Hello, welcome to History here at Oak National Academy.

My name's Mr. Newton, and I'll be your teacher today guiding you through the entire lesson.

Right? Let's get started.

In this inquiry, we've been thinking about the question, why did the British Empire grow in the 17th and 18th centuries? This is the question we have used to investigate how a tiny archipelago off the west coast of Europe came to rule out the biggest empire in the world has ever seen.

In 1688, England was still a lightweighting empire building.

However, by 1815, radical transformations have occurred at home and abroad, leaving Britain with a wealthy economy, advanced technology, a powerful military, and an extensive colonial trade network.

So historians are interested in this period to try to understand how Britain became a dominant global power.

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to describe the debates that exists among historians as to the relationship between the growth of the British Empire and the growth of Britain's economy.

Before we begin, there are a few key words that we need to understand.

Industrial means that economic activity related to the manufacturing and production of goods.

Demand is the willingness and ability of people to buy something.

Manufactured, is something produced on a large scale by machines, usually in a factory.

Investment is the act of putting money, effort, time, et cetera, into something to make a profit or get an advantage.

And finally, domestic market is the number of customers who have the ability to buy goods within their own country.

Today's lesson is split up to three parts.

We'll first look at increasing demand in imperial trade before moving on to Britain's agricultural and industrial revolutions.

And we'll finally come to the historical debate in the third part of the lesson.

Right, let's start with increasing demand and imperial trade.

During the long 18th century, from 1688 to 1815, Britain experienced revolutions in agriculture and in industry.

By 1815, Britain's empire was growing, as was its trade with colonies and countries around the world.

Historians are interested in the relationship between these developments.

Did the agricultural and industrial revolutions make the expansion of the British Empire possible? Or was it the expansion of the British Empire that was the crucial factor in Britain's industrialization? Colonies in the British empire provided raw materials that were important to the industrial revolution including cotton, tobacco, and sugar.

And we can see a photo of a tobacco plantation on the left.

A key development in the industrial revolution was the change in how cotton cloth was made.

From being produced by individuals in their own homes before the industrial Revolution to mass production in large mechanised factories as a result of the Industrial revolution.

This hugely increased the demand for raw cotton.

Although the USA broke free from the British Empire in 1776, most raw cotton used by British textile factories continued to come from the southern states of the USA.

During the American Civil War, 1861 to 1865, Britain switched to obtaining its cotton from its colonies in India.

Overseas trade also developed as a result of the growth in the British empire.

The population of the American colonies had expanded through the long 18th century due to migration from Europe from an estimated 150,000 people, in the 1680s, the 13 British colonies had a population of over 2.

1 million by 1776.

This growth produced a demand in the colonies for British manufactured goods like tools and clothing.

This boosted the development of manufacturing industries of Britain.

Exports, especially in textiles, were also vital for some British industries, with up to 40% of products being exported by 1801.

Okay, let's have a check for understanding.

What created a demand for British goods in North America during the 18th century.

A, abolition of slavery.

B, American independence, C, growing population.

Pause the video, Have a think and then come right back.

Okay, welcome back, and well done if you knew the correct answer was C, growing population.

Okay, let's continue.

In Britain's Caribbean colonies, sugarcane plantations thrived.

This made their plantation owners so wealthy that their crop was nicknamed white gold.

In 1773, British sugar imports from Jamaica were valued at five times the imports of all the North American colonies.

Before the British government abolished a trade and enslaved people within the British Empire in 1807, British ships carried a third of all enslaved people transported across the Atlantic, estimated at 3.

5 million African people.

Profits from this trade and from the products grown by enslaved labour were then invested in Britain.

These investments went into schemes to build new canals and railways and to improve ports in cities like Liverpool, Bristol, and London.

These developments in transportation were a key factor in Britain's industrial revolution.

Okay, let's have another check.

What crop was nicknamed white gold in the Caribbean during the 18th century? And furthermore, how did it get this nickname? Pause the video, have a think and then come right back.

