N O T E B O O K
#7
The Old Regime
AP European History
Mr. Konecke
Name_______________________________
Period____
NOTEBOOK #7: THE OLD REGIME
1. Major Features of Life in the Old Regime
The Old Regime
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
During the French Revolution, the time before 1789 became known as the
ancient regime – the Old Regime
o The term now generally applies to life & institutions of prerevolutionary Europe
Socially, pre-revolutionary Europe was based on:
o 1. Aristocratic elites with inherited legal privileges
o 2. Established churches (allied with state & aristocracy)
o 3. Urban labor force (guilds)
o 4. Rural peasants forced to pay high taxes & feudal dues
Maintenance of Tradition


1700s, past was more important to people than future
o Few people considered change or innovation to be good things –
especially when it came to social classes
 Nobles and peasants both wanted traditional, customary rights to
be restored
 Nobles – their authority being replaced by that of
monarchical bureaucracies
 Peasants – wanted manorial rights – gave them access to
lands, courts, & grievance procedures
Except for early industrialization in Britain, economy of 18th century was
traditional
o Quality & quantity of grain harvest was most important thing in lives
of most people
Hierarchy and Privilege

There was a hierarchical structure to society
o Laws even regulated dress of different classes
 These laws tried to make social hierarchy easily visible
o But what really enforced the hierarchy was corporate nature of social
relationships
 Each state was considered community of smaller communities
 Europeans did not have “individual rights”
 A person had the rights that were guaranteed to the community or
group they belonged
 Community could be church, village, guild, university,
nobility, etc.
 Privileges might include:
o Tax exemption, exemption from punishment, right to
practice a craft, right to collect tithe (1/10th of
something)
2. The Aristocracy
The Age of the Aristocracy

18th century was golden age of the aristocracy
o Nobles made up 1-5% of population of any country
o But in every country, it was wealthiest part of population, had the
most power, & set tone of polite society
o In most countries, nobility had own house of parliament
o Land gave nobles their biggest source of income
 But nobles did not just own estates – they influenced social &
economic life
 Manual labor was seen as beneath a noble
 But they were willing to promote economic innovation &
commercialism – protecting their wealth
 Both noble and poorer classes wanted economy to be strong &
protect their property – bound classes together
Varieties of Aristocratic Privilege
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
To be an aristocrat, you had to be born into it
But in every other respect, nobles differed from country to country
British Nobility

Smallest, wealthiest, & most socially responsible nobles were in Great
Britain
o Consisted of 400 families – oldest males from each sat in House
of Lords
 Because of corruption, these families also controlled many
seats in House of Commons
 Estates ranged from few thousand to fifty thousand acres –
nobles received rents from these
 Nobles owned about 25% of arable land in Britain
 They increasingly invested in commerce, canals, real
estate, mines, and industry
o Only oldest son inherited title (peerage), right to sit in House
of Lords, and the land
 Younger sons went into commerce, army, professions, or
church
o Landowners in both houses of Parliament levied taxes (and paid
them)
o They had few legal privileges, but their control of local
government gave them political & social power
French Nobility
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
In France, about 400,000 nobles were divided between nobles “of the
sword” (nobility came from military service) and nobles “of the robe”
(nobility came from buying it or being in bureaucracy)
o They had fought in past – but cooperated in 1700s to protect
common privileges
French nobles also divided between those who held favor in court at
Versailles and those who didn’t
o

Court nobles became extremely wealthy from holding high offices
 Appointments to church, army, bureaucracy usually went to
nobles from court
o The provincial nobles (hobereaux), however, were no better than
wealthy peasants
Certain hereditary privileges set all French aristocrats apart from
rest of society
o They were exempt from most taxes
 Technically, nobles had to pay the vingtieme (twentieth) –
like an income tax, but they rarely had to pay it in full
o Nobles could also collect feudal dues from tenants – also had
exclusive hunting & fishing privileges
Eastern European Nobilities

