Pre-Industrial & Agricultural Revolution Farming in the Middle Ages
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Farming in the Middle Ages Pre-Industrial & Agricultural Revolution • Villages feed themselves (subsistence farming) • One in three fields left fallow (empty) to regain fertility • Animals grazed in common pastures • Disadvantages: land use inefficient & farmers didn’t experiment with new methods Forces for Change Enclosure Movement • Population growing – more food • French blockade– no corn – more food needed • Wealthy landlords fenced in common pastures & experimented with new farming technology • Villages lost common lands & political power- peasants became poorer • Labor in high supply New Discoveries Crop Rotation • Seed drill planted seeds efficiently • New crops: turnips, corn, potatoes • Selective Breeding • Fields depleted of nutrients by one crop replenished by planting different crops • Fields not left inefficiently fallow 1 Results of Agricultural Revolution • • • • More food available Population increased (5.7 Million in 1750 to 41 Million by 1900) Ability to sustain larger population New business opportunities Merchants Role in the Cottage Industry • Supplied materials-wool &cotton- to cottages to be spun • Took supplies from spinning cottage, to weaving cottage, to dying cottage, to sell finished cloth • Merchants sell product for more than material & labor costs= profit +larger investment= higher profit Effects of the Cottage Industry • Big profits for new class of merchants • Alternative source of income for peasants Effects of the Cottage Industry $$$Capitalism$$$ • An economic system based on private ownership, free competition & profit • Big profits for new class of merchants • Alternative source of income for peasants • Need to support influx of factory workers 2
