Chapter 19Part 2

Population ExplosionProto-Industrialism

Mercantilism

Before 1700 Population was limited due to:

Famine Disease Warfare

Europe did not reach pre Black Death levels until the mid-16th Century

Causes of the Population Explosion

The Agricultural Revolution = more food available for larger population

New Foods (like the potato) became a staple crop for the poor in many areas (like Ireland)

Better roads and canals = improved food transportation

Better diets (more food and a variety) = stronger immune systems

Causes of the Population Explosion (continued)

After 1720 Bubonic Plague disappeared

Wars in 18th Century were less destructive on civilian populations

Improved sanitation in towns and cities

BUT…advances in medicine had NO impact at this time

Since 1350…

1350-1650…huge growth 1650-1750…plateau 1750 on dramatic increase

Europe in 1700…120 million 1800…190 million

Proto-Industrialism(aka the Cottage

Industry or Putting-Out System)

Rural industry was an important part of economic growth in the 18th century

Merchant-capitalists in cities would rather deal with cheap labor in the countryside than pay the higher fees to guild members

Rural manufacturing with hand tools began to seriously challenge the urban craft industry

The Cottage Industry

Merchant-Capitalist would provide the raw material to a rural family

The Family would produce a finished product and give it to the merchant-capitalist for payment

Merchants would then sell the product for profit

Wool Cloth

Was the single most important product

The Cottage industry was a family activity

4-5 spinners were needed to keep a weaver (the head of the household) busy full time

A constant quest for more thread and more spinners

Spinsters (widows or single women) who where hired by families

Problems with the cottage industries:

Disputes between family producers and merchant-capitalists (weights, quality)

Rural labor disorganized and difficult for the merchant-capitalist to control (Holy Monday)

Merchant-capitalists were constantly looking for more efficient ways of production leading eventually to the growth of factories in towns and cities

Results of the Cottage Industry

Thousands of rural poor were able to supplement their incomes

The unregulated nature of production in the countryside led to experimentation and diversity of products

Textiles (most important), knives, forks, utensils, buttons, gloves, clocks, musical instruments, etc.

The Cottage Industry

First in England Later to France and Germany

In 1500 ½ of England’s textiles were produced in the countryside

By 1700 the percentage was much higher

Proto-industrialism Technology (Before the

steam engine) 1733 John Kay: invented the flying

shuttle: the weaver only needed one hand to throw the shuttle back and forth between threads

1764 James Hargreaves invented the Spinning Jenny: mechanized the spinning wheel

More Proto-industrial technology

1769 Richard Arkwright invented the Water Frame: improved thread spinning

1780’s Arkwright used steam engines to power looms…the beginning of the Industrial Revolution…some think

1779 Sam Crompton invented the Spinning Mule: combined features of the spinning Jenny and Water Frame

Mercantilismand the Atlantic economy

18th Century European maritime expansion

World trade became an integral part of European economy

Sugar: the single most important commodity produced in the Atlantic trade

Also tobacco, cotton, indigo and slave trade

The Atlantic Economy

England, France and the Netherlands benefitted the most from the Atlantic trade

But Spain and Portugal were able to revitalize their empires and economies

Mercantilism

Goal: Economic self-sufficiency of a nation

A favorable balance of trade (more exports than imports) through: Tariffs & other navigation acts

Bullionism: build up large reserves of gold and silver and prevent it from leaving the country

Mercantilism

Colonies for raw materials and markets

State-granted monopolies to large companies (East India Companies)

Encourage the growth of domestic industries

Great Britain

18th Century: the world’s leading maritime power

1694 The Bank of England: provided capital for economic development

1707 The Act of Union: unified England and Scotland (trade benefits for Scots)

English Mercantilism

The Government’s economic regulations often served the private interest of individuals and groups as well as the needs of the state (like the Corn Laws)

Mercantilism in FranceOr any authoritarian state

Economic policies primarily benefitted the state rather than businessmen and workers

The English Navigation Acts

Efforts by Parliament to increase military power and private wealth

The First 1651 (Cromwell) : to reduce Dutch domination of the Atlantic Trade

Required that most goods coming into England be brought on British ships with ¾ British crews

Gave British merchants and ship owners a virtual monopoly on trade with the colonies

The English Navigation Acts

After the Restoration (Charles II) Second 1660 Third 1663

Reiterated the first and required colonies to ship certain goods exclusively to England (sugar, tobacco, cotton) and required the colonies to buy most of their European goods from Brits

Triangular Trade

Involved: England, American colonies, Caribbean, Africa

Different routes

Some illegal (both American and English violated navigation acts and made fortunes)

The Dutch The Golden Age: first ½ of the 17th

century was the dominant maritime power

The middle-class Burghers dominated politics and the economy

The government was de-centralized and did not interfere with the economy

Much religious toleration

The Dutch

1652-1674: 3 Anglo-Dutch Wars Damaged Dutch shipping and

Commerce

1664 New Amsterdam was seized by the English and renamed New York

By the late 17th Century the Dutch were falling behind the English in shipping, trade & colonies

But

The Dutch and the English allied to stop the expansion of Louis XIV in the late 17th century

The Dutch shifted attention to banking rather than trade and managed to survive

The Dutch

The first to perfect the use of paper money

The stock market in Amsterdam was the most important in Europe

Created a central bank

The Slave Trade

The growth of Atlantic trade was largely due to the use of slave labor

10 million Africans were transported to the New World in the 17th and 18th centuries

½ of the above were transported on British ships, ¼ on French ships and the rest: Dutch, Portuguese, Danish, American ships

The Slave Trade

British and French governments gave chartered companies monopolies over slave trade in late 17th and early 18th centuries (ie 1672 the Royal African Co.)

Forts (factories) were set up on the West African coast to oversee and protect the slave trade

The Slave Trade

By the 1730’s independent slave traders broke the monopolies

Most slaves were captured by rival African tribes and traded to Europeans for cloth, alcohol, weapons

Many captured in the African interior died on forced marches to the coast

The Slave Trade

Between 20-30 % of all slaves brought to the New World along the Middle Passage died on the way

Most taken to Brazil or the West Indies to work on sugar plantations

400,000 taken to British North American colonies

The slave trade

Dwindled by the 1780’s

Subsequent growth in slave population was due to natural population growth

The Bubbles

Both Britain and France faced massive national debts due to the wars of the 17th and 18th centuries

England: the South Sea Bubble France: the Mississippi Bubble

1720 The South Sea Bubble

1719 The British government gave the South Sea Co. rights to take over the British debt

The South Sea Co. had had a monopoly over the slave trade with Latin America a few years earlier and seemed to be responsible and successful

The company was expected to make a profit on the interest collected from the government on the debt

The South Sea Bubble

When the company did not realize profits fast enough for investors, the company converted the debt into stock shares

The ensuing speculator frenzy drove prices way up

Investors believed prices would continue upward

The South Sea Bubble

In 1720 the Bubble Burst!

Causing the first large-scale financial crash

It took years to restore confidence in the British government’s ability to repay its debts

The Mississippi Bubble 1720

The Mississippi Co. had been granted a monopoly by the French government on trade with French Louisiana in North America

In 1719 the company took over the French national debt in exchange for company shares of stock

The Mississippi Bubble

Initially, huge increases in stock prices

Then dramatic collapse The Mississippi Company was ruined

The enormous national debt in France continued to crush the taxpayer and was a key factor in the French Revolution several decades later