Okay, welcome back, and well done if you knew that the owners of sugarcane plantations became so wealthy that their crop was nicknamed white gold, and that in 1773 British sugar imports from Jamaica were valued at five times that of all the North American colonies.

Really showing you how valuable sugar was in colonial trade.

Okay, let's move on to task A.

Working with a partner, discuss what evidence could be used to support Alex's judgement.

So Alex has made the judgement , the growth of the British Empire was an important factor in the development of Britain's industrial revolution.

So what I want you to do is to make a list of evidence, factual details that we can use to support Alex's argument.

Pause the video, have a go at the task, and then come right back.

Okay.

Welcome back and well on for having a go at that task.

So your list might look slightly different from what I have here, but compare your answers with my examples.

So firstly, your answer may include British colonies produced raw materials that were vital to Britain's industrial revolution such as cotton, which came from the Americas and later India.

You might have also said something about the Caribbean sugar plantations and that before 1807, the transatlantic slave trade generated great wealth for British individuals, some of which was then invested in the ships, ports, canals, and railways that were vital to the industrial revolution.

And you might have said that population growth in the Americas increased demand for British manufactured goods, which led to growth in British industry.

And finally, you might have said that exports, especially in textiles, were vital for British industries with up to 40% of products being exported by 1801.

Okay, great, so we've now established some of the arguments for the growth of the industrial revolution and empire being around increasing demand and imperial trade.

Now let's move on to the second part of the lesson where we look at Britain's agricultural and industrial revolutions and see if we can establish some further arguments.

So since the 14th century England's wages had steadily risen, allowing people to buy more things.

Have a look at the diagram showing English society.

England had maintained unusually high wages, and we can see that this resulted in the growth of a large population with lots of money to spend.

This meant that when new technology was invented in Britain, it was sure to make a profit.

As people were quick to buy and adapt these new technologies.

This meant that new technologies were quick to take off in Britain, whereas in other countries with lower wages, technological innovation would be stifled.

Much of the reason for Britain having such unusually high wages was because of its agricultural efficiency.

Improvements in farming in the agricultural revolution meant much more food was being produced by far fewer people.

People who lost their jobs in the countryside moved to the factories in Britain's cities.

Factory conditions were harsh, but wages were higher than labourers could earn in the countryside.

Factories have been designed to house the innovative machinery of the industrial revolution.

Production increased massively as manufacturing moved from homes to factories.

And in the illustration on the on the left we can see lady spinning one cotton thread at home.

And this was often how things were made at home in cotton industries.

However, if we have a look at the illustration on the right, we can see that the labour saving machines invented during the industrial revolution enabled factories to spin multiple cotton threads at once.

The amount of cotton thread produced in Britain exploded.

For its population size, this made Britain one of the wealthiest countries in the world and provoked radically new economic behaviour from its citizens.

Since British people had high wages, they could increasingly afford to buy larger quantities of manufactured goods, which meant more manufacturing, which meant more industrial jobs for British people, which meant there were more people wanting to spend their wages on manufactured products and exotic overseas goods.

In other words, there was increased domestic demand.

Britain had become the first mass consumer society, and we can see this from the image on the left.

It shows a painting of tea time in the 18th century.

So here we can imagine a middle class father, he's the man in red, has commissioned a painter to capture the wealth and luxury of his life.

We can see this family sitting around their tea table drinking this new exotic drink from China.

We can also imagine they have a dish of sugar on the table there.

It's all served in the finest silver and porcelain crockery.

This family is showing they can afford the latest exotic goods shipped in from the Americas and the far East, wearing the finest textiles from India, surrounded by valuable possessions showing off their wealth and social status.

This was what the consumer society was about, and people began to work harder and longer just so they could keep up with all their friends and family who always seemed to have more luxuries than they could afford to consume themselves.

Okay, let's have a check for understanding.

Why had the domestic market for industrial goods increased in 18th century Britain? Select two correct answers.

A, factory work paid more than farm work.

B, food was affordable because of farming improvements.

C, migration from the Americas boosted the economy.

D, welfare payments meant people had money.

Pause the video, have a think, and then come right back.

