18 Century Social and

Economic Change
th

The Dawn of the Agricultural and

Industrial Revolutions.

Economic and demographic changes

1700,

80% of western Europeans were

farmers; higher % in eastern Europe
Most people lived in poverty.
Significant population growth until 1650;
slows down until 1750 when it starts to
dramatically rise again.

Population Explosion after 1750

Limits

to population growth before 1700:

- famine, disease, war
Reasons for population growth:
disappearance

of plague
improved sanitation,
improved transportation for food
distribution (canal and road building in
western Europe),
increased food supply (esp. potato).

Falling Death Rates

With

the exception of England, birth

rates did not significantly rise, but death
rates fell.
A better nourished population (due to
better weather, better agricultural
practices, and better transport) led to
people living longer.

Impact of Profit Inflation

Inflation due to rising population and increased
demand.
Profit inflation stimulated economic growth.
By the end of the 18th century, prices outperform
wages, leading to hardship for the poor, particularly in
France.
Wealth moved more and more from the poor to the
wealthy due to high rents and low wages
Regressive tax structure that put the burden on the
poor in France and much of the continent caused
hardship and led to financial crises.

Protoindustrialization
Cottage Industries: first and
foremost a family enterprise
(also called putting-out system)
- Occurred during Agricultural
Revolution
Putting-out system: city
manufacturers took advantage of
cheaper labor in the countryside

increased rural population eager to

supplement agricultural income.
began to challenge urban craft
industry

The European Linen Industry

Economic Innovation
Changes

in Structure and Performance:

Performance measured by output;
generally identified through per capita
productivity.
Structure characteristics that
support performance (laws, tax
policies, technology, population, etc.)

Adam Smith
Smith criticized both guild and
mercantile-based economic
systems as restraining.
Promoted liaise-faire (i.e.
classical liberalism) ideology in
The Wealth of Nations (1776).
Free market economy based
on division of labor and the
fewest government restrictions
as possible

Why Britain?
Large supplies of coal and iron.
Navigable waterways and access to the sea.
Expansion of roads (macadam in Britain,
corvee in France).
Merchants had surplus capital from
commercial revolution for investment.
Govt policies favorable to merchants
(property rights, taxes, banking system)
Cultural innovation (dissenters) and free
market ideas.
High standard of living; growing population
driving demand.

Cotton
Demand

for cheap cotton goods at

home and abroad made textiles the first
to industrialize.
Cotton was cheap (slave labor) and
durable.
Putting-out system could not keep up
with demand (lack of organization,
distance between workers); this
required new system

Factory System
The

organization of labor in one location

allowed for increased production.
The location of factories near rivers
and/or seaports allowed for the
transportation of goods to be easier and
provided power supplies.
Location in urban areas provided cheap
labor supply.
Introduction of machines increased per
capita production.

Inventions
1733, John Kay: flying shuttle
1764, James Hargreaves:
spinning jenny
1769, Richard Arkwright:
water frame, which improved
thread spinning.
1780s, Edmund Cartwright:
steam engine to power looms;
factory production of textiles.
1793, Eli Whitney, cotton gin

The Steam Engine

1700

Thomas Savery invents steam

pump.
1712 Thomas Newcomen built steam
engine to pump water from mines.
1769 James Watt creates more
efficient steam engine.
By 1800, steam power was being used
to power looms in factories across
Britain.

Before the Agricultural Revolution

open-field

system: greatest
accomplishment of Medieval agriculture
village agriculture; 1/3 to of fields lay
fallow.
Common land: used by village for
livestock fields shared by peasants.
serfs in eastern Europe were worst off;
many sold with lands (like slavery)

The Agricultural Revolution

Agricultural

Revolution: major
milestone in human civilization
impact of the scientific revolutions
experimental method was great
Application of scientific ideas - crop
rotation most important feature.

