The 'workshop of the world'

By 1860 there were hardly any tariffs left, and free trade was almost complete. Even though bread prices did not fall, the years after 1850 were a time of success for Britain. In 1873 her exports were worth £ 240 million a year, nearly five times what they were in 1842.

Britain, with her mills and factories, produced far more goods, and much more cheaply, than any other nation. Britain invented railways, and was the first country to have a railway system. By the 1850s, she was exporting railway lines and engines to the rest of the world. She was right to call herself the 'workshop of the world'.

But Britain's imports grew also. Her population had grown so fast that she needed to import a lot of her food. Most of her raw cotton came from the U.S.A. A growing share of the wool and iron ore she used was coming from abroad. By 1870, Britain was paying more for her imports than she was earning from her exports.

A large part of the difference was made up by the money earned by the merchant navy. After 1850, trade was growing all over the world. More than half of it was carried in British ships. By 1890, Britain's merchant navy was as big as all other merchant fleets combined.

Walter Robson: Britain 1750 – 1900; Oxford University Press, 1993/2002, page 56