The Industrial Revolution Associated With Britain s Rise...

To what extent was the industrial revolution associated with Britain’s rise as an imperial power? In the middle of the 18th century, there were many major European colonial powers; Spain, Portugal, the Dutch Republic, France and of course, Great Britain . A century later, by about the middle of the 19th century, the British Empire was unrivalled, stretching all around the world and having become a great trading and conquering empire. During this period, the â€Å"industrial revolution† was credited to have occurred; in this essay we will explore what the meaning of â€Å"industrial revolution† is or how it can be interpreted and how the events could have possibly accelerated Britain’s output, trade and commerce and ultimately led to the Britain’s†¦show more content†¦Previously it was believed, as stated by Ashton that the industrial revolution was a â€Å"wave of gadgets† as well as â€Å"innovations of various kinds-in agriculture, transport, manufacture, trade and finance – that surged up with a suddenness for which it is di fficult to find a parallel at any other time or place†. Recently, academics and historians have moved away from this view, towards a view that during that time period, there was gradual and few technological changes, with Craft estimating there was only a net growth of 0.01% between 1760-80, 0.35% between 1780-1801 and 0.52% between 1801-1831 in the national product per head. Craft suggest that the â€Å"industrial revolution [was] a distinctive mix of slow growth, massive rises in population and major structural changes† but it is important to note that Britain’s redeployment of it resources, to restructure employment and capital employment separated it from the rest of Europe, which placed ahead of these other nations in growth and allowed for future prosperity and was far greater