler produced a steam-driven engine that could plow farmland and dig drainage ditches more quickly and economically than horse-drawn plows.
 
While domestic and cottage industries helped European workers transition from an agricultural to an industrialized society, factory production came to dominate the economic landscape. Proto-industry describes this type of domestic manufacturing and other types of commercial activity that preceded industrialization. Later, these newly-unemployed agricultural workers would flock to the urban centers where they would form Britain's new industrial workforce.
 
Meanwhile, the Columbian Exchange provided a new basis for new agricultural production, as new crops from the New World came to supplement the European diet, such as potatoes, corn, tobacco, beans, squash, peppers, and cacao. For example, potatoes became a vital sustenance for the lower classes across Europe.
 
To review, see Where and Why Did the First Cities and States Appear? and 18th-Century Inventions that Transformed Agriculture.

3b. Discuss the development of manufacturing in Europe

• Discuss the relationship between a cottage industry or domestic system and the factory system in England. How were they complementary, and how were they incompatible?
• How did the industrialization of the textile industry in England affect the Indian textile industry and Indian industrialization? What effect did it have on British and French domestic weavers and their families?

The industrialization of textile manufacturing supplanted artisanal production, a process characterized by minimal automation, little division of labor, a cottage industry, and a small number of highly-skilled craftsmen, particularly in the textile industry. These processes coexisted and complemented each other until full-scale industrialization rendered domestic weavers and the cottage industry obsolete. In addition to laws that restricted the importation of Indian cotton, English textile manufacturing hurt the Indian textile industry. Indian weavers, textile production, and industrialization in India suffered, forcing the country to rely on its agricultural economy until recently.
 
Traditional cottage industries, which had endured for centuries in England, France, and India, were soon replaced by the mass production of cheap and affordable cotton fabric. Industrialization fueled a revolution that changed social and economic patterns that had long existed in all three countries.
 
To review, see From the Early-Modern Workshop to the Modern Factory.

3c. Explain European manufacturing's effects on Asian industries

• Given the advanced manufacturing processes available locally, why was trade with Asia in such high demand?
• How had European merchants previously traded with Asia, and why was that method unavailable to them?
• How did the merchant classes of Europe respond to the demand for Asian goods? What happened next?

During the period we're considering, fine Asian goods, such as silk, pearls, and porcelain, were in high demand in Europe. Classes with newfound wealth especially clamored for such valuable imports. Initially, this drove up demand and prices and made trade relations with Asia highly sought after.
 
Previously, merchants had traveled along the Silk Road, a relatively stable trade route. However, the Mongolian Empire had collapsed, leaving a large swath of the Silk Road inconsistent and unprotected – and, therefore, not really viable as a trade route. Additionally, in the aftermath of the Crusades, Christian merchants from Europe were not necessarily welcome to pass through those territories en route to the East.
 
This situation caused merchants, wealthy upper classes, and royalty to expend a great deal of capital and other resources trying to establish trade routes to the East by sea. Some expeditions used ever-improving technology to make the dangerous trip around the southern tip of Africa, while others would attempt to reach the East by sailing west (not knowing at the time that the Earth was much larger than previously thought and that a large continental landmass lay between western Europe and eastern Asia). This launched what came to be known as the Age of Exploration.
 
Eventually, those who had the means to finance trade missions to the East would come to dominate the trade routes they established. For example, England colonized India, Singapore, and Hong Kong, which allowed them to gain what was essentially a trade monopoly there and dominate other ports and trade routes.
 
To review, see Shifts in Production and Exploration and Global Trade.

3d. Describe how slave labor from Africa and natural resources from the Americas assisted industrial development in England

• What role did slavery play in England's industrial revolution?
• How did the industrial capitalism of England during the Industrial Revolution rely on natural resources and human capital, in the form of African slaves, for its development and growth?

While England's industrial revolution was based on agricultural consolidation, mechanization, a large supply of coal and iron ore, and water power, we cannot ignore that slaves from Africa provided the back-breaking labor that harvested the necessary natural resources and raw materials in its colonies.
 
For example, the sugar industry, which required intensive labor, which its slaves provided, reaped huge profits for its owners and investors back in England. This capital provided the basis for the money needed to invest in factories and industrial production for the newly-developing mass consumer market.
 
To review, see:

• Labor, Commerce, and the Columbian Exchange
• The Americas and the Columbian Exchange
• Summary of the Transatlantic Slave Trade
• The Atlantic Slave Trade: What Too Few Textbooks Told You

3e. Discuss the impact of the Macartney Expedition on the emerging global economy

• Who was Lord Macartney?
• What was the Macartney Expedition, and what was its primary goal?
• What was the outcome of the Macartney Expedition, and how did England respond?
• What does the Macartney Expedition tell us about the global economy of the time?

In 1793, King George III of England sent Lord George Macartney as an emissary to China to establish favorable trade relations with the Qianlong Emperor. The Macartney Expedition, financed by the British East India Company (EIC), was a massive diplomatic failure.
 
At the time, fine Chinese goods were highly valued in Europe and expensive. Many Asian economies of the time made their goods primarily for local and regional use and not for export, and China was no exception. They had massive local and regional markets and no real need for outside trade. Simply, England did not have much China wanted, so China was not incentivized to trade with England. The British did not have the one thing China did want – silver currency – in constant supply. At the time, most of the silver mines were in Spanish colonies in the Americas. Macartney could not get the Emperor to accept anything else in trade (such as rice or opium, to which England had plenty of access through its colony in India). Ultimately, the mission was considered a massive failure.
 
To review, see The Macartney Expedition and the Global Economy and Rise and Fall of Canton Trade System.

3f. Explain the effects of Western Imperialism on Asia's industrialization

• What is Western Imperialism?
• What was the British East India Company (EIC)?
• What were The Opium Wars?
• How was Asia in general, and China in particular, affected by them?
• What was the outcome of these conflicts?

After the failure of the Macartney Expedition, the British East India Company began to sell significant amounts of opium to private merchants headed to China and directly to Chinese smugglers, thus creating a massive drug trade. This drug trade undermined China's strict trade rules by ignoring and circumventing them and got a significant portion of Chinese society at all levels addicted to opium.
 
The Emperor made opium illegal and issued multiple edicts on the matter, but by that time, the opium trade was deeply entrenched. Many officials responsible for enforcing trade policy and restrictions were addicted to opium and profiting from its trade, so the Emperor's attempts had little effect. Eventually, the conflict between trying to keep opium out of China and the EIC's desire for massive profits and Chinese goods resulted in military conflict. Both Opium Wars would end with "Unequal Treaties", ceding Chinese territory, wealth, and trade advantages to England (and also to France after the Second Opium War).
 
To review, see The Opium Wars and The First Opium War.

Unit 3 Vocabulary

• Age of Exploration
• agricultural consolidation
• Andrew Meikle
• Columbian Exchange
• cottage industry
• Jethro Tull
• John Fowler
• Joseph Foljambe
• Macartney Expedition
• mechanization
• opium
• Opium Wars
• proto-industry
• slave labor
• textile manufacturing