Chapter 15
Society and Economy Under the Old Regime
European History
Patterns of social, political, and economic relationships that had existed in France prior to
1789 were called the ancient regime or the Old Regime . Politically it meant rule of absolute monarchy with growing bureaucracies and aristocratically led armies.
Economically it meant a scarcity of food, dominance of agriculture, slow transport, and low level of iron production, unsophisticated financial institutions, and competitive commercial overseas empires. Socially men and women saw themselves not as an individual but as a certain group with class privileges. The era was slowly changing; agriculture was becoming more commercial which increases population. The America’s were demanding manufacture goods which increases production. This lays the foundation for the Industrial Revolution
Key Topics
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The varied privileges and powers of Europe’s aristocracies in the Old Regime and their efforts to increase their wealth
The plight of rural peasants
Family structure and family economy
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The transformation of Europe’s economy by the Agriculture and Industrial
Revolutions
Urban growth and social tensions that accompanied it
The strains on the institutions of the Old Regime brought about by social change
Major Features of Life in the Old Regime
Pre-Revolutionary Europe - 1) Aristocratic elites have inherited legal privileges
2)Churches related to both the state and aristocracy 3) Urban labor force organized into guilds (unions) 4)Rural peasantry have high taxes and feudal dues.
Maintenance of Tradition
People were more concerned about the past then the future. Both nobles and peasants called for the return of traditional or customary rights. Noble’s ancient rights should protect them from the new expanding bureaucracies and monarchy. Peasants wanted the return of manorial rights that allowed them access to lands, courts, or grievance procedure.
The Aristocracy
The nobility consisted of 1-5% of the population in any given country. The nobility was wealthiest sector of the population, had the widest degree of social, political, and economic power in society.
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Varieties of Aristocratic Privilege
Aristocrat was a matter of birth and legal privilege.
British Nobility- Consisted of about 400 families, the eldest male member of the family sat in the House of Lords. They also controlled many seats in the House of Commons.
The Nobles owned about ¼ of all workable land in the country. Hey also invested their money into commerce, canals, urban real estate, mines, and industrial ventures. Oldest son inherits the other sons move into commerce, army, professions, and church.
French Nobility- Consisted of about 400,000 nobles and were divided up into two groups,
“of the sword” refers to military service, and “of the robe” refers to serving in the bureaucracy or purchasing of the title. Next the two groups were divided by if they were in the Kings favor or not. The nobility were exempt from many taxes, such as the taille tax (land tax). Nobles did not have to participate in Corvess (forced labor) for public works which fell on the peasants. The Nobles could also collect feudal dues from peasants and enjoyed exclusive hunting and fishing privileges.
Eastern European Nobility- Poland there was thousands of nobles who were exempted from taxes after 1741 and posed the right of life and death over serfs. Austria and
Hungary nobility posed judicial powers over the peasants through manorial courts and were exempted from most taxes. Prussia nobles had judicial authority over the serfs. The
Junker nobles became a stronger class within the government. In Russia, Peter the Great linked state service and noble social status through a Table of Ranks. Noble privileges included the right of transferring noble status to wife and children, judicial protection of noble’s rights and property, considerable power over the serfs, and exempt from personal taxes.
Aristocratic Resurgence
Aristocratic Resurgence was the nobility’s reaction to the threat of their social position and privileges that they felt from the monarchies. First all nobilities tried to preserve their exclusiveness by making it more difficult to become a noble. 2) Pushed to reserve appointments to the officer corps of the armies, bureaucracies, government ministries and the church exclusively for the nobles 3) Use existing power to counter the monarchy 4)
Nobility tried to gain more exemptions from taxes and to collect higher rents from peasants.
The Land and its Tillers
Land was the economic backbone of the countries and the nobility’s foundation for wealth and power. Most people lived in various states of economic and social dependency, exploitation, and vulnerability.
Peasants and Serfs
Germany, Russia, and Austria had serfs. Serfs were legally bound to the land and to a particular lord (noble). The class that owned the most land controlled the local government, and the courts. English had tenants; France had cultivators for their land.
Obligations of Peasants- Most French peasants owned some land, but there were a few serfs in Eastern France. Most peasants were subjected to feudal dues called banalites.
