AP EUROPEAN HISTORY
McKay, Chapter 19: The Expansion of Europe in the 18th Century
Questions:
What was the
most prevalent
system of land
usage in Europe
during this time?
What percentage
of western
Europeans were
involved in
agriculture by
the end of the
17th century?
Who directed
large drainage
projects in
England? What
impact did this
have on the
society?
Notes:
I.
Agriculture and the Land
A. The Open-Field System
1. The open-field system was the great accomplishment of
medieval agriculture.
2. Three field rotations helped keep fields fertile.
3. Traditional village rights reinforced traditional patterns of
farming.
4. Peasants were exploited in a number of ways, with those in
eastern Europe generally the worst off.
B.
The Agricultural Revolution
1. The use of more complex systems of crop rotation increased
cultivation.
2. Grain crops were alternated with nitrogen-storing crops.
3. The open-field system was ended by “enclosing” the fields,
particularly in England.
4. The enclosure movement meant an end to common lands and to
the independence of the rural poor who relied on them to
survive.
What can you
attribute the
increased use of
fertilizer to
during the
agricultural
revolution?
What factors
contributed to
increased
agricultural
production in
western Europe?
What are the
women doing in
this painting?
Who is the
artist?
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Questions:
Notes:
Where was the
agriculture
revolution first
manifested?
Who was Jethro
Tull and what
were his
contributions?
What scientific
method did he use
to arrive at his
conclusions?
C.
The Leadership of the Low Countries and England
1. The Dutch advantage was due to a very dense population.
2. Jethro Tull gained fame in experimental agriculture and animal
husbandry.
3. By the mid-eighteenth century, English agriculture was in the
process of a radical transformation.
D.
The Cost of Enclosure
1. Half of all English land was enclosed by 1750.
2. By 1700 a distinctive pattern of landownership and production
existed in England.
3. Tenant farmers were the key to mastering new methods of
farming.
4. Enclosure marked the emergence of market-oriented estate
agriculture and of a landless rural proletariat.
Upon which social
group did the
success of the
English
agricultural
revolution
depend?
What were the
“Enclosure Acts”
and what was the
impact on society?
Before 1700, how
would you
characterize the
European
population growth
cycles?
Why did the
bubonic plague
disappear?
What factors
facilitated the
expansion of
Europe in the 18th
century?
Which European
country had the
largest population
by 1800?
II.
The Beginning of the Population Explosion
A. Limitations on Population Growth
1. Famine, disease, and war were the usual checks on growth.
2. Europe’s population growth was kept fairly low.
B.
1.
2.
3.
4.
The New Pattern of the Eighteenth Century
Fewer deaths occurred, in part due to the disappearance of the
plague.
Advances in medicine did little to decrease the death rate.
Improved sanitation promoted better public health.
An increase in the food supply meant fewer famines and
epidemics.
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Questions:
Notes:
III.
How did the
French
government try
to improve living
standards of the
rural poor?
The Growth of the Cottage Industry
A. The Putting-Out System
1. The two main participants in the putting-out system were the
merchant capitalist and the rural worker.
2. Merchants loaned, or “put out,” raw materials to workers who
processed the raw materials and returned finished goods to the
merchant.
3. The putting-out system grew because it had competitive
advantages.
4. Rural agriculture did not spread across Europe at an even rate.
What does the
term ‘spinster’
refer to?
What were the
shortcomings of
the putting-out
system from a
capitalists
perspective?
What does the
term ‘Holy
Mondays’ refer
to?
Who did the
typical cottage
industry employ?
B.
The Textile Industry
1. Throughout most of history, the textile industry has employed
more people than any other industry.
2. Most participants in cottage industry worked in textiles.
3. Cottage industry was a family enterprise.
4. Relations between workers and employers were often marked by
conflict.
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Questions:
What did the
English
‘Navigation
Acts’
mandate?
Notes:
IV. Building the Atlantic Economy
A. Mercantilism and Colonial Wars
1. English mercantilism was characterized by government regulations
that served the interests both of the state and of private individuals.
Mercantilism in other European countries generally served only
state interests.
Who was the
main target of
the ‘Navigation
Acts’?
What were the
long-term
effects of the
‘Acts’?
When did the
‘Acts’ occur?
2.
What was the
‘decisive’
round in the
colonial
conflict
between
England and
France?
Who won the
‘American
component’ of
the Seven
Years War and
how was this
accomplished?
Who was
Britain’s
primary trading
partner by the
1770s?
3.
The Navigation Acts of 16511663 were a form of economic warfare
against Dutch domination of Atlantic shipping. They gave British
merchants and ship owners a near monopoly on trade with
Britain’s North American colonies.
After defeating the Dutch, England fought a series of wars with
France for maritime domination of the world.
a) War of the Spanish Succession (17011713)
b) War of the Austrian Succession (17401748)
c) The Seven Years’ War (17561763) ended with British winning
full control over India and North America. American colonists
referred to this as the ‘French and Indian War’
B.
Land and Labor in British America
1. In Britain’s North American colonies cheap land and scarce labor
resulted in the following:
a) rapid increase in the colonial population in the eighteenth
century.
b) import of African slaves to tobacco plantations in southern
colonies.
c) growing prosperity for British colonists.
C.
The Growth of Foreign Trade
1.
2.
3.
Britain and especially England profited from the mercantile system.
As trade with Europe stagnated, colonial markets took up the slack.
English exports grew more balanced and diverse.
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Questions:
Who worked the
Virginia
plantations?
Notes:
D.
The Atlantic Slave Trade
1. The forced migration of millions of Africans was a key element in
the Atlantic system and western European economic expansion.
2. After 1700, Britain was the undisputed leader of the slave trade.
3. Increasing demand led to rising prices for African slaves.
4. Africans participated in the trade.
5. After 1775, a campaign to abolish slavery developed in Britain.
E.
Revival in Colonial Latin America
1. Under Philip V (r. 17001746) Spain recovered economically and
successfully defended her American colonies.
2. Rising silver exports in the eighteenth century helped create a class
of wealthy Creole (American-born white) merchants.
3. Creole estate owners dominated much of the peasant population
through debt peonage, really a form of serfdom.
F.
Adam Smith and Economic Liberalism
1. Smith challenged mercantilist ideas with his defense of free trade
and his argument for keeping government interference in the
economy to a minimum (The Wealth of Nations [1776]).
2. Smith was one of the Enlightenment’s most original thinkers.
3. His work became the basis of the classic argument for economic
liberalism and unregulated capitalism.
4. Smith argued that government has “only three duties”
a. Defense of the country
b. Civil order within the country
c. Sponsor indispensable public works and institutions
How would you
characterize
Africa’s
population
growth during
the 18th century?
Who leads the
revitalization of
Spain in the 18th
century?
Who were the
Mestizos?
How was Spain
able to hold on
to her American
empire?
Who were the
Creoles?
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