History · AS: The Industrial Revolution in Britain, 1750-1850 (exams to Nov 2026). The idea in plain words, the rules to remember, the mistake to avoid and a worked example, written and checked by Mega Lecture.
Britain industrialised first because several changes came together in the eighteenth century. No single cause explains it.
The agricultural revolution came first. Enclosure, new crop rotations and better breeding produced more food with fewer workers. This fed a growing population and left labour free for industry. Profits from farming, overseas trade and the slave trade provided capital, and country banks lent it to businessmen.
Early machines then raised output, first in textiles. Each invention created pressure for the next: faster weaving needed faster spinning. Canals and better roads cut the cost of moving coal, raw materials and finished goods, which made larger businesses possible.
Students often give Newcomen's engine the uses of Watt's later engine. Newcomen's engine only pumped water from mines; it did not drive factory machines.
Answer: Farming changes supplied food, labour, demand and capital, all of which industry needed.
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