ECONOMIC

• Corn laws- imposed tax on imported/exported grain which made prices high. Abolished by Peel in 1846
• Protectionists- against free trade, supported corn laws
• Peelites- supported peel and free trade. Split from tories to form modern day Whig/Liberal party
• Free traders- believed that free trade would benefit all countries involved
• Tariff reformers- wanted tariffs (taxes) on imports to protect British industry
• Economic individualism- free market economy where individuals are responsible for their own success or failure
• Laissez faire- non interventionist approach to economics
• The Great Exhibition- held at Crystal Palace in London in 1851
• Britain was considered the workshop of the world
• Between 1851 and 1870 Britain's share of global trade rose from 20% to 30%
• By 1870 this had risen to 12 million
• In 1840 there were 9 million people employed in manufacturing
• 1850s were the golden age of agriculture due to new techniques- mixed farming instead of just arable or just livestock was popular
• Guarno was a fertiliser used in large quantaties and imported from peru
• The empire meant GB had plenty resources and trade links
• developments of railways and canals made importing goods far easier
• a depression began in the 1870s due to foreign competition from the USA and germany and poor harvest
• Industries such as coal, iron, steel and textiles thrived
• the cotton industry grew rapidly with the invention of the spinning jenny by James hargreaves
• factories could now be powered by water and steam engines
• inventions like the steam engine allowed factories to be built further away from towns and cities
• Staple industries grew 2-3% a year
• imperial preference was a conservative policy where trading within the empire had reduced tariffs- this was to encourage trade and promote sale of british goods
• free trade was an economic policy which meant no import or export duties were imposed on any products
• tariff reform was a liberal policy that aimed to reduce taxes on imported food but increase them on manufactured goods
• protectionism is when governments impose high tariffs on imports to protect domestic producers