Enclosure Movement
end

to common lands and open-field

system
agriculturalists (land owners)
consolidated lands and closed them off
game laws in England prohibited
peasants from hunting game
caused considerable friction in the
countryside in 17th and 18th centuries

Impact of Enclosure
traditional

view of enclosure (Marx): poor

people driven off the land
recent scholarship: negative impact of
enclosure may have been exaggerated
As much as 50% of lands enclosed already
by 1750 (much by mutual consent)
1700: ratio of landless farmer to landowner
= 2:1; not much greater in 1800

Low Countries
Netherlands

and Belgium (Austrian

Netherlands) took the lead in agricultural
innovations
Increased population meant more food had to
be produced
Cornelius Vermuyden: important in drainage
of swamp lands into useful farm land.
Huge impact on southern England.

England
Viscount

Charles Townsend (1674-1738):

improved soil by crop rotation (turnips)
Bog and marshes drained extensively,
manured heavily, regular crop rotation w/o
fallowing
Jethro Tull (1674-1741): seed drill; more
efficient than scattering seeds by hand
Robert Bakewell (1720-1795) selective
breeding of ordinary livestock (animal
husbandry): created larger animals.

Atlantic Economy in the 17th

th
and 18 Centuries

Characteristics

World trade became fundamental

Spain and Portugal revitalized their empires and
began drawing more wealth from renewed
development.
Netherlands, Great Britain, and France benefited
most; Great Britain the leading maritime power.
Britains commercial leadership based on
mercantilism
Navigation Laws: aimed to reduce Dutch trade in
Atlantic region (1st in 1651, Cromwell)

Atlantic Slave Trade

Basis of the
Triangular Trade
System.
Nearly 10 million
transported.
Millions more died in
the ordeal.
In the 1780s,
European
participation died off,
but it was not
outlawed by Britain
until 1807.

South Sea Bubble

South Sea Bubble: responsible for exploiting the
asiento other commercial privileges won from Spain
after Treaty of Utrecht (1713)
Took over large portion of public debt by receiving
govt bonds in return for shares of its stock.
Stock values soared but the bubble burst in 1720
England recovered better than France who had
created a Mississippi Bubble for New Orleans
commerce.
Bubble Act: forbade joint-stock companies, except
those chartered by govt

3 Anglo-Dutch wars (1652-74)

hurt

Dutch
shipping and
commerce
Netherlands
golden age:
during 1st half of
17th century, now
in decline

Colonial Wars: Britain v. France

War

of Spanish Succession (Queen

Annes War) (1701-1713)
Treaty of Utrecht (1713):
Britain

received asiento (slave trade) from

Spain
Britain allowed to send 1 ship of
merchandise annually into Panama
Britain received control of Nova Scotia,
Newfoundland and

Colonial Wars: Britain v. France

War

of Jenkins Ear (1739): started

over Spanish anger over British abuse
of asiento.
Expanded into War of Austrian
Succession the following year
War of Austrian Succession (King
Georges War) (1740-1748)
Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748):
restored status quo prior to war

Colonial Wars: Britain v. France

Seven Years War (French and
Indian War, The Great War for
Empire) (1754-1763)
Continental War primary
between Prussia and Austria.
Global war in North America,
Caribbean and India.
William Pitt the Elder:
successfully led war effort from
Parliament for UK; British naval
superiority won the day.

Flag of Maryland Militia

under G. Washington,
defeated at Ft. Duquesne

Colonial Wars: Britain v. France

Robert Clive defeats French backers in India
at the Battle of Plassey (June 1557)
General Wolfe defeated Montcalm on the
Plains of Abraham (Battle of Quebec) in Sept.
1759.
Treaty of Paris (1763):

Britain gained all French territory in North America

(Canada and the US Midwest)
Spain gained New Orleans and Louisiana.
Removed French from significant position in India.

British in India
Took

advantage of the
teetering Mughal Empire.
The British East India
Company grew in power;
ruled Bengal.
India Act of 1784 placed India
under control of British govt
The British Raj transformed
India into the Jewel of the
British Crown in the 19th
century.

Spanish Colonies

Spains Latin American colonies: helped

revitalize Spanish empire in 18th c.

gold and silver mining recovered

significant trade with mother country

Creoles elite came to rival top Spanish

authorities (about 10% of population)
Mestizos increased to about 20% of
population

black slavery in Cuba and Puerto Rico

Portuguese Colonies
Portuguese

Brazil: about 50% of

population African by early 19th c.
more successful in blending races than
in Spanish colonies or United States
Slavery remained in place until the end
of the 19th century.