Okay, welcome back, and well done if you knew the correct two answers were A, factory work paid more than farm work and B, food was affordable because of farming improvements.

The industrial revolution's technological innovations continued, as machines were developed further to keep up with domestic demand more effectively and profitably.

Britain's domestic market funded and incentivized private individuals such as inventors, entrepreneurs, and investors.

These private individuals helped to make further technical advances and built more factories because their goods were sure to make a profit amongst the high wage and high consuming domestic markets in Britain.

This was a continuous cycle of technological development of profit, what is known as a virtuous cycle, a chain of events in which one desirable occurrence leads to another, which further promotes the first occurrence and so on, resulting in a continuous process of improvements.

The industrial revolution caused a huge increase in demand for resources, raw materials such as cotton, rubber, metals, and other minerals which Britain could not produce for itself.

Colonies were the ideal way for Britain to ensure it had a reliable and cheap supply of raw materials.

Colonies could also be made into export markets for British goods.

In India for example, Britain imposed restrictions on the sale of Indian cotton cloth in Britain while taking away any restrictions on taking cotton as a raw material from India to Britain.

This way, British manufacturers got cheap raw cotton and they could then make into cloth and sell it to good profit back to India.

And they could do this while being protected from competition from cheap cotton cloth made in India.

Okay, let's have a check for understanding.

How did Britain's colonial control of India benefit British cotton manufacturers? Select two correct answers.

A, a secure supply of cheap raw cotton from India.

B, a secure supply of cheap cotton cloth from India.

C, an export market for British manufactured cotton.

D, an export market for cotton grown in Britain.

Pause the video selected two correct answers, and then come right back.

Okay, welcome back and well done if you knew the correct answers were A, a secure supply of cheap raw cotton from India.

And C, an export market for British manufactured cotton.

So as we know, the industrial revolution involved the succession of labour saving technological innovations, which transformed the productivity of Britain's workforce.

However, the height of this was the steam engine.

This signified a profound turning point in world history.

This was the discovery of the extraction of energy from coal which shifted Britain and later the world from an organic economy, power derived from wind, water, or muscle to a mineral economy.

In other words, for most of history, humans had relied on the natural world for power.

That could be humans using their muscles to manoeuvre a plough in a field or a horse to pull a cart and the wind or water to turn rhe mill.

Britain had discovered there's a rock in the ground, coal, could be used for energy.

However, the invention of a steam engine was required to extract the energy from the coal.

Once that had happened, humankind had been freed from its dependence on the natural world for its energy.

The steam engine was quickly adapted and attached to machines to harvest crops, to weave textiles.

And as you can see from the image on the left to power trains.

and behind the train, you can see a painting which celebrates what Britain's new industrial economy would go on to achieve.

New communication technologies, high level bridges, steam trains, and steamships, et cetera.

Britain's mineral economy built on coal, but crucially combined with the invention of the steam engine resulted in Britain overtaking the Netherlands in wealth and India in manufacturing.

The benefits of the industrial revolution were combined with the financial innovation of the British government's ability to cheaply borrow money.

Britain could greatly increase its funding of the military, especially the Royal Navy.

Technological innovations, greatly improved weapons, and manufacturing developments meant that these weapons and Royal Navy ships could be produced in huge numbers.

This increased military power was then used by Britain to expand its empire and defend its colonies from resistance.

Okay, let's have a check for understanding.

How did the industrial Revolution lead to Britain having a stronger military? Select two correct answers.

A, Britain shifted from a mineral economy to an organic economy.

B, manufacturing developments meant Royal Navy ships could be produced in huge numbers.

C, technological innovations greatly improved weapons.

Pause the video, have a think and then come right back.

Okay, welcome back and well done if you knew the correct answers were B, manufacturing developments meant Royal navy ships could be produced in huge numbers.

And C, technological innovations greatly improved weapons.

Okay, let's move on to task B.

Aisha has made a judgement on the growth of the British Empire.

So let's read Aisha's judgement.

The growth of the British Empire was driven by Britain's industrial revolution.

So what I want you to do is improve Aisha's answer by adding evidence to support her judgement.