In Eastern Europe, military traditions of aristocracy were important
o Poland, thousands of nobles – szlachta – entirely exempt from
taxes
 They even possessed right of life & death over their serfs
 Most Polish nobles were relatively poor
 The few who were wealthy had huge political power
o Austria & Hungary, nobles had broad judicial power over peasants
 Also enjoyed some form of tax exemption
 Wealthiest noble owned 10 million acres of land
o Prussia, Junker nobles had huge power
 Frederick the Great needed their support for his wars (most
officers were Junkers)
 Nobles also increasingly made up the bureaucracy
 Prussian nobles also had judicial authority over serfs
o Russia, nobility was created in 1700s
 Peter the Great’s linking of state service and noble social
status (Table of Ranks) established self-conscious class
identity
 Thereafter, they resisted compulsory state service (1762,
Peter III exempted them)
 1785, Catherine the Great passed Charter of the Nobility –
legally defined nobles’ rights in exchange for their state
service
 Privileges included – transmitting nobles status to
wife & children, judicial protection of rights &
property, power over serfs, and tax exemption
Aristocratic Resurgence
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
Russian Charter of the Nobility was one aspect of European-wide development
called aristocratic resurgence
o Nobility’s reaction to threat to their social position and privileges
from growing power of monarchs
This resurgence took several forms
o 1. All nobilities tried to maintain their exclusiveness by making it
harder to become noble
o
o
o
2. Tried to reserve appointments to officer corps, high-ranking posts
in bureaucracies & government ministries, & upper ranks of church for
nobles
3. Tried to use power of existing noble-controlled institutions to
fight power of monarchies
 Ex: British Parliament, French courts (parlements), provincial
diets in Germany
4. Tried to increase their wealth with more tax exemptions, collecting
higher rents, or demanding long-forgotten feudal dues
3. The Land and Its Tillers
Land

Land was economic basis of 18th-century life and the foundation of noble
power and status
o ¾ of all Europeans lived in rural areas – few ever went few miles away
from home
o Most people on these lands were poor
 Economically & socially dependent, exploited, and vulnerable
Peasants & Serfs

Rural social dependency related to land
o The class that owned most of the land also controlled local government
& courts
o In most places, burden of taxation fell on the people who worked the
land
Obligations of Peasants

The farther east one went, the more power landlords had
o Most French peasants had some land, but there were a few serfs in
eastern France
o All French peasants had to pay feudal dues – banalities
 Included the use-for-payment of the lord’s (seigneur’s)
mill to grind grain & oven to bake bread
 Seigneur could also require peasant’s labor for certain
number of days per year – corvee
 Most French peasants didn’t have enough land to support
family, so had to rent more land from seigneur (more feudal
dues)
o In Prussia & Austria, landlords had almost complete control over
serfs
 Laws required serfs to provide service – robot – to lords
o Serfs had it worst in Russia
 Nobles measured wealth by number of “souls” (male serfs)
they owned
 Russian landlords thought of serfs as economic commodities
 Could demand as much as 6 days/week of labor (barshchina)
 Also had right to punish their serfs
 Could even exile a serf to Siberia

o
Serfs had no legal protection against will of landlords –
basically served as slaves
In southeastern Europe (Ottomans), peasants were free (but
landlords still tried to exert authority)
 Landlord was often not on his estate – an overseer ran
things for him
 1600s & 1700s, these landlords became commercially oriented
 Focused on crop production (cotton, vegetables,
potatoes, corn) – could sell
 Southeastern European peasants were free because there was
a scarcity of labor (not because of legal rights)
 So peasants would migrate from one landlord to another
 Second landlord might not return the peasant because
he needed his labor
 But as disorder erupted in capital city (Constantinople),
landlords increased their authority by offering peasants
protection from bandits or rebels
 These landlords owned all the housing & tools (and
seed) peasants needed
 Despite independence, peasants here were largely
dependent on landlords
Peasant Rebellions
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
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Russian monarchy contributed to degradation of serfs
o Peter the Great gave whole villages to his favorite nobles
o Catherine the Great protected authority of nobles over serfs in
exchange for nobles’ political cooperation
 As a result, Russia experienced peasant unrest
 1762-1769, over 50 peasant revolts
 Biggest was Pugachev’s Rebellion
 Emelyan Pugachev promised serfs their own land &
freedom from lords
 Russian government had to brutally stop the rebellion
 Such hard suppression prevented similar rebellions in
near future
Smaller peasant revolts took place in Bohemia 1786 & Austria 1789
Few revolts broke out in Western Europe (but England did experience
many rural riots)
o Rural rebellions were violent – but peasants took their anger out
on land, not people
 Rebels usually wanted traditional rights back (after socalled innovations took place)
 Examples of targets:
 Unfair pricing, new feudal dues, changes in payment
methods, unjust officials, brutal overseers
Aristocratic Domination of the Countryside: The
English Game Laws
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English laws on hunting were example of aristocratic domination of land &
manipulation of law
o 1671-1831, English landowners had exclusive right to hunt game animals
 Similar laws applied to other animals (deer) – killing by an
unauthorized person was capital offense
o By law, only people with certain amount of land could hunt these
animals
 Anyone renting land, wealthy city merchants, poor in cities (and
elsewhere) were excluded
 Wealthy believed allowing poor to enjoy hunting would undermine
their work habits
 Wealthy merchants excluded because landed nobles wanted to
visibly demonstrate their superiority
Game laws were example of laws related to economic & social status
o Nobles who benefitted from these laws were also the justices of the
peace who enforced them
 Could impose fines or even put poachers in army
o Gentry employed gamekeepers to stop poachers (would kill dogs
belonging to poachers)
 Even designed guns that would kill poachers when they tripped
hidden traps
There were ways around these laws, however
o Poor people living on estates would often kill game for food
 Believed game belonged to community (poaching was worst during
hard times)
Black market in luxury meat started in cities
o Poaching then became profitable
 Kill or steal the game then sell it to middlemen called higglers
 Higglers would smuggle game into cities & poulterers would sell
it
English aristocrats began creating large game preserves
o Rural poor not happy – turned these preserves into hunting grounds for
poachers
o Penalties for poaching increased over time – but so did amount of
poaching
o Britain’s participation in wars put burden on poor people – demand for
food grew with population
By 1820s, landowners were calling for reforms
o 1831, Parliament rewrote game laws
 Landowners still owned the game, but they could permit people to
hunt it
4. Family Structures and the Family Economy

