The Agricultural Revolution Or How we Got to be Fat & Happy
18th C. European Food Supply Peasants were to produce food Risks were great = Slow Change Mistakes could be fatal Price Variation Effects Peasant Suffering Landlord Profit / Loss
How did the Agricultural Revolution begin? Land Use More land under cultivation [Dutch Reclamation] Crop Innovations Clover & Turnips Early Inventions Jethro Tull >> Seed Drill Charles Townsend >> Fertilizers & Rotation Robert Bakewell >> Animal Breeding
How did farming practice change? Crop Rotation 4 Field Rotation Replenish soil via different crops & use Open Field System 3 Field Rotation Replenish soil via rest Food Crop Fallow Pasture
The Enclosure Movement What is it? The shift from community based farming to tenant farming by… Fencing & parceling land >> no common village area Why did it occur? Less Waste – Higher Crop Yields – Profit $$ What were the results in England? Commercialization of Farming!!! Government Intervention via SUBSIDY Changing demographics of villages & towns More Productive Land = More Food >> ↑Population!
Enclosure Movement Enclosed land today What is happening in England based on this document? Enclosed land today
Were Agricultural Changes Universal Throughout 18th c. Europe? Dutch were already efficient Land reclamation – Specialization France made limited changes… Only if it positively affected the nobility Eastern Europe made little change Landlord – Serf relationship discouraged innovation Maize & Potato introduced… = biggest change!
Why did the population explode in 18th c. Europe? Less war Improved sanitation and hygiene Improved medical knowledge Innovation & Invention New crops from the Americas Tomato, Corn and… the humble POTATO!
Write down and then analyze the following question and write a thesis statement & intro that fully addresses it…then outline a response… Identify the key features of the 18th c. Agricultural Revolution and analyze its social and economic consequences. The Agricultural Revolution of the 1700s included … and resulted in… Significant developments such as… led to … during the …