So use your knowledge from the lesson you've gained so far to support Aisha's judgement.

Pause the video, have a go at the task, and then come right back.

Okay, great.

Welcome back.

So there's many ways that you could have answered this question, but compare your answer with what I have here.

So the growth of the British Empire was driven by Britain's Industrial revolution.

Industrialization introduced labour saving technologies, transforming productivity, and leading to the steam engine, which marked a shift from an organic to a mineral economy.

This made Britain wealthier than the Netherlands and more advanced in manufacturing than India.

Additionally, financial innovations allowed Britain to borrow money cheaply funding a powerful military and navy.

The ability to produce advanced weapons and ships in large quantities enabled Britain to expand and protect its empire using its increased military power to dominate globally.

Okay, great, let's move on to the final part of the lesson, the historical debate.

So historians disagree about what caused the growth of the British Empire.

These disagreements are often influenced by which factors historians focus on.

Historians often have to make overall judgements about historical developments and events, and a good historian will understand both sides of the debate before reaching a final judgement.

And as we've said, historians have obviously debated the question of what caused the growth of the British Empire.

Some historians have argued that the Industrial revolution fueled the growth of the empire because of the need to secure access to raw materials and to open up new markets for British products.

Obviously, the United Kingdom is a tiny archipelago, so it has limited natural resources available, so it would need to find these resources from elsewhere.

This is so the raw ingredients could be fed into the factories, which were manufacturing them into their finished products.

While the British domestic markets was important in the early stages of the industrial revolution, manufacturing industries were soon producing more than British customers alone could buy.

Colonies were ideal markets for British products because the colonial government could make sure they trade with Britain rather than with Britain's competitors.

Britain's enormous industrial wealth also allowed it to develop superior military strength, and that is what enabled it to expand and defend its colonies.

Okay, let's have a check for understanding what does the term domestic market prefer to? A, international trade agreements that affect prices.

B, market for goods and services within a country's borders.

C, the government's export policies that restrict imports.

Pause the video, have a think and then come right back.

Okay.

Welcome back and well if you knew the correct answer was B, a market for goods and services within the country's borders.

Other historians have argued that it was increased trade with its colonies that created the conditions for Britain to have an Industrial revolution.

Some have argued that profits from the transatlantic slave trade and the exploitation of colonies in the Americas provided the investment necessary for the industrial revolution.

However, recent historians have shown that the scale of investment was minimal.

For example, profits on the slave trade accounted for just 1% of total domestic investments in 1790.

Again, though other historians have shown the importance of raw materials from colonies for boosting economic growth in Britain.

The growth in the size of colonial populations created markets for British manufactured goods, and that is seen as critical by some historians for the growth of industrial production in Britain.

However, those arguing for the importance of the industrial revolution for the growth of the British Empire, points out that overseas trade was a fraction of Britain's overall wealth.

In 1780 for example, exports only made up 10% of Britain's economy, and that included trade with countries in Europe that were not part of the British Empire.

Okay, let's have another check.

And I've got another judgement here for you.

The growth of the British Empire was responsible for Britain's industrial revolution.

What I want you to do is to list two or more arguments to support this statement.

Pause the video, have a go, and then come right back.

Okay.

Welcome back.

So your answers could include, that profits on the transatlantic slave trade and the exploitation of colonies in the Americas provided investment for the industrial revolution.

You could have mentioned that raw materials from Britain's colonies boosted industrial development in Britain, for example, cotton.

And you could have put that the growth in the size of colonial populations created markets for British manufactured goods.

An issue for historians that focus on Britain's colonial trade is that many other countries also had extensive colonial trade networks.

For example, the Dutch Republic was a major trader in Asia, and Spain's colonial markets were some of the largest.

While France had the largest import export trade in colonial products and economic growth bolstered by enslaved Africans.

And yet the industrial revolution did not occur in the Dutch Republics, Spain, or even France.

Therefore, what was different about Britain? To explain Britain's industrial revolution and imperial growth, historians have identified the following unique factors that occurred in England and Britain at the time.