Peasants could also be required to perform forced labor Corvee. Most French peasants did not own enough land to feed there families that they had to rend more land from the
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Seigneur , which had feudal dues attached to the land. In Prussia and Austria (Germany) the nobles had complete control over their serfs and required the serfs to provide a service to the lord known as robot . Russia serfs were worst off. Serfs were seen as economic commodities. Serfs preformed 6 days of labor to their noble known as barshchina.
A scarcity of labor supported the independence of the southeastern European peasant.
Peasant Rebellions- Over 50 peasant revolts occurred in Russia from 1762-1769. The
Pugachev rebellion 1773-1775 promised the serfs land and their own freedom from their lords, Russia brutally suppressed the rebellion.
Aristocratic Domination of the Countryside: The English Game Laws
1671-1831 English landowners had exclusive legal right to hunt game animals, however anyone else caught killing animals would be arrested for pouching a capital offense. The nobles wanted to uphold their superior status and created the legislation to represent their social status. The poor continued to kill the animals for food and then for profit, because the meat was considered a delicacy and could be sold at a prophet.
Family Structure and the Family Economy
In Europe the family household was the basic unit of production and consumption prior to the Industrial evolution. Most of Europeans lived in rural areas.
Households
Northwestern Europe- The household consisted of a married couple, their children, and their servants. Household consisted of about 5-6 people. Usually only one generation lived under the same roof because of high mortality (death) and late marriages prevented the formation of multigenerational families living under the same roof. Northern Europe had a nuclear rather than an extended family living under the same roof. Teenagers usually left home to enter into the workforce. Neolocalism is the practice of moving away from home. Men married at 26, Women at 23. Women usually were pregnant when she got married. Servants usually young, were hired to work for a household and in exchange receive room, board, and wages.
Eastern Europe- Both men and women were married before the age of 20. The household consisted of 9-20 members and multigenerational, up to 3 to 4 generations in the same house. The nobles discouraged single family dwelling, prevented marriages that were not from the same noble’s land and required marriages of widows and prearranged marriages for the young to protect the Noble’s finical interest in the land.
Family Economy
Everyone lived within a household no one could support themselves independently. All goods produced benefited the whole family instead of individual members. Farming could not support the whole family so the father and older children would work else where and the wife and younger children would farm. Artesian would teach their child the craft and except help in the shop, and mom would sell the stuff. Merchants would rely on their wives to run the business while they were away at trade. In Eastern Europe the father was primary responsible for taking care of family. If dad died the mom would remarry to replace his job or dissolve the family and rely on charity.
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Women and the Family Economy
Women established and maintained the household. Marriage was an economic necessity.
Women devoted the first part of her life to maintaining her parents’ household, then the second part of her life to maintaining her own household. Women started to work at the age of 7 and stayed with her family as long as she contributed, usually by the age of 12 she would seek employment as a servant if she was a farmers daughter. The young girl would then save her money and work for about ten years before seeking marriage. It was expected for her to bring money to the marriage. Merchant daughters stayed home unit they married learning trading skills.
Children and the World of the Family Economy
Child birth was scary. When the child was born, he or she was sent to a wet nurse until weaned then reentered the family, so the mother could work and still support her family economically. Unwanted children due to being illegitimate, economic burdened lead to infanticide killing of a child by smothering, or expose it to the elements. In the late 17 century more people were aware of infanticide and the abandoning of children led to establishing more hospitals, caring for thousands of children. In the 18 century 1,700 children a year were admitted to the Paris Foundling Hospital. In 1772 that number rose to 7,676 children. Because of so many children the hospital used a lottery system. About
10% of children left at the Paris hospital survived to the age of 10.
The Revolution in Agriculture p. 526
The main goal of peasant’s society was stability that would ensure local food supply.
Food supply was never certain and the further east one traveled it even became more uncertain. Poor harvest meant starvation and price increases in food supply. As population grew so did the prices in food, however wages remained the same causing inflation. The rising gain prices increased the wealth of the landowners giving them the ability to improve their lifestyle. To continue this lifestyle the landowners began a series of innovations in farm production which became known as the Agriculture Revolution .
Landowners commercialized agriculture and challenged peasants in the way of production of foods.