Preindustrial Europe, the household was basic unit of production &
consumption
o Most workers in every business were family members
Households

There were 2 basic models of households:
o One in northwestern Europe
o One in eastern Europe
Northwestern Europe
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Here, household consisted of married couple, their children, &
servants
o Except for extremely wealthy, household only had 5-6 members
 More than two generations of a family rarely lived under
same roof
 High mortality & late marriage prevented families
having more than 3 generations
 Family structure was thus nuclear rather than extended
Children lived with parents only until early teens
o Then they left home to become young servants – lived & worked in
another household
 Child of skilled artisan might stay with parents to learn
skill
 But this was rare for more than one child to do so – kids
earned more outside of their own household
Young men & women eventually married & formed own household
o Moving away from home is called neolocalism
o They married relatively late (men over 26, women over 23)
 Usually had children soon after marriage
 Woman often pregnant at wedding – family pressured man to
marry her
 Premarital sex was common
 New couple would soon hire servant & they would start their
lives
Term “servant” here does not mean someone looking after needs of
wealthy people
o At this time, a servant was a person hired to work in household
in exchange for room, board, & wages
 New servants often young (and not always socially inferior
to employer)
Young men & women became servants when their work not needed in
parents’ household or when they could make more money in another
household
o Working for 8-10 years gave young people skills & savings to
start own household
 These long years of service caused the late age of marriage
Eastern Europe

Here, men & women usually married before age of 20
o Children born to much younger parents
o Often, wives were older than husbands
o These households generally larger than those of west
 Anywhere from 9-20 people might be in household (3-4
generations living under one roof)

