Global Economic Growth The Economy in the 18 th Century

Population Trends Population Growth:  Europe grew from 80 mil to 180 mil from  China 350 mil and India 200 mil by 1700  Pop rebounding in Americas Ottoman pop stagnated Pop growth concentrated people in cities and pushed them out into undeveloped lands

Urbanization China, India, and Japan housed most cities  Many over 100,000 in population Europe had fewer cities, but rapid growth  London almost 1 mil by 1800  Paris and Naples ½ mil Cities being built in the Americas  Mexico City  Lima, Peru  Boston, Philadelphia, and New York

Explanations for Pop. Growth End of food monocultures Improved transportation networks Plague survivors immunology! Improved Medicine

18 th Century Medicine Global exchange of medical knowledge New medicinal plants and drugs  Opium, quinine, etc. Gradual recession of the humoral theory Diet and exercise became focus of medicine Scurvy treated with citrus fruit  Anson expedition lost 1400 of 1900 Smallpox inoculations  No idea why it worked

Poppy Field

Chinese Economics in the 18 th Century China still center of industrial activity  Textiles: silk  Porcelain  Paper  Grain Majority of Chinese products for domestic consumption  Foreign trade not important to Chinese, internal market  China primarily closed to foreigners, only allowed to trade at select ports  Favorable trade balance still existed in 1700s

China cont. British bring opium to China from India (poppy plants)  Monopolized by British East India Trading Company  Finally a product that the Chinese want  Trade gap begins to shrink  Chinese gov. tries to ban opium, but demand is too high  Opium trade grows exponentially over century China’s huge population makes labor cheap  Reason China fails to mechanize industry  Europe does mechanize and eventually is able to outstrip Chinese production

Collapse of Indian Industry Beginning of century an industry leader  Different clans and castes specializing in certain products Particularly iron and textiles Mughal Empire begins to fall in 1700  Afghan and Persian invaders sack Delhi  Imperial treasury drained in 1739 British East India Company begins buying up assets  British silver stops flowing into India, replaced by local taxes  British begin extracting resources and exploiting labor  Slowly assume control of entire country

Ottomans in the 18 th Century Took on lackadaisical attitude toward trade Uninterested in competing with Europe Stagnant population growth Textile production falls as Europeans took over Ottoman techniques Europe begins to dominate shipping in the Atlantic Ocean

The West in the 18 th Century Beginnings of the Industrial Revolution Europe’s Scientific Revolution accustomed Europeans to reliance on unseen forces  Steam  Magnetism  Electricity

The Rise of Britain Relatively low pop. (9 mil) led to rush toward industrialization/mechanization Rich coal reserves fueled industrialization  Steam power changed steel and textile industries  Could drop production costs by 50% Imperial control of Ireland supplied agricultural surplus to free up workers Profits of Triangle Trade invested in infrastructure British colonies provided captive markets End of subsistence ag. and consolidation of land freed more workers for industrial pursuits Similar movements take place in Japan and Europe later in the century

18 th Century in Perspective Globe caught in a positive feedback loop  Growing population  Growing demand  Growing output  Growing commerce