Source: Adapted from Thomas Mortimer, *A General Commercial Dictionary*, London, 1766.
"It is not only that our island is rich in coal and iron stone, but that these treasures of the earth lie so near together, and so near to the water-carriage, that they may be brought to the furnace and the forge at a cost unknown in other countries. Furthermore, the modern improvements in husbandry have so far advanced that a small portion of our people can produce the sustenance of the whole, leaving a vast number of hands free for the labor of the mines and the manufactures, while the laws of our realm guarantee to every man the quiet possession of his property and the fruits of his industry."
Which of the following best explains how the economic and environmental conditions described in the passage combined to facilitate the rise of industrial manufacturing in Great Britain?
- The geographic proximity of coal and iron to navigable waterways reduced domestic transport costs, while agricultural efficiency created a surplus labor force that migrated to urban industrial centers.Answer
- BThe abundance of coal and iron allowed the British government to build centralized electrical networks, which immediately drew rural populations displaced by the invention of chemical fertilizers.
- CThe crown's strict enforcement of mercantilist monopolies over mineral rights prevented private capital accumulation, directing all industrial profits toward the defense of distant colonial territories.
- DThe rapid expansion of commercial husbandry eliminated the domestic labor supply, forcing early British factory owners to rely on large-scale imports of indentured labor from East Asia.