18th Century Economy and Society

18th Century Economy and Society
I. Agricultural Revolution – started in the 1700’s
a. 1700 
i. Artisans vs. peasants – peasants were poorer, worked the land, the artisans were handy workers, failed harvest once or twice every ten years (85% were peasantry)
ii. Increased population – urbanization
b. Open Field System – agriculture was often done openly, no division, farming used to be lord system, this still was, but hand to change that because they were over working the fields
1. They started allowing the fields to fallow, they were in danger of starvation but they had to do it 
2. no major boom in production in eastern Europe 
ii. Started in England, Netherlands, France
1. Looked to increase yields of crops
2. New methods of cultivation 
3. Selective breeding 
c. Science and Technology – The Low Countries were big led by the Netherlands – they specialized certain regions to specific jobs 
1. Enclosed fields – protect your crops  
2. Rotating crops
3. Fertilizer 
4. Wider diversity of crops 
ii. Dutch became the world leaders in Drainage - Vermuyden
d. England – 14% increase of the number of people who are working the land, yield increase = 300% in less than 200 years 
i. Charles Townsend – ambassador to the Netherlands, stole drainage ideas 
ii. Jethro Tull - 1674-1741 – invested a seed drill, push for using horses for plowing instead of oxen 
iii. Bakewell - was to live stock what Tull was to plants, pioneered selective breeding in England 
e. Enclosure movement – 1700’s originally done to increase wool profits, but spreads 
i. Large farms vs. small farms 
ii. Parliament passes over 3000 Enclosure Acts from 1700’s to the 1800’s 
1. Can continue to farm common land, but they aren’t all needed to farm on the big farms  Urbanization 
2. Women – get screwed, had no more job opportunities on farms, in cities they could either be prostitutes or domestic jobs
3. Gentry – rent out their land, have people work on their land – many struggles between the gentry and the peasants
a. Game Laws - hunting laws, one could only hunt on the land with the owner permission 
Traditional View Modern View
Urbanization Affects on enclosure slightly exaggerated, 2/3 of all farmers were landless anyway, before the push for enclosure, hardly anyone else went through the enclosure age as much as England 
Poverty 
Karl Marx  
Agricultural Revolution 
iii. Effects of agricultural Revolution
1. Increases population – 120 mil. – 190 mil. (Europe from 1700’s to 1800’s)
2. Urbanization
3. Changes basic village life [role of peasants]
4. Distinctive hierarchy
5. Price of agricultural good goes down  better nourishment, more money to spend on consumer goods  more demand for consumer goods
iv. Corn Laws – high tariffs on foreign grain 
II. Proto-Industrialization (Cottage Industry) – what the women could do
a. putting out of the creation of consumer goods (textiles) “piece work”
b. how does this lead to industrialization?  it is more efficient to work in a factory 
c. this takes off in England first because of all the enclosure acts 
d. in 1500, half of the textiles were produced in the country side, 1600s, it if a much higher %, it will spread to Europe, but will eventually be undermined by inventions 
i. Kay -> flying-shuttle – weaver could use just one hand, much faster
ii. Hargreaves – invents spinning jenny
iii. Spinning jenny – creates the pedal for the spinning wheel
iv. Arkwright -> water-frame - improves thread spinning, eventually use steam power for looms  
v. Crompton –> spinning mule
III. Atlantic Economy – the economy that went across the Atlantic, between colonies and the mother countries 
a. Mercantilism 
i. Dominant product – built around sugar- the foundation of the Atlantic economy (either as sugar or run) also indigo, cotton, tobacco 
ii. The slave trade also developed to farm sugar NOT COTTON until the 1800’s
1. In the Caribbean (West Indies) 
2. Favorable balance of trade allows for more Bullionism. The more you import the more people have to pay you when you can export it again after manufacturing the raw goods into products 
3. Most countries gained monopolies over certain product areas  don’t have to worry about competition within their countries, can set their own prices if there is no competition and can make more money
4. Countries also imported less so that they had to spend less so they manufactured everything in their countries and colonies and set very high tariffs 
5. BUT if every country does this, then eventually trade would fall apart 
b. During the 1700’s, GB becomes the main power because they have to best navy in the world which they can use to dominate trade, they also developed the Bank of England in 1694, could distribute capital to businesses
i. Act of Union (GB is created 1707)
c. GB has a more Liberal economy (more free market) compared to its European rivals 
d. Navigation Act – control over who how and where they trade, all products coming into the country have to come in on British ships  smuggling  British monopoly over trading Britain 
e. Triangular Trade – England, West Indies, Africa, Massachusetts
f. Letters of Marque – governments gave people permission to check ships (privateers) and when there were no more jobs for them, they turned to piracy 
g. The Dutch begin to fade during this time, by the time we get to the 1800’s the Dutch are out of it three wars with England damage them, then the war of the Spanish succession ruins them 1664 – they lost New Amsterdam 
i. They turned their focus from trade to banking  instead of trading their finance it loaning money  create a central bank and the first stock market in Europe create a currency perfect the use of paper currency 
h. Slave Trade – intrinsic part of the Atlantic Economy – in the 16 and 1700’s approx. 10 million African slaves will be transported to the New World
