• Secondly, during their long reigns England developed rapidly both politically and economically. During the reign of Queen Elizabeth, capitalism first took its shape, and the small island country defeated the strong naval power Spain in 1588. During the long reign of Queen Victoria, England grew the workshop of the world as well as its financial and political center.
• With the introduction of the steam engine, it was possible for the capitalists to hire unskilled workers, such as women and children. Many skilled workers were unemployed, and what made the situations worse was the enforcement of the Corn Laws, which forbade importing any grain from foreign countries when the price of wheat dropped to a certain price; this measure kept wheat at a high price in the interests of the landed class. In 1845 serious crop failures in England and the potato blight in Ireland kept the price of bread still higher.