18th c. European Expansion

18th c. political history?

• absolutism & constitutionalism continue• enlightened absolutism (ca. 1750-1790)• French Revolution (1789)

18th c. intellectual history?

• Enlightenment (1690-1780)

This presentation will address18th c. European ECONOMIC HISTORY.

Essential Questions:How did Europe expand in the 18th

century?… internal growth?

(rising food production, population boom, expansion of industry)

… external growth? (global trade, empire building)

I. AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION

Objectives

1. Compare and contrast farming methods and the supply of food before and after the Agricultural Revolution.

2. Explain the factors that caused the Low Countries and England to adopt the new methods of the Agricultural Revolution first.

• 80% of W. Europeans

• even more in E. Europe

17th c. Economy: Agrarian

• What it looked like: – open fields, cut into strips for each family – no fences – common lands for pasturing animals

Agriculture before 1650: The Open-Field System

Fallow

Wheat/ Beans

Fallow

Wheat/ Beans

Fallow

Wheat/ Beans

Common Land

• Problems: – soil exhaustion fields lie fallow– low output + periods of famine

Agriculture before 1650: The Open-Field System

Famine FoodsGrass and Bark……….

Dandelions……………….

Chestnuts………………….

• What: elimination of the fallow• How:

Agricultural Revolution (ca 1650-1850)

(1) crop rotation (2) enclosure

• Consequences: – MUCH more food– rise of market-oriented

estate agriculture– proletarianization

(landless peasants)

Agricultural Revolution (ca 1650-1850)

Between 1600 and 1900, England’s wheat output tripled. Overall, by 1870 English

farmers were producing 300% more food than in 1700 with just 14% more labor!

• Low Countries 1st – why:– densely populated– growth of urban areas

• England 2nd – students of the Dutch

Leaders: Low Countries & England

• Cornelius Vermuyden (Dutch) – drainage• Jethro Tull (English) – seed drill, horses for

plowing, selective breeding

Dutch & English Innovators

Seed Drill

II. POPULATION EXPLOSION

Objective

Account for the dramatic population increase in Europe during the 18th century.

Population Patterns up to 1700

• irregular cyclical pattern of slow growth

• factors that held down growth:– famine– disease– war

18th c. Population Explosion

• Why: decline in mortality … – famine: new canals and roads enabled food

transport; new foods (potato)

– disease: bubonic plague disappeared; improved sanitation

– war: less destructive

III. COTTAGE INDUSTRY & URBAN GUILDS

Objectives

1. Discuss the development of cottage industry and its impact on rural life and economy.

2. Describe the features of the guild system, explain how it evolved in the 18th century, and explain why the guild system eventually was replaced.

Cottage Industry

• manufacturing with hand tools in peasant homes

Cottage Industry: The Putting-Out System

• What: merchant capitalist “put out” raw materials to cottage workers, who returned finished products to the merchant

• Competitive advantages (over guilds):– low wages– no regulation = experimentation + variety of goods

Cottage Industry

• 1st in: England, textile industry• family enterprise• spinners can’t keep up with weavers

“spinsters”• conflict b/t workers & merchant-capitalists• erratic pace

Urban Guilds

• elitist & monopolistic:– restricted membership:

men, nepotism, costly

– exclusive rights to produce certain goods

– access to limited raw materials

Guild flags, etching from 1815.

Urban Guilds

• not open to experimentation?

• 18th c. openness to women (ex. dressmaking)

• lost power, late 18th c. – mid-19th c. (FR / rise of free market)

“Industrious Revolution”

• social/econ Δs of late 17th-early 18th c.– wage work– leisure time

• new pattern = foundation for IR (1780)• Debate over consequences … life better or

worse for:– the poor?– women?

