Is it possible for industrial revolution to happen without colonialism?
As we all know, with <PERSON> re-"discovering" America in 1492, the wondrous Age of Discovery began - and with it new dreams of conquest and wealth, that became realized in the way of imperialistic colonialism, during which Europe managed to subjugate most of the world due to their advanced military technology and immune system.
I have stumbled upon various threads discussing the effects it would have on the colonized, now I am asking about the colonizers.
The conditions are as follows:
* Europeans started exploring the world in similar ways, but found the, in our history, colonised to be economically and militarily on more or less equal grounds.
* The African and American states are prospering, and should europeans not decide to make enemies, they will make friends, allies and trading partners.
* The "prospering states" do not span the whole continents.
* Some colonies are therefore plausible.
* Humans can be very cruel and greedy and that does not apply only to europeans.
* Between some of the states/tribes/whatever on the continents, there will be infighting and strife for domination. Slavery is still a major trade between the victorious parties of each continent.
Background
From what I understand colonies were important as:
* the source of cheap labor workers from slavery (far away and removed from european moralists and intellectuals);
* new land to build plantations on (cotton, cocoa, tobacco, etc.),
* new metal and mineral deposits (gems, gold, silver, coal, etc.)
These things meant money and trade. Colonialism caused among other things unseen economical growth and rapid development of mercantilism - and capitalism. 1006
With its many colonies, Great Britain became a rich, influential superpower.
Should my conditions apply, the most straghtforward consequences could be as follows:
* Europeans (British Empire as well), either need to actually pay for the trade goods, since they come from allied countries over the seas.
* Or they would need to start a full blown conquest, either to
* defeat the prospering countries,
* defeat weaker countries/conquer territories and then defend them.
* = This would require to raise an additional army, feed it, to fight against uprisings of nations/tribes armed with european technologies and seeking autonomy, and to fend off regional (neighbour) enemies and fellow european nations.
Basically, It would cost a lot.
Now, the problem is, that industrial revolution, starting in the 1760s, began in England and was built upon its, as wikipedia states, "legal and cultural foundations". Those, however, largely stem from Britains position as a capitalistic superpower that gained influence and stability as a colonial power in the first place.
Is it possible for the world to have a place prosperous and visionary-friendly enough with a small amount of important colonies and mostly non-exploitative trade between nations of similar standing, so that conditions for the industrial revolution are met, or was the colonisation so crucial to the industrial development of Europe that it is either really problematic, or not possible at all?
In-depth Questions
* Would it still happen, but would end up being post-poned? For how long? Decades? Centuries?
* Would it still happen in Britain? If not, then where would it be most likely?
Notes
* This question is based on a setting with technology roughly corresponding to 1830s, but where (as you can guess), colonisation is not a thing - or at least not the scope we know.
* The purpose of this question is to make sure, industrial setting, in fact, is plausible without colonisation and perhaps to sort of categorize the impacts a lack of colonialism has on the setting in other aspects I might not have considered (e.g. someone argumenting why it would be impropable).
* If this happens to be too broad, assume that the changes are as small as possible (as big as they might be).
* My knowledge of history, and therefore these formulations, are focused more on Africa and America, but answers considering Oceania, Australia and Asia (the colonized parts obviously) are more than welcome.
Thank you for your insights. 454