Landholding structure accounts for these patterns of marriage & family
o Lords who owned land wanted to make sure it was cultivated (so
they could get rent)
 Landlords might forbid marriage between own serfs & those
from another estate
 Might also require widows & widowers to remarry (to provide
more workers)
o Landlords preferred to have serfs cultivate land instead of free
laborers
 This hindered the formation of independent households
 Lords forbid single-generation households (if someone died,
might not be enough people to keep working land)
The Family Economy
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Throughout Europe, most people worked in family economy
o Almost everyone lived in household – impossible to survive on own
 Anyone living outside a household were viewed as suspicious
 Could be criminal, disruptive, or dependent on charity
o Beggars also met with hostility
Everyone in household worked
o All goods & income went to help household (not individual)
 On farm, all effort went toward raising food (or goods to be
exchanged for food)
 Few Western Europeans had enough land to support entire household
by farming
 So some family members might work elsewhere and send money home
Family economy also dominated lives of skilled urban artisans
o Father was chief artisan
 Employed one or more servants – but children had to work there
too
 He would train his oldest child in the trade
o Wife would sell what he made (or open her own shop)
 Wives of merchants usually ran their husbands’ business
o If business was bad, family members would find a job somewhere else
(to help family)
Death of father meant disaster for family
o Widow (or children) might take over farm or business
 Widow tried to remarry quickly in order to keep family surviving
High mortality rate meant many households were second-family groups (with
stepchildren)
o If widow was too old or times were tough, household might dissolve
 Widow then became dependent on charity or relatives
 Children relied on charity or started working as servants at
younger age
 If times were really tough, they might become criminals or
beggars
Women and the Family Economy
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Family economy was responsible for constraints on women at this time
o In Western Europe, a woman’s function was to maintain a household
 Marriage was economically necessary
 Outside a household, woman’s life was vulnerable & unstable
 Most women could not support themselves (unless they were
aristocrats or in religious order)
 Women had to maintain parents’ household and then find a way to
get their own
 Having children was subordinate to that goal
By 7, she was helping with household work
o She would stay only as long as her labor contributed to family
Artisans’ daughter might not leave until marriage
o Could learn valuable skills of the trade along way
Farmers’ daughter was not needed (rest of family could do all work)
o So farm girls left home 12-14 (usually went to city)
o Most became servants in households – tried to save to accumulate a
dowry
 This money made her eligible for marriage – her money allowed her
to make a contribution
 Some women worked for 10 years to accumulate a dowry
 So many women did not marry until mid-late twenties
In marriage, woman’s concern was always having enough money & food
o Domestic duties & children were subordinate
 As a result, couples limited number of children they had through
coitus interruptus
Work of married women differed between town & country
o If household had enough land to support itself, women spent all time
carrying things (water, food, seed, etc.)
 If husband had to do work besides farming, wife in charge of farm
while he’s working
o In city, wife of merchant might be in charge of finances & manage
business
o If economic disaster struck, wife would organize “economy of
expedients”
 Family members sent off to find work (or beg in streets)
Many occupations, however, were not open to women
o Women also had fewer opportunities for education
o They received lower wages for doing same job
o Mechanization of agriculture & textile industries made things even
worse
Children and the World of the Family Economy

Childbirth was scary for all classes of women
o Contagious diseases endangered mother & child
o Fever was always possible, as was infection (unsterilized medical
equipment)
o Most mothers gave birth in poor conditions
 So even if mother & child survived, child would be sent to a wet
nurse
o
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Family economy did not allow women to devote themselves completely to
their children
Children were not always welcome
o Some families could not afford another mouth to feed
o Or the child might be illegitimate
Unwanted or illegitimate births sometimes led to infanticide (especially
among poor)
o Smothered infant or it died of exposure
Late 1600s & early 1700s saw new interest in helping abandoned children
o Size & number of foundling hospitals grew during this time
 Cared for 1000s of kids
o Some foundling hospitals lacked funding to keep up with all children
brought to them
 Some resorted to admitting children through a lottery system
Most abandoned kids were illegitimate (from all social classes)
o But most came from poor families
 As price of food rose, number of abandoned children rose
o Foundling hospitals did not guarantee children would survive
 Only 10% survived till age of 10
As children grew up, new interest arose in educating them (especially among
upper classes)
o As economic skills became more demanding, literacy became more
valuable = literacy rates rose
o But most of Europe was still illiterate
 Not until 1800s were most children in school to become members of
citizenry
5. The Revolution in Agriculture
The Agricultural Revolution
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Goal
o
o
o
of peasant society was stability in local food supply
Farmers resisted changes that might endanger food supply
Farther east one traveled, the more uncertain food supply was
Failure of harvest led to hardship or even death (starvation,
malnutrition)
 Rural areas often had harder time finding food (city governments
stored reserve grain supplies)
Poor harvest affected prices
o Smaller supply or larger demand raised grain prices
o Even small price increases could have devastating effects on poorer
households
 Bread prices steadily rose throughout 1700s because of increased
population
 Since bread was their main food, this inflation hurt the poor
 But this inflation benefitted landowners (& wealthier peasants)
Higher prices gave landlords opportunity to improve income & lifestyle
o To achieve these ends, landlords in Western Europe began innovations
in farm production – Agricultural Revolution
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
They commercialized agriculture, challenging traditional peasant
production
Result – peasant revolts & uprisings
 Government used armies to stop these rebellions (trying to
keep nobles happy)
New Crops and New Methods
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Idea to improve farm production started in Low Countries – high population &
shortage of land required new methods of cultivation
o Dutch came up with better system of dikes & how to drain land – so
could farm more land
o Also experimented with new crops (clover, turnips) that would increase
animal fodder, improving soil
English landlords provided best examples of agricultural improvement
o They didn’t come up with new farming methods
o But they did popularize ideas developed the previous century
 Jethro Tull was one such innovator
 Developed iron plow that could turn soil more deeply & a
drill to plant wheat more efficiently
 Land could now be cultivated for longer periods without
having to leave it fallow
Charles “Turnip” Townsend encouraged other innovations
o Learned how to cultivate sandy soil with fertilizers
o Also started crop rotation – replaced fallow field with one sown with
crop (restored nutrients)
o More livestock could also be raised – year-round supply of meat
 More animals also meant more manure for fertilizer
 So both animals and humans had more food
Robert Bakewell came up with new methods of animal breeding
o Produced more/better animals = more milk & meat
Enclosure Replaces Open-Field Method
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Many farm innovations were not compatible with how land was organized
in England
o Small villages still farmed most of the soil
 Two-three field system left large portions of land fallow
(unproductive)
 Animals grazed on common land in summer & stubble of
harvest in winter
o Whole system discouraged improvement & favored poorer farmers
 Village method prevented expanding pastureland to raise
more animals = more manure for fertilizer
o Traditional methods, therefore, led to steady but not growing
food supply
1700, half of arable land in England farmed by open-field system
o Mid-1700s, rising price of wheat forced landlords to enclose
lands to increase production
o Enclosures intended to use land more rationally & get greater
profits
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They would fence common land, reclaiming previously
untilled waste, & changing strips of land into block fields
o These procedures created anger from farmers – riots broke out
Many English farmers owned their strips or rented them
o So landlords had to go about enclosing land legally – Parliament
would pass laws
 Landlords controlled Parliament – so these laws easy to
pass
o 1761-1792, 500,000 acres enclosed
Enclosures were controversial
o They increased food production on big farms
o But they also disrupted small traditional communities
 They forced small farmers off the land (who needed common
pasture land) as well as cottage dwellers
Enclosures brought capitalistic attitude of urban merchants into
countryside
o Commercialization of agriculture spread across Europe – damaging
relationship between rulers & ruled
 Landlords used to look out for lower classes – now all they
cared about was profit
Limited Improvements in Eastern Europe