And these were advancements in technology, higher wages, the harnessing of the energy generated from coal, and increased consumption, the mass consumer society.

Since the industrial revolution began in England before anywhere else in the world, historians argue that a combination of these unique factors were the main drivers of industrialization and by extension, the growth of empire.

Another argument against the importance of colonial trade in triggering industrial revolution is that the British Empire was very expensive to run.

Britain had to divert military resources to protect their trade network resulting in high defence costs.

Taxes were also higher in order to pay for the cost of administering colonies, and this reduced how much money people had to spend on manufactured products.

The protectionist policies of the British Empire imposed trade restrictions on colonies.

While British manufacturers would have preferred free trade with no restriction.

Most modern historians agree that the growth of the British Empire was not due to one factor alone, but to many factors acting together.

Economic factors, colonial trade, and industrial development were certainly crucial, but there were other factors too.

For some historians, growth of the empire and overseas trade were both only possible because of Britain's military strength and its military victories.

Okay, let's have a check for understanding.

Which two of these argue against the importance of colonial trade as a reason for the industrial revolution.

A, some British industries exported around 40% of their products.

B, in 1780, exports made up only 10% of Britain's economy.

C, profits from the slave trade accounted for just 1% of total domestic investments in 1790.

Pause the video, have a think, and then come right back.

Okay, welcome back, and well done if you knew the correct two answers were B.

In 1780 exports made up only 10% of Britain's economy.

And C, profits from the slave trade accounted for just 1% of the total domestic investments in 1790.

Okay, great.

Let's move on to the final task, task C.

And we've got yet another judgement.

Jacob argues, Britain's industrial revolution would not have been possible without the growth in trade with Britain's colonies.

Why might some historians disagree with Jacob's statement? What I want you to do is write one or two paragraphs for your answer.

Make sure you use all your knowledge, factual details from the lesson to fully explain your answer.

Pause the video, have a go at the task, and then come right back.

Okay, great, welcome back, and well done for having a go at that task.

So there's many ways you could have answered this question, but compare your answer with what I have here.

Some historians would question how important trade with Britain's colonies was as a factor in the industrial revolution.

While recognising that the raw materials from the colonies were important for industry.

Some historians would argue that trade with its colonies made up a relatively small fraction of Britain's economy with total exports accounting for only 10% of the economy in 1780.

Another argument would be that many other countries were also heavily involved with colonial trade.

For example, the Dutch Republic, Spain, and France, all had extensive colonial trade networks.

And yet the industrial revolution did not occur in those countries.

This has led historians to look for factors unique to Britain in order to account for the industrial revolution.

The cost of administering and defending colonies was also unpopular with industrialists who said it meant higher taxes, which meant people had less money to spend on manufactured products.

Some historians could argue instead that it was demand from Britain's domestic market that was most significant in providing the conditions for the industrial revolution.

They could also stress the importance of Britain's agricultural revolution in providing increased food supplies while also pushing large numbers of people who used to work for low wages in farming into the factories and cities.

Without these workers, no industrial revolution would've been possible in Britain, regardless of what was happening with trade with Britain's colonies.

Okay great, let's summarise today's lesson, The Growth of Britain's economy and Empire.

Historians debate whether the growth of Britain's empire happened because of the industrial revolution, or whether the growing empire was what made the industrial revolution possible.

The growing population in America increased demand for British manufactured products and trade with Britain's colonies increased vital supplies of raw materials for British factories as well as investments in British industrial development.

However, the growth in Britain's domestic market was also very important in creating the demand for manufactured goods.

While the agricultural revolution supplied the workers for the industrial revolution.

There is evidence to support both sides of the argument suggesting that several different factors were involved.

Well done on a brilliant lesson where we've tried to understand some of the reasons that Britain had become such a dominant force in the long 18th century.

Hopefully, you can see the importance of understanding both sides of an argument and that often the cause of something is down to multiple factors.

I also hope that this has interested you in other empires around the world, or you might even be curious to find out what happens to the British Empire.

As it goes through some fundamental changes in the 19th and 20th centuries.

So I'll see you in the next inquiry.