‘What was the significance of coal for the industrial revolution?’ PDF

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Student I.D.: 1238499

Year 3 Autumn Advanced Option

Dr. F. Uekotter

‘What was the significance of coal for the industrial revolution?’

The industrial revolution as an historical event invokes an image of great economic and social change, often enshrined in progressive narratives of moving the world forward into a modern age. This essay seeks to analyse the significance of one factor of importance linked with the industrial revolution, coal. Spatially the term industrial revolution in this essay is linked to change which Britain underwent in the 1750s-1820s.1 Recent leading scholars on British economic history such as Crafts have convincingly contested concepts around the industrial revolution in Britain, placing more emphasis on a gradualist interpretation, a longer period of change and lower growth rates than had been the prior historical consensus.2 It is the conjecture of this piece of writing that coal played a significant part in the British industrial revolution of the late 18 th and early 19th centuries, driving further changes in other fields, notably technology. 3 Coal gave industrialising societies such as Britain a release from energy dependency on wood as a fuel, to the far greater potential that coal offered, opening up a ‘grand energy transition’. 4 This enabled the freeing up of land for other purposes, sustaining potential population and economic growth. 5 It is also to be noted that other factors were occurring in tandem at this time to industrial change in Britain, a broader change of rising wages and increasing productivity, supporting Jan de Vries’ notion of an ‘industrious revolution’. 6 Coal was a significant driving force for industrial change, sustaining broader changes in Britain’s economy and society. These developments were not often by design, being unintended consequences of changing fuel use and industrial transformation, and were not often realised by contemporaries. 7 However I believe these other factors though relevant are broadly incommensurable, and for the sake of clarity mostly will be left out, the focus here is on energy use. It is primarily the role of coal and resulting broader benefits that meant Britain undertook industrialisation successfully first, instead of another possible contender, China. This ‘Great Divergence’ to use Pomeranz’s notable phrase between Britain and China in the late 18 th century revolved around the pivotal role of coal in industrialising Britain.8

1 J. Mokyr, The Enlightened Economy: Britain and the Industrial Revolution 1700-1850 (London, 2009), p. 4. Termed the ‘1st British Industrial Revolution’, the ‘2nd’ occurred in the later 19th century. The ‘2nd’ will not the focus of this essay. 2 N. F. R. Crafts, ‘From the 18th to the 21st century: a perspective on 250 years of economic growth’, the Ellen McArthur Lectures, 2 November 2009. 3 This essay is a study of systems and the influence of energy use, and does largely miss out the consumers of energy and people in general, for the sake of brevity and to maintain a focus on the argument of this essay. 4 V. Smil, Energy Transitions: History, Requirements, Prospects (Santa Barbara, 2010), p. 26. 5 E. A. Wrigley, Continuity, Chance and Change. The Character of the Industrial Revolution in England (Cambridge, 1990), pp. 54-55. 6 Mokyr, Enlightened Economy, p. 272. 7 E. A. Wrigley, Energy and the English Industrial Revolution (Cambridge, 2010), p. 250.

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Student I.D.: 1238499

Year 3 Autumn Advanced Option

Dr. F. Uekotter

Coal’s significance for the British industrial revolution of the later 18 th and early 19th centuries was of critical importance to its profound and continued success. Without the fossil fuel it is difficult to ascertain if an industrial revolution as we know it would have occurred. Continuous economic growth would have been unlikely in the following 19 th century and industrial output would have been difficult to sustain without the high levels of constant and accessible energy that coal provided. Technology was innovated in response to the demand for coal, to a degree that it hadn’t in the preceding centuries. Growth industries in Britain such as the iron industry would have not been capable to expand and develop at the rate they did without the heavy use of coal. 9 The dependency and use of coal incrementally increased as industrial expansion went on. By the end of the 18 th century coal accounted for 75% of British energy consumption; by 1850 it was 90%. 10 Quantifying these figures in the year 1700 Britain’s total coal output was 3 million tonnes, 1800 it was 15 million and by 1850 it was over 60 million.11 Coal significantly precipitated an energy transition from an organic solar economy to a fossil fuel one; from wood grown on the surface to fossilised wood underground.12 These ‘ghost acres’ of coal offered significant energy potential for industrialisation, acting both as an encouragement for expansion and for sustaining future demand in energy use. 13 British timber growth could not have facilitated this demand. 14 Land and labour were freed up to be directed for other functions.

