Economic development between 1812-1832
Overview
Between these years Britain continued to grow, This is backed up with the production figures in the three main industries of cotton,coal and iron. Between the years of 1815 to 1830 coal production rose from 16 million tons to just under 30 million tons, between 1815 to 1830 pig iron production doubled as at the start of the century it took 8 tons of coal to create 1 ton of pig iron but by 1830 this was only 3.5 tons which means the production became more efficient. With cotton production by the 1830s an estimated 30% of the industrial workforce was part of the cotton industry as 70% of all British exports were textiles which were mostly cotton. Raw cotton accounted for 20% of Britain's import. This makes sense that the export market was growing as during this period there was the development of the shipbuilding industry. This was seen that in 1820 the tonnage of ships built and registered in Britain was 66,000 which had increased to 75,000 by 1830. There was also the continued development of steam power with more factories than water like before. This increased the number of products that was available for home markets with the access of pottery and china started the age of consumerism.An example of this is how the coal outputs increased by over double between 1820 to 1832 from 450,000 tons to 1,000,000 million tons.
Railways and Agriculture
By 1832 this growth was helped by the new age of railway. This was due to the improved efficiency of the steam engine The first railway line was finished built in 1825 with the route from Stockton to Darlington railway line and the genius engineer George Stephenson worked on the first passenger railway using steam locomotive along the Liverpool to Manchester line in 1830. The line between Liverpool and Manchester was needed because Liverpool was the biggest port for cotton and Manchester had the largest mills so it made sense to transport the cotton to these mills. In farming there was the increased use of of enclosures this improved the system of crop rotation. This allowed more mixed farming where there could be arable and livestock on the same farm. This also allowed for there to be a greater variety of cattle fodder could be produced like winter feed. Enclosures allowed better security for farmers as if there was heavy rain that ruined the harvest then they could rely on the cattle. While this helped farmers massively there well being did heavily rely on war. When the Napoleonic War ended in 1815 the farmers were affected. This is because when the war ended the demand for wheat fell and trade restrictions were lifted which meant that cheap foreign corn could be brought which caused the prices to fall. This lead to the 1815 Corn Laws. Even so there still up and down prices of food whether there was a good or a poor harvest. In the good harvest the farmers would have to employ more people, more enclosures, new farm buildings and new drainage schemes so they had to borrow large sums of money which caused many farmers to go bankrupt in 1820s.
Economic policies and laissez faire
The idea behind laissez faire is that the state should not be involved in the market economy. The government followed this economic policy and rejected the idea of mercantilism where there is more tariffs on products. The government thought that it was not their job to regulate wages or prices and would naturally settle at a level most efficient for the market. This was seen in 1823 with the Reciprocity Act encouraged trade treaties with other countries on the idea behind tariff reduction. There was Preferential duties that were set up for the raw material from the British colonies like silk from India or wool from Australia. William Hukisson who was the president of the Board of trade modified the Navigation Code getting ride of restrictions on trading with foreign ships but keeping trade within the British Empire. This was good as it reduce illegal smuggling.
Between these years Britain continued to grow, This is backed up with the production figures in the three main industries of cotton,coal and iron. Between the years of 1815 to 1830 coal production rose from 16 million tons to just under 30 million tons, between 1815 to 1830 pig iron production doubled as at the start of the century it took 8 tons of coal to create 1 ton of pig iron but by 1830 this was only 3.5 tons which means the production became more efficient. With cotton production by the 1830s an estimated 30% of the industrial workforce was part of the cotton industry as 70% of all British exports were textiles which were mostly cotton. Raw cotton accounted for 20% of Britain's import. This makes sense that the export market was growing as during this period there was the development of the shipbuilding industry. This was seen that in 1820 the tonnage of ships built and registered in Britain was 66,000 which had increased to 75,000 by 1830. There was also the continued development of steam power with more factories than water like before. This increased the number of products that was available for home markets with the access of pottery and china started the age of consumerism.An example of this is how the coal outputs increased by over double between 1820 to 1832 from 450,000 tons to 1,000,000 million tons.
Railways and Agriculture
By 1832 this growth was helped by the new age of railway. This was due to the improved efficiency of the steam engine The first railway line was finished built in 1825 with the route from Stockton to Darlington railway line and the genius engineer George Stephenson worked on the first passenger railway using steam locomotive along the Liverpool to Manchester line in 1830. The line between Liverpool and Manchester was needed because Liverpool was the biggest port for cotton and Manchester had the largest mills so it made sense to transport the cotton to these mills. In farming there was the increased use of of enclosures this improved the system of crop rotation. This allowed more mixed farming where there could be arable and livestock on the same farm. This also allowed for there to be a greater variety of cattle fodder could be produced like winter feed. Enclosures allowed better security for farmers as if there was heavy rain that ruined the harvest then they could rely on the cattle. While this helped farmers massively there well being did heavily rely on war. When the Napoleonic War ended in 1815 the farmers were affected. This is because when the war ended the demand for wheat fell and trade restrictions were lifted which meant that cheap foreign corn could be brought which caused the prices to fall. This lead to the 1815 Corn Laws. Even so there still up and down prices of food whether there was a good or a poor harvest. In the good harvest the farmers would have to employ more people, more enclosures, new farm buildings and new drainage schemes so they had to borrow large sums of money which caused many farmers to go bankrupt in 1820s.
Economic policies and laissez faire
The idea behind laissez faire is that the state should not be involved in the market economy. The government followed this economic policy and rejected the idea of mercantilism where there is more tariffs on products. The government thought that it was not their job to regulate wages or prices and would naturally settle at a level most efficient for the market. This was seen in 1823 with the Reciprocity Act encouraged trade treaties with other countries on the idea behind tariff reduction. There was Preferential duties that were set up for the raw material from the British colonies like silk from India or wool from Australia. William Hukisson who was the president of the Board of trade modified the Navigation Code getting ride of restrictions on trading with foreign ships but keeping trade within the British Empire. This was good as it reduce illegal smuggling.
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