In Prussia, Austria, Poland, & Russia, farming improvements were
limited
o Main method to increase production was to farm new land
o Landlords (not villages) directed production
 Landlords tried to squeeze as much work out of serfs as
possible
o Only nutritional gain was introduction of maize & potato farming
Expansion of the Population
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Population explosion began in 1700s
o Had happened before in Europe – but plague, war, & famine balanced it
out
1700s, population began to increase steadily
o Needed to feed this population = food prices rose = agricultural
innovation needed
o Needed to provide everyday consumer items to these people – fueled the
Industrial Revolution
1700, Europe’s population – 100-120 million
o 1800, 190 million
o 1850, 260 million
 Such growth put new demand on all resources = pressure on social
organization
Population increased in both country & city
o Causes of the growth:
 Decline of the death rate
 Fewer wars & epidemics
 Hygiene & sanitation improved
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
Changes in food supply may have allowed for sustained population growth
o An important change was cultivation of the potato
 Came from New World & became widespread across Europe in 1700s
 On one acre, peasant family could grow enough potatoes to feed
itself for year
 This enabled more children to survive – have children of their
own
Population explosion created new demands for food, goods, jobs, & services
o It also provided more labor
o Traditional ways of production &living needed to change
o More people lived in country than could find jobs there
o Migration increased
o There were also more people who might become discontented (revolt)
6. The Industrial Revolution of the 18th Century
Industrialization