Labour, both human and animal became significantly more

unencumbered from managing and harvesting wood for fuel. This surplus labour could be directed into the expanding mine industry, or areas of the industrialising economy that were developing due to the increasing extraction and use of coal, such as in heavy industry. Land that had once grown a fuel source now had the capability to feed a growing population, whilst permitting the transfer of wood for other purposes such as construction, allowing the demographic change that the Malthusian trap deemed not possible.15 In a drive for greater efficiency in industrial production and transport development, increasing coal use speeded up the move from Cottage Industry, prevalent in Britain before the Industrial revolution, to the Factory System style of industrial development. 16 New

8 K. Pomeranz, The Great Divergence. Europe, China, and the Making of the Modern World Economy (Princeton, 2000), p. 57. 9 P. Hudson, The Industrial Revolution (London, 1992), p. 24. 10 Wrigley, English Industrial Revolution, p. 38. 11 Mokyr, Enlightened Economy, p. 100. 12 Wrigley, English Industrial Revolution, pp. 26-28. 13 Ibid., pp. 38-39. 14 Pomeranz, Great Divergence, p. 59. 15 M. J. Daunton, Progress and Poverty: An Economic and Social History of Britain 1700-1850 (Oxford, 1995), pp. 8-12. 16 P. Hudson, Regions and Industries: A Perspective on the Industrial Revolution in Britain (Cambridge, 1989), p. 62-63.

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Student I.D.: 1238499

Year 3 Autumn Advanced Option

Dr. F. Uekotter

centres of coal mining encouraged industry to be based nearby, thus forging and shaping new communities of industrialising Britain.17 A national example highlighting the significance of not taking the energy transition to coal and reaping the benefits of industrialising is the Netherlands. The Golden Age Dutch Republic of the 16 th and 17th centuries had economic growth and commercial activities far exceeding Britain’s. 18 However by the 18th century, whereas Britain expanded its coal industry thus unlocking greater potential in energy use and industrial expansion as a consequence, the Netherlands remained using peat as its principal energy source. By and large this can be accounted to the lack of substantial coal deposits in the Netherlands. The inability to move from a primary energy dependency on biofuels to fossil fuels resulted in Dutch economic stagnation in the 18 th century. Britain overtook economically the Netherlands due to its transition to coal.19 Furthermore if coal had not been used then further aspects of change such as in labour, land use and demography would not have been implemented or even sustainable under the old regime of biofuel dependency. Recent academic analysis questioned the validity of the term ‘industrial revolution’, owing to real economic growth figures being revised down and occurring over a longer period than first thought. 20 However it is the conjecture here that the place of coal is not diminished even with this analysis. Although Hobsbawm’s notion in the 1780s of a ‘sudden sharp…take off’ of Britain’s economic growth during the industrial revolution is no longer accepted in the historical mainstream, a majority of narratives offered still do give credence to the significant role of coal. 21 In terms of energy use as stated above using Wrigley’s figures, coal was the primary energy resource for Britain during this time of economic transition, and its consumption grew exponentially. Retrospective academic criticism has been placed on contemporaries not realising that an industrial revolution was occurring around them.22 However in an economy in transit many macroeconomic indicators such as GDP growth and productivity take time and investment before significant change is realised. Britain was undergoing a substantial change in industry during this time, and even with reassessments coal can still be judged to have played a significant role. In debating the primacy of coal or technology in shaping Britain’s industrial revolution, there is a seeming trap here to fall into historical causation, questioning which factor was of greater 17 P. Mathias, The First Industrial Nation. The Economic History of Britain 1700-1914, 2nd Edition (London, 1983), p. 112. 18 R. P. Sieferle, The Subterranean Forest: Energy Systems and the Industrial Revolution (Cambridge, 2001), p. 37 19 Ibid. 20 Hudson, Industrial Revolution, pp. 13-15. 21 E. J. Hobsbawm, The Age of Revolution 1789-1848 (London, 1962), p. 28. 22 Sieferle, The Subterranean Forest, p. 37.