New Crops and New Methods Pressures of growing population and shortage of land required changes in cultivation during the 16-17 century. Dutch made advancements in dike building, which allowed the drainage of land giving more areas to farm. In England
Jethro Tull (1674-1741) used the iron plows to turn the earth soil more deeply and planting wheat by a drill. His ideas permitted land to be cultivated for longer periods without having to be left fallow. Charles “Turnip” Townsend (1674-1738) learned from the Dutch how to cultivate sandy soil with fertilizers. He instituted crop rotation, using wheat, turnips, barley, and clover. This allowed nutrients to be replaced into the soil and supplied fodders (feed) to animals, which meant more livestock could be raised, which then produce more fertilizer. Robert Bakewell(1725-1795) pioneered new methods of animal breeding. Author Young edited the Animals of Agriculture in 1793 which discussed the new innovations in agriculture.
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Enclosure Replaces Open-field Method- Farmers used the three field system. Two fields were planted while the other field remained fallow and then the fields were rotated.
Animals grazed on a common land. The types of crops to be planted were a community decision. About ½ of all land in England were farmed using the open field system. Rising prices in wheat convinced landowners to find new methods at farming to increase profit and production leading to the enclosure method, which used land more rationally and with greater profit. Laws were passed to allow for land to be enclosed which displaces the farmers and disrupts the community.
Limited Improvements in Eastern Europe- In Prussia, Austria, Poland and Russia agriculture improvements was limited, because nothing in the relationship of the serfs to lord encouraged innovation.
Expansion of the Population
Prior to the 18 century increases in population were countered by plagues, wars, and famine and a decline in the death rate. During the 18 th
century population increased steadily, which caused food prices to increase, which then spurred innovation in agriculture to produce more food and make more money. This in turn sparks the
Industrial Revolution as population increases and the demand for consumer goods. The population increased across the Continent because of advancements in agriculture and the potato which was able to sustain food supply and feed an entire family with the use of one acre. The increase in population created demands for foods, goods, jobs, and services and provided a new pool of labor.
The Industrial Revolution
Industrial Revolution began in the second half of the 18 th
century. At considerable social cost, industrialization made possible the production of more goods and service. The new production demanded new kinds of skill, new discipline in work and a large labor force.
Industrialization raised the standard of living and overcame some poverty. The Industrial
Revolution was rather slow.
A Revolution in Consumption
Invention of new machinery, the establishment of factories, and the creation of a new type of work force are all products of the Industrial Revolution. Everyday goods and luxury goods were in demand and with the increase in wealth brought on by the agriculture revolution created more disposable income. New methods of marketing were used to sell consumers products. Josiah Wedgwood would sell products to the royal family, then make a similar less expensive product and sell it to the common people.
Industrial Leadership of Great Britain
Great Britain was the home of the Industrial Revolution, and maintained the industrial leadership of Europe. Factors that made Britain first were 1) London was the largest city in Europe and the fashion capital of the world 2) Newspapers advertised consumer products 3) Social structure allowed people to imitate the life styles of their superiors 4)
The demand of the North American colonies 5) Britain was the largest free trade in
Europe 6) British had good roads and water ways to facilitate trade 7) Rich deposits of coal and iron ore 8) Political structure was stable 9) Property and laws secure 10) Sound
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banking and financial institutions 11) All social classes paid taxes 12) Socially people were mobile.
New Methods of Textile Production
The industry that pioneered the Industrial Revolution was the production of textiles for clothing.
Domestic - putting out
System of textile productionagents of urban textile merchants took wool or other materials to the home of peasants to spin it into thread, then had another set of peasants to create the finished clothing product. Merchants then sold the finished merchandise.
Spinning Jenny – Spinners did not have the equipment to produce the thread weavers needed. James Kay invented the flying shuttle , which increased the production of the weavers creating an imbalance with those who spun the thread and a bottleneck of production. James Hargreaves invented the spinning jenny which allowed 16 spindles of threads to be spun and at the close of the century 120 spindles. This invention broke the bottleneck between the spinners and the weavers.
The Water Frame- The invention that took cotton textile manufacturing out of the home and into the factory was Richard Arkwright water frame in 1769. This water power device designed to permit the production of a purely cotton fabric. As a result many factories sprang up in the country near streams that provided a necessary water power.
Cotton output increased by 800% between 1780-1800 and was 40% of Britain’s domestic exports. Edmund Cartwright invented the power loom for machine weaving in 1780’s
Steam Engine
The application of the steam engine perfected by James Watt in 1769 allowed factories to move from a water source into urban centers. The steam engine vastly increased and made available energy and made it possible for urban industrialization. The steam engine provided a steady and essentially unlimited source of power. The steam engine used coal for its source of power and could be applied to many industries including transportation.
