AMERICA COMPARED |  |
The Fate of the American and Indian Textile Industries
In 1776, the United States declared its independence from the British Empire. About the same time, Britain began to create in India what historians call the Second British Empire. By 1860, Britain had become the world’s leading industrial economy and dominated the princely states and peoples of the Indian subcontinent. The following tables trace the impact of political decisions on the American and Indian textile industries. As the legislature of an independent republic, the U.S. Congress could impose tariffs (taxes on imported goods) on British textiles; as colonies, Indian governments could not do so.
| Cotton Textile Production and Consumption in India | ||||
| Year | Population (millions) | Imports from Britain (mill. yds.) | Production for Domestic Consumption (mill. yds.) | Exports to Britain (pieces, ave./year) |
| 1751 | 190 | 0 | 1,598 | 632,000 (1750–1754) |
| 1801 | 207 | 0 | 1,741 | 1,355,304 (1800–1804) |
| 1821 | 205 | 20 | 1,704 | 542,117 (1820–1824) |
| 1841 | 212 | 141 | 1,642 | 192,965 (1830–1834) |
| 1861 | 242 | 514 | 1,538 | Data not available |
| Textile Production in the United States | ||||
| Year | Number of Cotton Mill Workers | Number of Spindles (ave./decade)1 | Imports from Britain (mill. yds.) | Average U.S. Tariff (as % of item’s value) |
| 1810 | 215,000 | |||
| 1815 | 70.81 | 25.0% | ||
| 1820 | 12,000 | 936,000 | ||
| 1827 | 52.86 | 53.8% | ||
| 1830 | 55,000 | 1,038,000 | ||
| 1835 | 74.96 | 40.4% | ||
| 1840 | 72,000 | 1,243,000 | ||
| 1850 | 92,000 | 1,709,000 | 104.23 | 27.1% |
| 1859 | 225.15 | 19.6% | ||
| 1860 | 122,000 | |||
QUESTIONS FOR ANALYSIS
Question
Compare changes in Indian production (“Production for Domestic Consumption” and “Exports to Britain”) with changes in American production (“Number of Cotton Mill Workers” and “Number of Spindles”) between 1800 and 1861. Which country is “industrializing,” and which is “deindustrializing”?
Question
How do American tariffs change over time? (Chapter 10 will explain the reasons for these changes.) What is the impact of American tariff rates on the import of British textiles?
Question
What insights does this material provide into the political and economic aspects of American industrialization?