2nd half of 18th century witnessed beginning of industrialization of European
economy
o This sustained economic growth = Industrial Revolution
 Previously, economy might grow a little, but then plateau
 Since late 1700s, however, European economy has grown at
uninterrupted rate
Industrialization made production of more goods & services than ever before
o New production required new skills, new discipline in work, & larger
labor force
 Goods produced met demand & created new demand
o Industrialization raised standard of living for most Europeans
o But industrialization caused new problems with the environment
A Revolution in Consumption
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Major aspects of industrial revolution – new machinery, factories, new work
force
o New inventions increased supply of consumer goods
 This demand sparked ingenuity of designers & inventors
Social factors created markets for consumer goods
o Increase in incomes allowed people to buy consumer goods
o This change was not automatic
 People had to be persuaded that they needed/wanted new goods
 Entrepreneurs helped by developing new marketing methods
o EX: English porcelain maker Josiah Wedgwood first
attempted to sell his products to aristocrats
o Once he got their business, he made less expensive
versions of his goods for middle classes
o Also used advertising, showrooms, traveling salesmen,
& catalogs
People always wanted new goods (because they were new)
o If new goods could be produced, there was usually a market for them
o
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If a product failed to sell, it provided makers with lessons on how to
improve
Expansion of consumption challenged social assumptions
o Fashion publications made everyone aware of new styles
 Clothing fashions could be copied
 Servants could dress well (if not luxuriously)
o Changes in food consumption created demand for new dishware
 Increase in tea & coffee drinking led to demand for new cups &
mugs, and so on
Accessibility of such goods became symbolic of a nation’s prosperity
o Lack of these goods in Communist countries in 1980s (as well as of
civil liberties) led to deep discontent
Industrial Leadership of Great Britain
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Great Britain was home of Industrial Revolution & industrial leader of
Europe until mid-1800s
o Several factors contributed to this start in Britain
 Great Britain took lead in consumer revolution that expanded
demand for goods
 London was largest city in Europe – center of fashion and taste
 Newspapers thrived in Britain – their advertising increased
consumer wants
 Social structure of Britain encouraged people to imitate
lifestyles of their superiors
Britain was also largest free-trade area in Europe
o Had good roads and waterways – made trade easier
o Had lots of coal & iron ore
o Political structure was stable
o Sound banking system and credit established stable investment
o Taxation was heavy – but efficiently & fairly collected
 And these taxes received legal approval from Parliament – all
classes paid same taxes
British society was mobile
o People with money could rise socially
 British aristocracy would allow into its ranks people who had
made large fortunes
All of these factors, combined with advanced British agriculture, gave
nation an advantage to create a new mode of economic production
New Methods of Textile Production
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
Industry that pioneered Industrial Revolution was production of textiles for
clothing
o Most of this early industrialization took place in countryside, not in
cities
Although 18th-century economy was primarily agricultural, manufacturing made
its way into rural areas
o Peasant family – not factory – was basic unit of production
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They tilled land in spring & summer – spun thread & wove textiles
in winter
Under domestic (putting-out) system of textile production, urban textile
merchants took wool or other unfinished fibers to homes of peasants (who
spun it into thread)
o Merchant then transported thread to other peasants, who wove it into
finished product
o Merchant sold the wares
 By mid-century, merchant capitalist owned the machinery & raw
materials – peasants just did the labor
Domestic system of textile production was basic feature of family economy
into 1800s
o By mid-1800s, however, demand for cotton textiles grew faster than
production
 Inventors came up with some of the most famous machines of early
Industrial Revolution to meet demand for textiles
The Spinning Jenny
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Cotton textile weavers had capacity to produce quantity of fabric
demanded
o But spinners did not have equipment to produce as much thread as
weavers needed
 John Kay’s invention of flying shuttle – increased
productivity of weavers – created this imbalance
1765, James Hargreaves invented the spinning jenny
o Allowed 16 spindles of thread to be spun
o By end of century, 120 spindles could be spun
The Water Frame

Spinning jenny did its job – but it was only used in cottages by
peasants
o Richard Arkwright’s invention of water frame took textile
manufacture out of cottage & into factory
 This water-powered device was designed to produce purely
cotton fabric (rather than fabric containing linen fiber)
 Factories sprang up near streams (for water power) all
over countryside
o From 1780s on, cotton industry met demand
 Cotton production increased by 800%
 By 1815, cotton made up 40% of value of British domestic
exports
The Steam Engine

