18th Century England

Society and Economy in

England

The rebellion of 1688, set the stage forgolden age of the English landlords.

• They wrote and also secured The rule of law

• They defined Rights of property

The resemblance between the landed elites’ domination of the nation and Caesar Augustus’ rule of the early Roman empire

The 18th Century: a time of contrast and paradox

The stability of social hierarchy vs The scramble of people for higher status The extreme wealth of few vs The heartbreaking poverty of the many

Deference of inferiors to superiors vs The frequency of riots by them

18th century English Society A status hierarchy not a class society

Social Structure: Open Hierarchy

Status Ladder

“Dr. Samuel Johnson remarked that the

English people were set in hierachical

places “by the fixed, invariable rules of

distinction of rank, which create no

jealousy, since they are held to be accidental.””

(Heyck, The people of British Isles)

Nobility:Landowne

rsGentry:

Baronets, Knights, Squires,

Gentlemen

Merchants, Professional

Men

Freeholders, Smallholders

The Laboring Poor

Nobility

At the highest rung of hierarchy

Great Lords

Heredity rights

Fewer than two hundreds families

Enjoying prosperity thanks to enclosure acts

Interested in agriculture, trade and industry

House of Commons, House of Landlords

Gentry

• Baronets, knights and gentlemen

• Not necessary of noble birth

• More than 15 thousand families

• The ability to live without working for a

living.

• Gentlemen, a position of honor

“[…] as the novelist Daniel Defoe put it, gentlemen were” such who live on estates and without the mechanism of employment.””

(Heyck, The people of British Isles)

The top rank of freeholders still claimed the traditional label of

“yeoman”

Freeholders Tenant Farmers Farm Laborers

The Laboring PoorThe base of social hierarchy

The urban laboring

poor ranged upward From beggars andcriminals to soldiers,sailors and unskilled laborers.

Middling Ranks

• Do not fit neatly into the social hierarchy

• Above laboring poor

• Merchants, professional men

Their main desire was to make enough money to buy an estate and join the elite circle of landed society.

Features of Social Relations in the 18th Century

Property

Patronage

Deference

Patronage and deference held the society together more then force.

Works ConsultedHeyck, Thomas William. The Peoples of British Isles: A New

History From 1688-1870. vol.2. California: Wadsworth,1992. pp.62-66.

Allen, Derek R., Paul G. Smith, Fablo G. Malgeretti. Words Words Words: A History and Anthology of Literatures in English. Milan:Medialibri, 2003.