The Expansion of Europe in the Eighteenth Century

Aspects of Life – to 1750

Little or no mention of progress Peasants worked like beasts Seldom enough food or warm

clothes

Economy Begins to Expand“Springtime in Europe”

Population increases Industry increases Colonial elites began to prosper

Holland France ENGLAND!

Agriculture and the Land 1700… 80-90% worked in

agriculture Less in Holland More in eastern Europe Output was low Low grain reserves

Bad weather = bad harvests Soaring prices Famine foods

Why just enough food?… Follow the plowman and his wife.

The Open Field system Peasants held open strips in the field

outside the village Upper class owned land but did not

usually farm. Soil would become exhausted Fields must be left fallow. The cycle

was subject to tradition.

The Common Lands

Pasture space for village animals Gleaning for grain … poor females

The Agricultural Revolution

The Elimination of the Fallow Replace nitrogen

Crop rotation Turnips Potatoes Experimentation

Multiple Effects

More fodder for animals

More animals better diets

More animals more fertilizer

Enclosure

Innovation meant the village had to agree

Those who agreed enclosed their land

Even to the end of the 18th Century only Holland and England were using the system extensively

Low Countries and England

Dutch…Large population and little land Dutch farmers had growing markets Foreign experts copied the Dutch

A Sobat - Sabateur

England

Copied drainage techniques New lands were subject to modern

techniques Turnip Townsend

English Viscount 1710 Introduced turnips to England Agriculture becomes craze among

aristocracy

Prince Charles

Organic farming advocate

Jethro Tull

Seed Drill

Use horses not oxen

Plowman East and West

Exploitation varied Nobles and the Church levied taxes East was worse than the west Serfs were tied to the land Peasants in parts of the west could own land Either way life was hard in the village

Selective Breeding

The sport of kings The gentry’s interest in fast horses Cross over to livestock

Stop the “haphazard union with nobody’s son with everybody’s daughter.”

The Cost of Enclosure

Most land was enclosed by 1750 Most land was sold without conflict Acts of Parliament took place

during the Napoleonic Wars 1830 enclosure was complete.

Percent of landless laborers was not substantially greater

Tennant Farmers

Well financed by large landowners Improved methods of production Actually increased employment

But… in England

Created two distinct classes

Large market oriented agricultural estates

The landless rural proletariat Dependant on cash payments Not tied to the land

The Beginning of the Population Explosion People married young and had

large families…. Maybe,(not)

Population has continually grown… Not so

Ok maybe in the 13 colonies ( lots of land and a high standard of living )

What killed the Most?

Famine

Disease

War Spread disease Soldiers took food

The New Pattern of the 18th Century 1750 population began to grow

markedly

Why? Maybe … more births Maybe… fewer deaths Maybe… different rats??? Maybe… inoculation Maybe… wars were nicer???

But… More people = less jobs

Agriculture alone could not provide enough jobs

The poor had to find other ways

The Cottage Industry

Rural workers with no land Urban capitalists eager to pay

lower wages Urban artisans lost control of

industrial production(guilds) Outsource labor

Cottage Industry

Protoindustrialization… is that a word?

The putting-out system Merchant capitalists Rural worker

Worked Like This… And a lot of other ways too

Merchants deliver material to cottage

Workers would make product from material

Merchant would then pick up product and take it to market

The Good and the Bad

Available labor for low wages- Outsourcing!

Merchants could change procedures

Although guilds could maintain quality it discouraged new methods

Goods that required little skill were well produced

The Textile Industry A family enterprise …everyone worked Loom causes imbalance… more spinners

were needed to provide textile for weaver… older single women

The bad Merchants accused workers of stealing Workers accused merchants of shorting

them Labor was not supervised and it was

disorganized.

Lack of Supervision

Work in spurts Workers at the end of the week

had to meet quota Low quality product Workers did not meet quota

And… believe it or not

When times were good … excess income… the workers “loafed”

Capitalist looked for a better way

Building the Atlantic Economy

France Holland ENGLAND

Mercantilism and the Colonial Wars Mercantilism… favorable balance of

trade… government helps

English mercantilism Government should regulate to help private

as well as state economic interests The Navigation Acts (1651)

Gave British merchants a monopoly in the colonies

Ended Dutch commerce in the colonies

Only France left…. OK Spain Too Previous conflicts over maritime

dominance War of Spanish Succession: 1713 expanded

English power in the New World War of Austrian Succession: 1748 little

territory is exchanged The Seven Years War: 1763 Inconclusive in

Europe the Brits defeat the French in the New World and give up major land holdings

India was lost to the Brits

Land and Labor in British America

In America, farmers could keep their land

Free land and scarce labor = Need for slaves:SugarTobaccoIndigo

Navigation Acts

Britain was supplied by a wealthy colonial merchant class.

Slaves made up 20% of population In the colonies white population

grew tenfold from 1700-1775. Colonists enjoyed the highest

standard of living in the world

The Growth of Foreign Trade

Because of mercantilist policies, trade with Europe stagnated

Colonies provided a market for manufactured goods

1750 Half of the nails made in England went to the colonies

The Atlantic Slave Trade Peak decade late 1780’s- late

1790’s about 80,000 a year Europeans used traditional African

networks First peaceful mass movement in

British history, primarily a women’s movement forced Parliament to abolish slavery in 1807… but not in British colonies

Revival in Colonial Latin America Spain recovers… Philip V grandson

of Louis XIV Defend themselves from British

attacks Received Louisiana from France Established missions in northern

California: San Diego to San Francisco along the kings highway ( The El Camino Real )

Spanish Class System Spaniards… born in Spain Creoles… Spaniards born in America

Received support from Spain “Hispanicized” Indians Debt peonage

Mestizos... mix of Indians and Spanish Mulattoes… Mix of Africans Blacks

Adam Smith 1776 “The Wealth of Nations” Economic liberalism

Disliked mercantilism Exclusive trading rights – bad Govt. monopolizing business-bad Tariffs decrease “natural” competitive

markets The Invisible Hand

People are interested in themselves This interested will create increased markets This pursuit will create a harmony

Liberalism – USA Constitution We the People of the United States, in Order

to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.