More than any other invention, steam engine permitted industrialization to
expand into all areas of production
o Provided a steady and unlimited power source
 Driven by burning coal, steam engine provided portable source of
industrial power that didn’t fail as seasons changed (unlike wind
or water power)
o
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Eventually, it could be applied to many industrial and transportation
uses
Thomas Newcomen invented first practical engine to use steam power
o Steam in cylinder condensed & caused piston in device to fall
o The machine was large & unable to be transported
 But English miners used it to pump water out of mines
1760s, James Watt experimented with Newcomen machine
o Realized that separating condenser from piston & cylinder would make
machine more efficient
o 1776, Watt’s steam engine found its first commercial application –
pumping water from mines
 Eventually, Watt allowed machine to be improved upon to be used
in cotton mills
By early 1800s, steam engine became prime mover for all industry
o With its application to ships and then to wagons on iron rails, steam
engine revolutionized transportation
Iron Production
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Iron is main element of all heavy industry & of land/sea transport
o Most productive machinery is also made from iron
 Early 1700s, British ironmakers made less than 25,000 tons of
iron per year
Three things held back production:
o 1. Charcoal rather than coke was used to smelt the ore
 Charcoal (from wood) was scarce as British forests diminished
 It also does not burn as hot as coke (from coal)
o 2. Furnaces could not achieve high enough blasts
o 3. Demand for iron was limited
 Fixing the first two problems would automatically eliminate the
third
Eventually, British ironmakers used coke & steam engine provided new power
for blast furnaces
o Steam engine improved iron production and increased demand for iron
1784, Henry Cort introduced new puddling process (melting & stirring molten
ore)
o This allowed removal of more slag (impurities that bubbled to top of
molten metal) = more pure iron
o Cort also developed rolling mill – shaped molten metal into bars,
rails, or other forms
All these innovations created better, more versatile, cheaper product
o Demand for iron then grew
 By early 1800s, British produced over million tons annually
o Lower cost of iron = lower cost of steam engines = allowed them to be
used more widely
The Impact of the Agricultural and Industrial
Revolutions on Working Women
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Transformation of agriculture & industry led to changes that diminished
importance & role of women in work force
o Women had been important part of traditional agriculture
o Also managed industries like milking & cheese production
 Increased mechanization ended these traditional roles
 Machines operated by men replaced need for women workers
These changes in farming hurt women’s ability to earn living from land
o Women then seen as opponents to agricultural improvement
 Many called for women to be removed from farming work force
Similar process took place in textile industry
o Mechanization deprived women of one of their traditional means of
income (made threads for husbands to weave)
 Large spinners needed to be in factories – putting female
spinners out of work
Many working women then turned to cottage industries (knitting, button
making, straw plaiting, bonnet making, etc.)
o Earned less money here than at previous jobs
 Forced to become prostitutes or other criminals to survive
 Reputation & social standing of working class women suffered
Thousands of women became domestic servants – main form of female employment
o This was more respectable than cottage industries
By end of 1700s, work & workplaces of men & women becoming increasingly
separate & distinct
o Some people called for new occupations for women
o This defamation of women workers produced several long-lasting
results:
 1. Women’s work became associated with home (instead of places
where men worked)
 2. Work of women was removed from new technologies
 Women’s work seemed traditional – people assumed women
could only do this work
 3. Europeans assumed most women only worked to supplement
husband’s income
 4. Thus, men were paid much more than women
 Industrial Revolution forced women into the home
7. The Growth of Cities
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1500, 156 cities had population greater than 10,000
o Only 4 of those cities – Paris, Milan, Venice, Naples – had
populations over 100,000
By 1800, 363 cities had 10,000 or more
o 17 of them had populations over 100,000
A major shift in urban concentration from southern, Mediterranean Europe to
the north also occurred
Patterns of Preindustrial Urbanization
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1700s witnessed big growth of towns
o
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London grew from 700,000 (1700) to 1,000,000 (1800)
 By end of 1700s, Paris had over 500,000, Berlin had 170,000,
Warsaw had 120,000, St. Petersburg had 250,000
o Number of smaller cities also increased
 But nowhere did more than 20% of population live in city
 Small towns were much more common than large urban areas
Before 1750, urban expansion took place in already established cities
After 1750, new cities were born and rapid growth took place in older,
smaller cities
Growth of Capitals and Ports
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1600-1750, cities that grew most were capitals and ports
o Growth of capitals demonstrates success of monarchical state
building – bureaucracies, armies, courts grew & lived in capitals
o Growth of ports reflects expansion of overseas trade
1600-1750, cities with less than 40,000 declined
o They contributed less to new political regimes
o Expansion of putting-out system transferred production from
medieval cities to countryside (rural labor cheaper than urban
labor)
The Emergence of New Cities and the Growth of Small Towns