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Year 3 Autumn Advanced Option

Dr. F. Uekotter

importance, striving for a ‘hierarchy of causes’. 23 Whilst arguing the significance of coal, it is important to stress that both coal and technology relied upon each other. Coal can be judged as an innovative force, especially in the early years of the British industrial revolution. Increasing coal extraction led to further advancements in technology, such as in steam power, as mine owners and mining companies pushed for innovation. Indeed the new technology can be inferred justifiably as a catalyst for greater coal extraction, whilst also accelerating further industry dependency upon the fuel. However it was coal’s extraction and demand in the first place that causes the initial and sustained demand for technological innovation and greater efficiency, creating a ‘positive production feedback’ process24. Switzerland and the Netherlands lacked easily accessible coal. They could not industrialise easily, becoming reliant upon importing finished goods from Britain during this time. 25 At times technological innovation delayed further industrial advancement. James Watt patented his steam technology and refused to work with high pressure systems, meaning further technological development had to be postponed by other innovators till the expiry of the patent. 26 Some historical narratives suggest that coal mining did not become greatly enhanced or efficient through technology. Demand-led growth for coal rather than technological fuelled early British industrial growth. 27 Recent revisionism does not offer sufficient justification to reduce coal to a bit player. In looking at the historical record, coal was very much a significant factor alongside technology in the industrial revolution. The coal industry attracted engineering talent and diffused technological spill over into other industries.28 It is fair to surmise that coal and technology complimented one another in Britain’s industrial revolution. Coal as a primary fuel source opened up great potential for expansion, prompting further innovation in technology, which traditional fuel sources such as wood had not done before. The case of China not industrialising first further supports the significance of coal to Britain’s industrial revolution. Economic performance and living standards between Britain and China were very similar until the mid-18th century.29 The significant factor in Britain undertaking an industrial 23 E. H. Carr, What is History? (Harmondsworth, 1970), pp. 89-90. 24 Smil, Energy Transitions, p. 29. 25 Mokyr, Enlightened Economy, p. 102. 26 Smil, Energy Transitions, p. 53. 27 G. Clark and D. Jacks, ‘Coal and the Industrial Revolution’, European Review of Economic History, Vol. 11 (2007), pp. 39-72. Note: these authors write as a critique of Pomeranz and Wrigley placing coal as pivotal to the industrial revolution. Clark and Jacks contest this view, taking 1980s and 90s reassessments of industrial change further by arguing coal played a small part in Britain’s industrial revolution, instead focusing on the little development in the coal industry during the Industrial revolution, and point out that the increased coal demand could have been successfully met any time during the 18th century. I challenge this notion, in the belief that coal was of significant importance due to its energy potential. 28 Mokyr, Enlightened Economy, p. 105. 29 J. Mokyr ‘Accounting for the Industrial Revolution’ in R. Floud and P. Johnson (eds.) The Cambridge Economic History of Modern Britain: Industrialisation, 1700-1860 (Cambridge, 2004), pp. 2-3.

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Student I.D.: 1238499

Year 3 Autumn Advanced Option

Dr. F. Uekotter

revolution instead of China in the later 18 th century has been attributed by scholars such as Pomeranz to China’s failure to not use coal as a primary energy source. 30 An initial reason for Britain transferring over to coal has been attributed to cost; coal was a cheaper fuel source to purchase than wood.31 Additionally coal proved to be vastly more fuel efficient than wood, giving a greater yield in energy, whilst also still usefully giving off heat and light like wood could offer. 32 Newly emerging and expanding British industry was able to capitalise on its coal reserves that were large, accessible and near population centres. These centres brought high energy demand, available labour for industry to expand, sustaining a growth in the coal industry, technological innovation and transport development. China however by the late 18 th century had population and commercial centres in the south and east of the country, far away from the coal reserves in the north. 33 On the technological side of this argument, coal mining prompted further innovation for British engineering. A case in kind would be developments in steam technology further aiding coal mining to pump out water from the water table that seeped into mines.34

Mines could be dug deeper and technology was

continually made more efficient to meet rising demand. The Chinese coal mines that were operated had no comparable issue with ground water leaking into mines.

