1 / 8

The Agricultural Revolution in Europe

The Agricultural Revolution in Europe. Before the Agricultural Rev. open-field system: greatest accomplishment of Medieval agriculture village agriculture; 1/3 to ½ of fields lay fallow. Common land: used by village for livestock – fields shared by peasants.

Download Presentation

The Agricultural Revolution in Europe

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. The Agricultural Revolution in Europe

  2. Before the Agricultural Rev • open-field system: greatest accomplishment of Medieval agriculture • village agriculture; 1/3 to ½ of fields lay fallow. • Common land: used by village for livestock – fields shared by peasants. • serfs in eastern Europe were worst off; many sold with lands (like slavery)

  3. The Agricultural Revolution • Agricultural Revolution: major milestone in human civilization • impact of the scientific revolution’s experimental method was great • Application of scientific ideas - crop rotation most important feature.

  4. Enclosure Movement • end to common lands and open-field system • agriculturalists (land owners) consolidated lands and closed them off • game laws in England prohibited peasants from hunting game • caused considerable friction in the countryside in 17th and 18th centuries

  5. Impact of Enclosure • traditional view of enclosure (Marx): poor people driven off the land • recent scholarship: negative impact of enclosure may have been exaggerated • As much as 50% of lands enclosed already by 1750 (much by mutual consent) • 1700: ratio of landless farmer to landowner = 2:1; not much greater in 1800

  6. Low Countries • Netherlands and Belgium (Austrian Netherlands) took the lead in agricultural innovations • Increased population meant more food had to be produced • Cornelius Vermuyden: important in drainage of swamp lands into useful farm land. • Huge impact on southern England.

  7. England • Viscount Charles Townsend (1674-1738): improved soil by crop rotation (turnips) • Bog and marshes drained extensively, manured heavily, regular crop rotation w/o fallowing • Jethro Tull (1674-1741): seed drill; more efficient than scattering seeds by hand • Robert Bakewell (1720-1795) selective breeding of ordinary livestock (animal husbandry): created larger animals.

More Related