Mid-1700s, rate of growth of existing large cities declined, new
cities emerged, and existing small cities grew
o Several factors created this process known as “an urban growth
from below”:
 1st, Overall population increase
 2nd, Early stages of Industrial Revolution occurred in
countryside = growth of small towns & cities
 Cities also grew because of better farming
 Improved agricultural production promoted growth of
nearby market towns
o New pattern of urban growth would continue into 1800s
Urban Classes
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Urban rich were visibly segregated from urban poor
o Aristocrats & upper middle class lived in nice town houses
o Poorest townspeople usually lived along rivers
 Small merchants and artisans lived above shops
 Whole families might live in one room
 Modern sanitation was unknown then
 Pure water was rare
 Cattle, pigs, goats roamed streets
Poverty was bad in cities – but it was usually worse in countryside
o In city, poverty was more visible (crime, prostitution, vagrancy,
begging, alcoholism)
 Many young men & women migrated to city for a better life –
didn’t find it
o
Also contrasting the serenity of upper-class life were public
executions, instruments of torture, public floggings
The Upper Classes

At top of urban social structure was small group of nobles, large
merchants, bankers, financiers, clergy, & government officials
o They controlled political & economic affairs of town
 Normally, they made up a self-appointed oligarchy that
governed city through a corporation or council
The Middle Class
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Another group in city was prosperous (but not always wealthy)
merchants, trades people, bankers, & professionals
o They made up the middle class (bourgeoisie)
 Middle class was diverse & divided
 Less wealthy members of middle class resented
wealthier members
Middle class had less wealth than most nobles, but more than urban
artisans
o Earning & saving money enabled them to move up in society &
improve their lifestyle
o They normally supported change, reform, & economic growth
Middle class fostered revolution in consumption
o On one hand, they owned factories & businesses – made & sold
goods for consumer market
o On other hand, middle class were also main consumers of these
goods
During 1700s, relationship between middle class & aristocracy was
complicated
o On one hand, nobles embraced commercial spirit of middle class by
investing in cities
o On other hand, wealthy members of middle class tried to imitate
nobles by buying landed estates
o Desire of middle class for social mobility conflicted with
nobles’ desire to maintain their privileges & wealth
The bourgeoisie was not rising to challenge the nobility
o Both were trying to increase their political power & social
prestige
Middle class in cities also feared lower urban classes
o Lower classes were violent, a threat to property, & drain on
national resources
Artisans
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Shopkeepers, artisans, & wage earners were largest group in any city
o Had own culture, values, & institutions
o They were conservative in many respects
 Economic position was vulnerable – if harvest bad, food
prices rose = their business suffered
 But they also contributed to consumption
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They could buy more goods than ever before – and they tried
to copy middle class
Their primary institution had traditionally been the guild
o But authority of guilds was diminishing
o They still tried to preserve jobs & skills of their members
 To lessen competition, they limited number of people who
learned certain skills
 Guild also provided members with aid during sickness (&
promise of admission of family members)
The Urban Riot
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Artisan class maintained good sense of social & economic justice
o If something wasn’t fair, artisans would riot
 Price of bread was frequent cause of riots
 If baker or grain merchant increased price too much, riot could
happen
 Artisans would take the bread and sell it to masses at fair price
– then gave money to baker or merchant
Danger of riots kept merchants from getting too greedy
o Bread riots were not irrational acts by a hungry mob – they were
organized & purposeful
Riots happened for other reasons
o Riot was only way the politically powerless could exert their will
o Riots also broke out because of religious prejudice
During riots, violence usually directed at property instead of people
o Usually only trying to restore a traditional right or practice
End of 1700s, riots happened for more political reasons
o In fact, the mob was usually the tool of the upper class
o They would often urge crowd action during disputes with monarch
8. The Jewish Population: The Age of the Ghetto
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Most European Jews lived in Eastern Europe (Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine)
1762, Catherine the Great of Russia excluded Jews from law that welcomed
foreigners into Russia
Jews in most nations did not have same rights & privileges as others
o Only way was if monarchs specifically granted these rights to Jews
 In a sense, Jews were almost like resident aliens
Most Jews lived in separate communities
o They might be certain districts of cities – ghettos – or Jewish
villages in countryside
o Jews were also treated as a separate people – religiously and legally
 This period is known as the age of the ghetto (separate
community)
During 1600s, Jews sometimes helped monarchs finance wars
o These Jews became close to rulers & known as “court Jews”
 But these loans were often not repaid
 Court Jews & their financial abilities became famous
Most Jews, however, lived in poverty
o
o
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They lived in worst sections of cities or villages
Their religious beliefs & practices further set them apart
 This discrimination was based purely on religion
If a Jews converted to Christianity, he became welcomed member of society
o But Jews who refused to convert faced problems:
 Could not work in many professions
 Could not move without official permission
 Could not take part in politics
 Could be kicked out of homes & property stolen
 Could have children taken away & taught to be Christian