Chapter 18 the wealth of nations

18 Century Social and Economic Change th

The Dawn of the Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions.

Economic and demographic changes ď‚Ž 1700,

80% of western Europeans were farmers; higher % in eastern Europe ď‚Ž Most people lived in poverty. ď‚Ž 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 ď‚Ž With

the exception of England, birth rates did not significantly rise, but death rates fell. ď‚Ž 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 

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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.  Gov’t 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 ½ 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 revolution’s 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  

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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.

Britain’s 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 gov’t 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 gov’t 

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 Anne’s 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 George’s 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): 

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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 gov’t  The British Raj transformed India into the “Jewel of the British Crown” in the 19th century.

Spanish Colonies 

Spain’s 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 

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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.