Thomas Newcomen created the first steam engine .
Iron Production
Iron is the chief element of all heavy industry and production was less than 25,000 tons annually. Three factors held back production of medal.
1.
Charcoal rather than coke was used to smelt the ore. Charcoal was scarce and does not burn at a high temperature
2.
Insufficient blasts could be achieved in the furnace
3.
Demand for iron was limited
Henry Cort introduced a new puddling process which was a new method for melting and stirring molten ore. This allowed purer iron to be produced at a cheaper rate. By the
1800’s Britain produced over a million tons of iron annually.
Impact of the Agricultural and Industrial Revolution on Working Women
Women’s importance and role were diminished in the work force. Production increasingly became more commercialized and mechanical eroded the traditional roles of women. Machinery operated by men displaced women workers in the field and at home.
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Women were slowly pushed out of agriculture farming because landlords enclosed the land to make the most profit which prevented women from using the communal land for profit. Women would spin thread at home but with the creation of the jenny, flying shuttle, water frame and power loom took the spinning out of the home into factories displacing women’s job. Women were then required to find another type of job but usually at a lower pay such as the cottage industry. Since the pay was so low at the new jobs women turned to prostitution and other criminal behavior, other women entered into the servant industry. By the end of the 18 th
century the workplace of men and women became more distinct.
Long term results- 1) Women became more associated with the home. 2) Women were not involved the new technology progress giving the illusion of women having a more traditional role in society. 3) Women’s work was meant to supplement her husbands income. 4) Women were paid less money for the same job because her income was a supplement while the mans income would be considered as the main source of income creating a two tier system of wages.
Growth of Cities
Patterns of Reindustrialize Urbanization
18 th
century their was considerable growth of towns and cities
Growth of Capital and Ports- Cities that grew rapidly were by ports because of the expanding export and import business.
Emergence of New Cities and Growth of Small Towns- growth of large existing cities declined in the mid 18 th century, new cities began to emerge. Causes of the growth are
1) increase in population 2) the industrial revolution began in the countryside in textile mills fostering the growth of new towns. The growth of cities were a result of increase in demand of merchandise from farmers who increased their wealth through the
Agricultural Revolution.
Urban Classes
Visible segregation existed between the urban rich and the urban poor. The rich constructed new houses, while the poor congregated along the rivers. Poverty was an urban problem but it was worse in the countryside. Visible signs of poverty include crime, prostitution, vagrancy, begging, and alcoholism. The poor would migrate to the cities for jobs and instead found a hellhole and death. The upper class would hold public executions, flogging and torture.
Upper Class- A the top was a small group of nobles, large merchants, bankers, financiers, clergy, and government officials. They controlled the political and economic affairs of the towns
Middle Class- Wealthy merchants, townspeople, bankers, and professional people also known as the bourgeoisie , were the middle class. The bourgeoisie saw themselves as people willing to put their capital and energy to work, where as they portray the nobility as idle. The bourgeoisie normally supported reform, change, and economic growth. The bourgeoisie found their pursuit of both profit and prestige blocked by the privileges of the nobility who tried to maintain their exclusiveness. The tensions that arose between the nobles and the middle class during the 18 th
century involved issues of power sharing or
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access to political influence. The middle class however feared the lower urban class because of their potential of violence and their drain on natural resources.
Artisans- Shopkeepers, artisans, and wage earners were the single largest group in any city. The guilds still had a lot of power. The guilds tried to keep their numbers low to prevent too many people gaining the same skill reducing the skills value.
The Urban Riot
The artisan class maintained a sense of social and economic justice. When an incident was considered “unjust” the artisans would show their displeasure by rioting, such as bread riots when the price of bread was too high.
Jewish Population the Age of the Ghetto
Vast majority of European Jews lived in Eastern Europe mostly in Poland, Lithuania, and
Ukraine. Most Jews lived in nations where they did not enjoy the same rights and privileges of other subjects in that nation. Ghettos where primary Jewish villages in the cities or countryside. They faced discriminatory legislation and did not mix with other groups. Jews financed the wars of major rulers in hopes of gaining privileges within the nation. The loans the Jews made to the ruler where not always repaid.
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