The document provides guidance on planning an essay about the factors that caused the Industrial Revolution in Britain. It instructs the writer to analyze the question, brainstorm relevant factors like a culture of innovation, resources, and political liberalism, and graph the importance of each factor. Finally, it offers potential controlling ideas acknowledging the debate among historians on this topic.

1. Essay Planning

2. Analysing the Question
To what extent was the Industrial Revolution in Britain a result of a
culture of innovation?
TWE – I have to make a
judgement about how
important it was in causing
the IR
Scope – I need to keep the
focus on the early stages of
the IR in Britain
Topic – I will be writing
about what factors resulted
in the IR
Topic – I will have a
particular focus in my essay
on the idea that a culture
on innovation caused the
IR; I don’t have to say it was
the 100% cause
ATQ – I will need to have a clear judgement
that to a limited/moderate/large extent the
IR was the result primarily of a culture of
innovation/of a culture of innovation and
other factors/mostly of other factors

3. Brainstorm
Factors that
caused the
IR in Britain
Culture of
Innovation
Prizes
Royal
Society
Resources
Coal
Iron
Waterways
Colonies
Raw
materials
Markets for
goods
Political
liberalism
Rise of
middle
class
No
censorship
Pro-
Capitalist
Agricultural
Revolution
Increased
population
Available
labour force

4. Graphing the factors
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Agricultural Rev Culture of Innovation Political liberalism Colonies Resources
Series 1

5. Graphing the factors
Agricultural Rev Culture of Innovation Political liberalism Colonies Resources

6. Controlling Ideas
• Historians debate intensely over what factors caused the Industrial
Revolution.
• The Industrial Revolution was caused by the availability of natural
resources, a culture of innovation and political liberalism in Britain.
• The Industrial Revolution was the result of a culture of innovation,
made possible by the liberal political climate and particular resource
situation of Britain.
• To a great extent the Industrial Revolution was the result of a culture
of innovation, which flourished due to the liberal political
environment and abundance of key resources including iron, coal and
waterways in Britain.