England was largely free from these threats. England has been portrayed as a
country long very open to goods, ideas, migration and change. During the late
sixteenth century France withdrew toleration of non-Catholic minorities (the
1685 Revocation of the Edict of Nantes). In the early seventeenth century
Spain attempted to purge its colonies in the Spanish Netherlands (modern-day
Belgium and the Netherlands) of non-Catholic groups. In both cases many of
the persecuted minorities fled to England; prominent among them were skilled
textile weavers who established production in many parts of the country. Even
today in places like Colchester or Spitalfields, London it is possible to see the
beautiful town houses of these migrants, testimony to the skills they translated
into industrial wealth.
England and Western Europe more generally were fundamentally changed
as a consequence of this openness. Goods, people and ideas were not merely
imported and gazed at as exotic curiosa but had a fundamental impact on
everyday life. Tea reached Europe from China in 1606 and by the 1650s
reached England via Holland. During the eighteenth century English tea
consumption increased dramatically and the spread of this hot, sweet,
caffeinated drink transformed meals and forms of social interaction, provided
bursts of energy and reduced hunger. Sweet tea was an ideal prop for the long
hours and concentration required by the modern factory system. A detailed
historical-statistical study shows that the welfare gains in England from
imports of tropical-colonial goods (mainly tea, coffee, sugar and treacle) by
1850 were equivalent to about 15 per cent of national income (Hesh and Voth,
2009).
The key causal links ran from openness to goods (which enhanced real stan-
dards of living), to ideas (which enhanced productivity), migration (which
supplied new,and skilled labour) and change (which speeded up the integra-
tion and diffusion of goods, ideas and people).
20 Introduction