i. “Fritish” granted monopolies on the slave trade in their countries
1. Set up forts of the west coast of Africa and took the slaves from other Africans. 
2. Eventually, by the 1730’s independent slave traders had control 
3. Between 20% and 33% of slaves died during the middle passage 
i. “Bubbles” – when economies inflate and then implode 
i. South Sea Bubble – in the 1700’s, both Britain and France had very fragile economies because they had been fighting each other. Both governments tired to find a solution to get themselves out of debt
1. Britain – in 1719 they give a company the right to take over their national debt (sell their national debt)  South Sea Company
a. They had given the company the monopoly on the slave trade in Latin American – they would gain the interest on the debt 
b. The investors in the company were not making the money back fast enough, so the company converts the debt into stock that people can buy…erm…sound familiar?
i. First it gain in value, then it…crashed in 1720. Again, sound familiar?  undermined the British governments credibility 
ii. Mississippi Bubble – the Mississippi Company was given a monopoly over the French Mississippi area trade with Louisiana 
1. They take over French debt in exchange for stock…yeah, ditto  stock inflates and collapses in 1720
a. So bad that this is one of the factors that will lead to the French Revolution 
j. Colonial War Period (1689-1815) – France and GB, but the French government starts collapsing in 1783
i. Lots of fights in the colonies over territory and maritime issues 
ii. France had the largest army on land and Britain had the most effective navy, France tried to enlist Spain as allies, but both Spain and the Netherlands were in decline, essentially these were World Wars 
iii. Example: War of the Spain Succession (1701-1713) – France loose, but not only in Europe but also in the colonies especially in Canada, Spain therefore also lose its slave trade in Africa, Britain end up getting all of the northern colonies 
iv. War of Jenkin’s Ear (1739) – allowed Britain to send one ship a year through Panama 
1. Treaty of Utrecht – Britain could trade with the Spanish in Latin America, but Spain then accused them of smuggling  they cut off the captains ear  violation of British sovereignty George II declares war on Spain War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748) – declared a draw…for 6 years 
2. 7 Years War (1754-63)  aka the French and Indian War – biggest war of the 18th Century, involves most of Europe and it was started by George Washington (Fort Duquesne – aka Pittsburg) British governed by the Whigs, send someone to Pittsburg to control the French, Washington loses, the British take it as an insult and start a war  The Whigs are replaced by the Tories, new Prime Minister William Pitt  he decides to pursue war on North America  defeat Frances Navy on high seas, could no longer attack Britain and were gone a competition --Frances Trade is 1/16th of what it was before, sugar trade gone, control over French ports in India taken over by the British, Britain seizes Cuba and Philippines, war ends in 1763 
a. Terms of the Treaty of Paris:  
i. France loses all its North American Colonies and everything east of the Mississippi, all go to Britain 
ii. France give Spain the Louisiana Territory in compensation for being an ally  
iii. France has to accept Britain’s domination in India
iv. Spain is Forced to give Florida to Britain 
b. Britain managed to screw the advantage up  American Revolution (1775-1783) – they strip France of all its American colonies in the first treaty of Paris, in the second treaty of Paris Britain lose a lot of their colonies after the American Revolution (French helped America in the Revolution 
k. Colonial Latin America – Spain and Portugal
i. In the 1700’s Spain are still a large part of the Latin American Economy 
1. All the gold is gone, but there still is sugar (Silver deposits in Mexico and Peru) - by the end of the 1700’s they are supplying half the worlds silver
2. Spain is able to recover under Philipp VI and their navy ends up being third after France and Britain 
3. The problem with Spain and Spanish Colonies was that there were three levels of society in the New World – 
a. Creole – Spanish born in America tried to keep up the Spanish ways of life in the colonies, were the aristocracy (20% on the population) 
b. Mestizos – Children born to Spanish fathers and Indian Mothers (30% of Spanish America)
c. Amerindians – native people – hardest labor, Latin American Serfs (40-50%)
