Explain the following statement with reasons: Industrial Revolution first began in England.

Answer: Because England had all the conditions needed for industrial growth — capital, raw materials, markets, labour and new inventions.

• Through overseas trade and colonies England had accumulated large capital, which could be invested in factories.
• England had rich deposits of coal and iron, and its colonies supplied raw materials such as cotton.
• Its colonies and wide trade gave a large market for finished goods, and a strong navy protected its trade routes.
• The enclosure movement drove peasants to towns, providing cheap labour for factories.
• Inventions such as the flying shuttle, spinning jenny, power loom and James Watt's steam engine were made in England, and a stable government encouraged business. Hence the Industrial Revolution began first in England.