The
Industrial Revolution (II)
The Tobacco
Trade
Much
of Scotlands new-found wealth rested upon the Atlantic trade,
particularly in tobacco. Glasgows famous Tobacco Lords were
some of the great innovators of capitalism and accumulated vast
sums of money. They sent agents out to the Chesapeake in Virginia
or Carolina to trade with the small plantation owners, to give them
credit, and to sell them tools from the Scottish iron and linen
industry on credit against their future crop. As the plantations
expanded, so did Glasgows grip on the trade.
The Tobacco Lords were behind new innovations and systems of crop
harvesting. They stored tons of tobacco in warehouses, run by Glasgow
agents, so that there was always plenty when a ship arrived for a
quick turnaround. These developments and Glasgows easier access
to transatlantic shipping routes gave the Tobacco Lords important
commercial advantages over their southern rivals in Bristol and London.
Scotland
and the Atlantic Trade
The Atlantic trade and the Industrial Revolution combined to transform
the Scots economy. Trade now turned West towards an ever-expanding
America, and tobacco was just part of a global trading system
known as the Three Way Trade. Ships sailed from Scotland to Africa
to pick up slaves, who were then transported to the sugar plantations
of the West Indies or the tobacco plantations of America, from
there raw materials like sugar and tobacco were then brought back
to Scotland. The wealth of slave-produced goods poured through
Glasgows banks and quays leaving huge profits which were
used to further advance Scotlands rapid industrialisation.
In 1747 the
French Government gave Glasgow a monopoly in the supply of tobacco
to France. It brought a glut of money to Scotlands new banks,
such as the Royal Bank, the Thistle Bank and the British Linen
Company Bank, who went on to invent new methods of credit, like
the overdraft. A paper economy, not unlike the one we know
today, was developing for a nation on the brink of industrialisation.
James Watt,
the Artisan Inventor
James Watt (1736-1819) was an artisan inventor and producer of mathematical
instruments for Glasgow University. After becoming acquainted with
Joseph Blacks scientific breakthrough on latent heat capacity,
Watt was able to calculate accurately the size of boiler required
for a steam engine and how to efficiently transfer energy from steam
back into water. He put the theory into practice with an invention
which had a dramatic effect on the Scottish economy. Watt didnt,
as is popularly believed, invent the steam engine, which had been
around since the early 18th century, but he did invent the Separate
Condenser - a simple device which massively increased the power
and efficiency of the steam engine. Along with his other improvements
to the design of steam engines, he revolutionised industrial production:
freeing factories from the requirements of water supply and hugely
increasing the power available. Watts newly-improved steam
engines were also used as powerful water pumps, allowing for the
first time in history deep mine shafts to be sunk to exploit coal
and mineral reserves below Ayrshire and Lanarkshire. His inventions
allowed the expansion of new industries.
New Inventions
and New Industries
In 1812
another Scot, Henry Bell (1767-1830), built the Comet: the worlds
first successful passenger steamship, which sailed between Glasgow
and Greenock and ushered
the rise of the Clyde shipbuilding industry. The engine was soon
put on wheels, creating the first steam locomotives and the vitally
important railway industry.
In the early phase of the Industrial Revolution old industries had
been made more efficient, but in the second phase Scotland was now
at the cutting edge of new technology. The modern industrial age
had arrived.
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