But by the middle of the eighteenth century, the vast majority of peasants in Western Europe had been freed from serfdom and many owned land. However, it still was not possible for peasants to increase their landholdings by taking land from more affluent landowners. Soon, though, the method of crop rotation, which involved growing a series of different crops in the same area in sequential seasons to avoid the buildup of pests that occurred when one species was continuously farmed, greatly increased crop turnout. The beginnings of crop rotation involved alternating grain crops with nitrogen-storing crops, such as grasses, beans, and root crops. This meant a greater amount of fodder for animals, which meant, subsequently, more meat for the people and more manure for the fertilization of crops. These improvements necessitated ending the open field system by “enclosing” fields- this approach was efficient and, in the terms of the industry it stood alongside, capitalistic. All in all these developments in agriculture lead to a greater prosperity for not only agriculture itself but for the wealth of the people in the form of the industry, and the health of the people. Due to tools spurred by the likes of Jethro Tull during the Industrial Revolution, hard labor was reduced, and due to the newfound abundance of food, mortality rates and famines were drastically decreased(later in this essay, I will speak further of how the changes in the industry affected the population).
Many historians, however, argue over the cost of enclosure. Some argue that English landowners were more efficient than continental owners, and that enclosures were fair, while others argue that enclosure acts forced small peasants and landless cottagers off of the land. In reality, the enclosure and the exclusion of cottagers and laborers had begun as early as the sixteenth century. It was the independent peasant-farmers who could not compete and hence began to disappear. The tenant farmers, who rented land from affluent landlords, benefited from enclosure more than anyone else, and, as somewhat of a result, by 1815, a minority of English and Scottish landlords held most of the land(which they rented to tenants, who hired laborers. However, due to the developments of the Industrial revolution, labor was not as grueling as it was during the times of open field farming).
Another great aspect of the changes that took place in the eighteenth century was the boom in population. The traditional checks on the growth of the population were famine, disease, and war, all of which kept Europe’s growth rate fairly low. In the eighteenth century, it can easily be said that the boom in the population(like any other sudden and drastic growth in the population) was caused by the decline in death rate. This reduction in the death can be accounted for by many things. First, we can account for the elimination of the plague by strict quarantine measures- the elimination of the black rat by the brown rat was key in the disappearance and elimination of the disease. Unlike what is often assumed, however, the advances in medicine that accompanied the attitude and time period of the Industrial and Agricultural revolution did little to reduce the death rate. On the other hand, increases in food supply and the consequent reduction of famine can be attributed to the newly improved and efficient industry produced in the the Agricultural Revolution, and can be accounted for when investigating the causes of the reduction in the death rate. This new affluence of food also meant fewer epidemics, especially as transportation improved due to the heightened trade that was spurred by the industry as well- in general, the newly high amount of food increased the general health of the public. In addition to these things, improvements in sanitation promoted better public health. In conclusion to the cumulative message of these statements, we can state that due to a greater supply of food, the average person’s health was improved, and hence people not only lived longer but were also able to give birth to more children due to their newly lengthened lifespan. The financial affluence brought along with the industries created at this time were also a boost in terms of an individual’s general security.
To finish, we will speak of various industries spurred by the changes in this time period, as well as their relations to the newly capitalist attitude of the period. Another industry, that arose due to the changes in the exchanges of land was the cottage industry. Rural poverty(partially due to all the “enclosing”) and the sudden growth of the population led to peasants undertaking manufacturing at home- by the eighteenth century, the cottage industry challenged the monopoly of the urban craft industry. A capitalist system introduced in hand with this industry was the putting-out system, which was based on rural workers producing cloth in their homes for merchant-capitalists, who supplied the raw materials and paid for the finished product. The system reduced the problem of rural unemployment and provided cheap goods for a number of people. The textile industry in England is also an example of the putting out system- the industry was a family one, with women spinning and men weaving. These things took place in tiny cottages owned by said families. A major issue with the family business model, though, it can be noted, was that there weren’t enough spinners to make yarn for the weaver, and due to the shortage of employees in each of these businesses, relations between workers and capitalist employers were rather strained. Lastly, we can also make note of agricultural trade as well as foreign trade in general enhancing the industry and economy- other nations had taken note of Western Europe’s newly found affluence, and wanted to do with it.
In conclusion, it can be noted that the new capitalist systems on the rise were due to the new discovery of the mass, efficient production of food. Food, as a basic need, was needed in great amounts, and once this was done and bloomed into an industry, all the other things that had previously been related to the agricultural industries as well as all the things that’d helped the agricultural industry along became[though related ones] industries of their own. These industries today mark our world in their evolved forms, and without the capitalist attitude that has been carried out to the modern era, our economy would most certainly not be the same.
