Add to Industrial Rev. Vocab.

• Agriculture – maintain soil for growing crops and raising animals

• Rural – area of land with little population or economic activity

• Urban – area of land with high population and economic activity

Before the Industrial Revolution

I. Growing cropsA. very little changed in agriculture from the end

of Roman Empire in 476 AD until 1700sB. work was done by hand and using animal power

II. Open fields

A. 90% of people in England were farmers

B. land around villages was shared by farmers

in large open fields called “common land”

1. three main fields containing different crops

were split into sections and

divided into strips

a. “commoners” were given

strips for subsistence

farming

b. strips were scattered – farmers had

to travel long distances to their section in another

field – no direct access

c. also shared common pastures (grass land) where

animals would graze (eat grass)

2. One section left fallow so that soil could regain fertility

Disadvantages of Common Land

III. Enclosure Movement

A. Enclosure movement led to the Agricultural Rev.

1. law passed to put up fences

2. lords paid for land then rented to farmers

3. peasants couldn’t afford land and had to move

B. ended farming villages and common lands

C. increased productivity and resources

1. farmers had land in one area – eliminated

time spent traveling to strips of land

D. facilitated use of crop rotation

1. growing different crops that absorb different

nutrients from soil

2. soil remains fertile because never depleted of

nutrients

Gleaners:to gatherbit by bit

Reap:to gather or collect

What does the Grim Reaper have to do with all of this?

IV. Cottage industry (work done in the home)

A. Two-step process for making cloth

1. Spinners made thread from cotton

2. Weavers wove thread into cloth on looms

(machine that moves thread together)

3. Way to make extra money – work together as family with

each person having specialized skill