The Industrial Revolution
In Our Time
00:00
The Politics of Enlightenment
80% of the world's coal was produced by Britain in 1700. There wasn't a coal at all for it before then. It makes sense to build a steam engine where there's cheap fuel. Thomas Jefferson, when he comes to London, meets James Watts' partner Matthew Bolton. They go to the new Albion Mill, an enormous, at that stage, the largest manufacturing site in Britain. He says to Jefferson, what I sell here, sir, is what every man wants. I sell power.
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