Dust induced spontaneous

combustion was their main concern.35 Britain’s significant advancements in coal mining matched with technological advances, helped to keep costs lower than wood, and as infrastructure improved, costs lowered still. For Londoner consumers coal prices in real terms fell 40% when output increased 18-fold in the outlined period of this essay. 36 Britain’s better placed and easier access to coal than China’s, and the spill over effects into other areas such as in steam technology and transport improvements meant it industrialised ahead of China. Surveying the broad body of historical literature over the relationship between coal and Britain’s industrial revolution justifies the significant role of coal. Even with revisionism showing economic growth was lower than originally argued and took a longer time, coal’s role was still vitally significant for sustaining this growth. The energy reserves and potential coal offered fundamentally were higher than what biofuels such as wood in Britain or peat in the Netherlands could offer. Furthermore the impacts of using the ‘ghost acres’ of coal freed up land and labour that had been involved in wood cultivation. Wood was subsequently to be used for wider uses, whereas before it had been previously restricted, by being diverted away from energy use. The transition from solar organic energy use to fossil fuel allowed economic growth and industrial expansion during Britain’s 30 Pomeranz, Great Divergence, pp. 64-67. 31 Smil, Energy Transitions, p. 29. 32 Ibid., p. 27. 33 Pomeranz, Great Divergence, p. 46. 34 Ibid., p. 65. 35 Ibid. 36 Clark and Jacks, ‘Coal and the Industrial Revolution’, p. 40.

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Student I.D.: 1238499

Year 3 Autumn Advanced Option

Dr. F. Uekotter

industrial revolution. Coal’s beneficial traits spread into all areas of the economy and society, in an increasingly interdependent system, even if contemporary writers were not aware of this. 37 It was not only industrial firm owners or share owners who were aware of the changing significance and profitability of coal, but also workers. The changing shape of labour, going from managing land for fuel use, to moving over to mining or expanding industry that could afford to develop as a result of greater energy potential. Coal and the industrial revolution are justifiably linked, both supporting one another, laying the ground work for facilitating further industrial expansion in the coming 19 th century.38

Bibliography

Clark, G., and D. Jacks, ‘Coal and the Industrial Revolution’, European Review of Economic History, Vol. 11 (2007). Carr, E. H., What is History? (Harmondsworth, 1970). Crafts, N. F. R., ‘From the 18th to the 21st century: a perspective on 250 years of economic growth’, the Ellen McArthur Lectures, 2 November 2009. Daunton, M. J., Progress and Poverty: An Economic and Social History of Britain 1700-1850 (Oxford, 1995). Hobsbawm, E. J., The Age of Revolution 1789-1848 (London, 1962). Hudson, P., Regions and Industries: A Perspective on the Industrial Revolution in Britain (Cambridge, 1989). Hudson, P., The Industrial Revolution (London, 1992). Mathias, P., The First Industrial Nation. The Economic History of Britain 1700-1914 , 2nd Edition (London, 1983). Mokyr, J., The Enlightened Economy: Britain and the Industrial Revolution 1700-1850 (London, 2009). Mokyr, J., ‘Accounting for the Industrial Revolution’ in R. Floud and P. Johnson (eds.), The Cambridge Economic History of Modern Britain: Industrialisation, 1700-1860 (Cambridge, 2004).

37 Wrigley, English Industrial Revolution, p. 51. 38 Crafts, ‘From the 18th to the 21st century’, Ellen McArthur Lectures.

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Student I.D.: 1238499

Year 3 Autumn Advanced Option

Dr. F. Uekotter

Pomeranz, K., The Great Divergence. Europe, China, and the Making of the Modern World Economy (Princeton, 2000). Sieferle, R. P., The Subterranean Forest: Energy Systems and the Industrial Revolution (Cambridge, 2001). Smil, V., Energy Transitions: History, Requirements, Prospects (Santa Barbara, 2010). Wrigley, E. A., Continuity, Chance and Change. The Character of the Industrial Revolution in England (Cambridge, 1990). Wrigley, E. A., Energy and the English Industrial Revolution (Cambridge, 2010).

Word Count

With footnotes – 2572 Without footnotes - 2049

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