IV. BUILDING THE GLOBAL ECONOMY

Objectives

1. Explain how Britain became the dominant European power in the colonial world.

2. Describe the development of slavery and its impact on the economy in the Americas.

3. Explain how Spain recovered in the 18th century after its 17th-century decline.

4. Describe the hierarchy of Spanish colonial society.5. Identify European colonies in Asia.6. Explain Adam Smith’s economic theory, and contrast it with

mercantilism.

18th c. Commercial Leader:

BRITAIN!!!

Britain did have rivals:• Dutch• French • Spanish

So how did Britain take the lead?Success in war – economic & military.

Wars

1. Navigation Acts (1651-1663) 2. Anglo-Dutch Wars (1652-1674)3. War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1713)4. War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748)5. Seven Years’ War (1756-1763)

1. Navigation Acts (1651-1663)

• econ. warfare:– GB imports must be

carried on GB ships (or on ships of country producing the goods)

– GB colonies must ship goods on GB (or US) ships + buy goods from GB

• Outcome: beat out Dutch

2. Anglo-Dutch Wars (1652-1674)

• 3 wars• Outcome: not much

Δ, but coupled w/ Nav. Acts, Dutch commerce

Dutch colony of New Amsterdam. Britain seized it and renamed it “New York.”

3. War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1713)

• Cause: threat of French/Spanish union

• France vs. Grand Alliance (GB, Dutch, Austria, Prussia)

3. War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1713)

• Grand Alliance won!• Peace of Utrecht:

– Fr/Sp could not be united– France lost Amer. colonies to

GB– Spain lost land to Austria &

gives control of slave trade to GB

Thus: France & Spain decline … GB gains

4. War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748)

• Cause: Prussia (Fred the Great) took Silesia from Austria (MT)

4. War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748)

• Came to include Anglo-French conflicts in India & N. America

• Outcome: – Prussian victory– no land Δ in N.

America

GB’s King George II at Battle of Dettingen – defeated the French. GB fought on

Austria’s side.

5. Seven Years’ War (1756-1763)

• Cause: MT wanted Silesia back

• France vs. Britain over colonies

5. Seven Years’ War (1756-1763)

• Indecisive in Europe• British victory in

colonies• Treaty of Paris:

– France & Spain lost land in N. Amer. & India to GB

Theme: Land and Trade Monopolization

Outcome: Britain realized goal of monopolizing a vast trading and colonial empire

IN THE COLONIES…

THE AMERICASIN THE COLONIES….

Atlantic Slave Trade (18th c. height)

Atlantic Slave Trade• plantation agriculture:

sugar, coffee, tobacco, rice, cotton

• 1700: GB becomes leader• 1770s-80s: GB abolition

campaign• 1807: Parli abolished GB

slave trade

Middle Passage

Spanish Revival

After its height in the 16th c., and a drastic fall in the 17th, Spain came back in the 18th!

• Causes:– better leadership: Philip V

(r. 1700-1746)– reforming ministers

Spanish Revival

• Signs of revival: colonies benefit!– better defense– expansion (ex. Louisiana, CA)– silver mining recovers– new class of wealthy Creoles

Spanish Colonial Society• Creole: Spanish blood, born in

America

• mestizo: mixed Spanish/Indian

• debt peonage: – 17th c. labor system– serfdom – owner keeps

Indians in bondage by advancing pay

ASIAIN THE COLONIES….

Portugal (16th c.)

Outposts in Indian Ocean trading world

Dutch Republic (17th c.)

Indonesia

France

Keylight blue = 1st empire of

1600s-1700s dark blue = 2nd empire, after

1830

India

Britain (India, 18th c.)

ECONOMIC SYSTEMS

Different Economic Systems

Mercantilism• 17th-18th c.• gov’t. regulation• goal: ↑ gold reserves …

exports > imports

Capitalism• late 18th c. forward• gov’t. stays out of economy

Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations (1776)

• capitalism / free market / free trade / economic liberalism / laissez-faire

• invisible hand• 3 duties of gov’t.:

1. defense (military)2. civil order (police, courts)3. public works