AC - Continuities & Changes to Economic Practice & Development (Lesson)
Continuities & Changes to Economic Practice & Development
Agricultural Revolution
By the end of the 16th century, western Europe experienced a population level that was close to what it had been prior to the Black Death. This growth in population required more agricultural output to feed the burgeoning population which inspired economic and technological changes. Great Britain led the way in food production. They achieved this milestone by:
Crop rotation and new crops- The British utilized a four-field system where they did not allow any field to fallow. Instead, they planted crops, such as turnips and clover, that put nutrients back into the soil. These crops were known as fodder and made the soil more nutrient rich which allowed for greater production. They did still rotate crops between fields. This change in crops and farming practices allowed for a larger yield of crops which, in turn, met the high demand of food needs of the ever-growing population.
- Breeding practices - Livestock owners began the practice of selective breeding in order to breed out undesirable traits in animals and to increase the yield due to larger sized animals. The size of cattle increased as different breeds were bred to produce more meat. Sheep were also selectively bred to produce finer and more plentiful wool.
- Land Enclosure and Conversion - Prior to the 15th century, much of the farming occurred in open areas where most of the town or village farmers worked the same ground. This was part of the feudal system of the Middle Ages. However, by the 15th and 16th centuries, landowners enclosed the land,or made it so that only they could farm it. This left many farmers out of work because they owned no land of their own and no longer had community land to use. They ended up moving to the cities and would become the workers for the Industrial Revolution. Great Britain began using former pastureland as farmland. The engineers in the Netherlands were exceptionally good at reclaiming land for farming using canals to drain water away and make the land arable.
New World Delicacies
One of the best outcomes of the Columbian Exchange was the introduction of new crops to European agriculture. None was more important than the potato. Potatoes were originally grown in South America by the Incan but were introduced to Europe and were especially welcome in Ireland. Ireland embraced the potato because it was easily grown underground, could be eaten in a variety of ways, and was extremely nutritious. The potato remained the main staple crop of Ireland, allowing the population to grow, until the 1840s when a blight destroyed the majority of the crop leading to starvation and emigration.
Another crop that was helpful in growing the population of Europe was corn, or maize. Corn was also brought from the Americas and used to feed both a growing population and livestock. By feeding grain to cattle and sheep, the animals grew larger and offered more meat when slaughtered. This increase in meat and crops contributed to the population boom. Other crops that played a role were chocolate, sunflowers, squash, bananas, and tomatoes.
From the 11th century to the 16th century, many laborers were part of guilds. Guilds were organizations either based on crafts or for a group of merchants that regulated the activity of its members. The purpose of a guild was to protect the members and provide training and education, however, many served as monopolies that controlled the members and access to the trade or merchandise. Guilds and government were very intertwined, and the growth of the industrial economy led to less power by the guilds as people struck out as wage earners.
The Governors of the Guild of St. Luke, Haarlem by Jan De Bray, 1675
The Ultimate Work at Home Career
While the production of food grew and fed a growing population, the increased harvest of wool and flax resulted in a boom in the production of textiles. Because there were more people, there was a demand for more textile products as well as there being more labor available. This applied not only to textile products but to metal goods as well. Families began producing cloth from the raw materials provided to them by workshop owners or intermediaries who took the cloth and sold it to the workshops. This system was called a cottage industry and was also known as the putting out system. The entire family would labor at home to produce the cloth which was then sent off to be transformed into finished goods. This system allowed for women to work in the home while still tending to the needs of the family.
King of the World
This excess of food and goods contributed to the growth of a market economy. This is an economy where there is unrestricted competition which is based on the price and production of goods. In other words, businesses competed against each other to sell the most and make the most. This is the beginning of a global economy with Western Europe playing a significant role as the center of trade. Because of the risk involved in trading goods globally, England increased their use of insurance to mitigate the risks of trans-Atlantic trade. Investors would ensure the precious cargo that was destined for worldwide ports. The privately owned Bank of England began in the 17th century with the purpose of raising money to pay for England’s involvement in wars with France, however, it eventually serves as the government’s bank. The bank was a joint stock bank which meant that there were shareholders who owned parts of the bank.
The Global Economy
England was not the only European country that was building a global empire. Spain, bolstered by the goods discovered in the New World, was building a global economy as well. However, Spain caused irreparable damage to its economy with the influx of silver from South America and, as a result, never achieved the same level of global dominance that England did. England used its global dominance to create a beneficial economic situation for itself. England believed in the policy of mercantilism. That means that a country needs to benefit from trade by exporting more than it imports. This practice will lead to an excess of gold (payment) or bullion. Countries should pass protective policies to maintain their trade superiority. An example of mercantilism in England was gaining raw materials from the American colonies, sending them back to England on English ships, turning the raw materials into finished goods, and then selling the finished goods to global markets. This allowed England to make a large profit and increased the wealth of the country.
The demand for products from the New World led to the growth of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Slaves were captured and removed from West Africa by slave traders and were taken across the Atlantic by way of the Middle Passage, the leg of the triangular trade route from Africa to the Americas. Slaves were packed into ships in unsafe and unsanitary conditions with many dying before they reached their destination. Once they arrived in the Americas, they were sold at auction to work on sugar, tobacco, and cotton plantations to produce the raw materials that were needed to continue the policy of mercantilism.
A New World
The products that were made available to Europe because of global trade had both a positive and negative impact on culture. Sugar had been available in Europe before the era of exploration; however, it was awfully expensive and saved for the upper classes. The Portuguese grew “white gold” in Italy during the 16th century and the Spanish recognized that the Caribbean had the perfect climate for sugar production. Once it became more readily available, people who were not part of the upper class had access to it and it became a part of the European diet, being used in tea, foods, and as medicine. A by-product of sugar refinement was molasses, which was found to be fermentable and produced rum, an alcohol in high demand in Europe. However, sugar production was very labor intensive and contributed to the growth of the slave trade.
Another commodity that contributed to the global economy was coffee. Coffee had been traded for years before the 17th century through a Venetian - African trade route but by the 17th century, the Dutch East India Company was bringing coffee to many parts of the world. The British East India Company soon followed suit and coffee became a popular drink that is still so today.
In your notes, respond to the following.
- Create a flow chart showing the impact of the Columbian Exchange on Europe during this period.
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