d. Some black slaves on the sugar plantations 
ii. Portuguese had slaves in brazil for sugar farming (50% of Brazilian population were of African descent)
IV. Life in the 18th Century
a. Marriage 1750 (date because that was the start of the first Industrialization) 
i. Nuclear Families – Parents begin to move back in with their children because they were the only people they could depend on (Nuclear = two generations three-generation-household = when grandparents move back in  primarily in lower classes)
ii. Before industrialization people tended to marry LATER because children were needed to help and couples couldn’t marry until they could support themselves (often not until parents died), girls needed a dowry, something to bring into the marriage 
iii. People often had to ask the local land owner for permission to marry (especially in Prussia and the Germanic lands)  if they make them wait until they’re older before they start having children then that controls/limits how many they can have
iv. Most couples had up to six children if they lived to 45 (middle/lower class)  child mortality was HIGH (20%, 1 of every 5) in good areas. In poor areas it was 1/3. Even if you survived childhood, your chances of reaching adulthood and reproducing were only about 50%
b. Post- 1750  proto-industrialization
i. Cottage industry 
ii. It doesn’t take them as long to become independent so they can marry younger
1. More children
2. Urbanization – people don’t have to worry so much, no more restrictions and checks by the neighbors, not such an intimate atmosphere
3. No longer need to constantly evaluate economic situations so more marrying for love, permission not so needed
4. Increase in bastards
5. Chastity, depending on your class, takes a beating, bit of a social breakdown 
6. Lack of illegitimate births in the lower classes because they could now get married
iii. Working in the city wasn’t much better, they were very poor, women were discriminated against 
1. Attitude towards children changed
2. Developed more mothering instincts 
3. Poor mother breastfed their children for much longer
a. Upper class tend to move away from breastfeeding their own children, instead they hire wet nurses 
iv. Infanticide – this was condemned but not all that uncommon especially among the poor 
1. Orphanages were created – “foundling hospitals” – the first ones in Paris  by 1770 1/3 of the babies in Paris were left on church steps, 1/3 of those were left by married couples who couldn’t afford it, 50-90% of the babies at the hospitals died 
c. Child Rearing - changes especially in the lower class 
i. Used to be – breaking the child’s will, never got attached because mortality rates were very high  
ii. Later- morality rates dropped so they began to establish relationships with their children, children began to leave the home to take on apprenticeships, women had to go into domestic jobs - > often they were abused by the masters, got pregnant, ended up on streets, turned to thievery 
d. Education – the idea of mass education begins to take root 
i. Aristocracy had a head start  
ii. Now in the 1700-1800’s there are special schools “little schools” =elementary education, and that was as far as they got 
iii. Everyone got enough education to be able to read the bible, Prussia set an example (1717 compulsory education)
iv. Scotland – 1600 – 1 in 6 could read. In 1800 90% 
e. Life expectancy explodes in the 1700’s goes from 25 to 35 
i. Better nutrition – potatoes, the upper classes didn’t see a huge gain compared to the lower classes – they eat mainly meat, very few vegetables  
ii. Better sanitation – small pox eradicated Edward Jenner (discovered that if you get cow pox you don’t get small pox), lack of plague 
iii. Better clothes
iv. Improvements in housing - improvements in ventilation, creation of the first mental hospital  
f. Religious reforms 
i. Pietism – put the emotion back into religion, wanted to see enthusiasm in prayer and preaching – wanted to have more participation, bibles reading and study and channeling these ideas into their everyday lives (Germany)
ii. John Wesley – (England 1703-1791) – Methodist – influenced by Pietism – he was concerned that people were too complacent - most enlightenment people were deists, he didn’t like this. He takes his message to the common people, to the fields, to large numbers of people, also rejects the Calvinists (Predestination) as well as the deist  if you wanted it and worked for it you could save your soul