Social and economic change in the later seventeenth century

Social and economic change in the later seventeenth century, Part IEnglands Great Divergence and the consolidation of capitalist agriculture

Englands economy and society, c. 1660-17001. England developed socially and economically quite rapidly during the Restoration period.2. The country did not experience the economic downturn and stagnation of the later seventeenth century, a stagnation and downturn that afflicted all of continental Europe with the exception of the Netherlands.3. During the second half of the seventeenth century, England was in the process of shifting from a traditional agrarian society to a dynamic commercial and manufacturing society.4. By the year 1700, only 50-60% of the English population was primarily involved/employed in agriculture.

The pre-modern or pre-capitalist economy across the world (from the rise of settled agriculture nearly ten millennia ago to the early modern era)

1. The development of settled agriculture created an agrarian surplus that allowed for a small portion of the population to live off the land, and thus allowed for the growth of towns and trade.2. With the growth of towns and trade, an urban-rural (or town-country) division of labor emerged in agrarian civilizations and kingdoms.3. Labor productivity in agriculture was limited and, thus, the growth of the agrarian surplus could not keep up with the growth of the population. When the population exceeded the resources necessary to maintain it, a Malthusian crisis occurred. Trade and towns declined and economic development ceased.

The pre-modern or pre-capitalist economy across the world, continued4. The pre-modern or pre-capitalist economy was characterized by a two-phase demographic cycle: Phase A was characterized by population growth and economic development; Phase B was characterized by population decrease and economic decline.5. In the pre-modern or pre-capitalist economy, although a portion of the population was able to live off the land in towns, and to engage in trade and manufacturing, these developments were highly constricted by the Malthusian demographic cycle.6. Before new developments in seventeenth-century Western Europe, especially in England and the Netherlands, towns, trade, and manufacturing could only grow to a limited extent. This meant that traditional agrarian society was never transcended but simply repeated in different forms across the globe.

The European economy, c. 1100-17001. From 1100 to 1300, all of Europe experienced Phase A of the Malthusian demographic cycle: the growth of an agricultural surplus, population rise, and the growth of towns and trade.2. From 1300 to 1450, all of Europe experienced Phase B of the Malthusian demographic cycle: the growth of population outstripped resources and a crisis set in. This crisis included the Great Famine of 1316-1317, the Black Plague of 1348-1349, the Hundred Years War, and the General Crisis of the Fourteenth Century.3. From 1450 to 1600, all of Europe once again experienced Phase A of the Malthusian demographic cycle: economic upswing.4. In the seventeenth century, all of Europe, with the exception of the Netherlands and England, experienced Phase B of the Malthusian demographic cycle: economic downturn.

Englands economy after 16501. By the second half of the seventeenth century, Englands economy fundamentally broke with the Malthusian demographic cycle. As a consequence, England continued to grow economically.2. Towns, trade, and manufacturing continued to grow in England without limit. The urban, commercial, and manufacturing/industrial sectors of the economy increased and the agricultural sector decreased in relative importance. By 1750, the commercial and manufacturing sectors accounted for 30-50% of all economic activity.3. Why did this economic transformation take place? Why did Englands economy enter into a period of self-sustaining growth in the second half of the seventeenth century, eventually leading to the hyper-charged Industrial Revolution of the early nineteenth century?

Englands economy after 1650, continued4. The transition to capitalist agriculture in the countryside a long-term and largely imperceptible process that took place during the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries brought about the necessary but not sufficient condition for this economic transformation.5. The transformation of Englands political economy during the mid-seventeenth-century revolution more specifically, the commercial, naval, and imperial policies of the English Commonwealth, c. 1649-1653 brought about the sufficient condition for this economic transformation.6. The long-term development of capitalist agriculture made possible Englands post-1650 economic takeoff, and the transformation of the countrys political economy during the mid-century revolution realized this possibility.

The transition to capitalist agriculture, c. 1400-17001. Between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries, the English countryside experienced the transition to capitalist agriculture.2. This was made possible by two conditions: 1. the end of serfdom, which meant that the vast majority of the rural population was no longer serfs but rather free laborers; and 2. the transformation of land into the absolute private property of the landed classes (i.e., the aristocracy and the gentry), which meant that land was no longer communal and subject to customary usage but rather the alienable property of lords who could do with it what they saw fit.3. Essentially, the laborers were free but had no land with which to provide for themselves, and the lords had land but no longer had serfs (i.e., forced laborers) to work on it.

The transition to capitalist agriculture, c. 1400-1700, continued4. These conditions led to the rise and spread of the classic triad structure of capitalist agriculture: 1. aristocratic-capitalist landlord (collector of money rent); 2. commercial tenant-farmer (maker of profit); and 3. agrarian wage-laborer (earner of wage).5. The spread of this triad structure gave rise to competitive production for the market. In response to the pressures of price-cutting competition, farmers sought to reduce production costs by increasing labor productivity via specialization, capital accumulation, and innovation. 6. This process of specialization, accumulation, and innovation led to dramatic increases in labor productivity in agriculture and, with it, dramatic increases in the production of foodstuffs and other agricultural goods.

By the dawn of the eighteenth century, English farmers were continuously searching for and applying new techniques and innovations such as the Norfolk four-crop rotation system and Jethro Tulls seed drill (invented in 1701).

The classic triad structure of capitalist agriculture in England led to competitive production for the market and, with it, dramatically increased agricultural productivity.

The transition to capitalist agriculture, c. 1400-1700, continued7. The pre-modern or pre-capitalist limits on the creation of an agricultural surplus were transcended and Englands economy was thus able to escape the Malthusian trap.8. The immense gains in agricultural productivity made possible, and indeed necessitated, the shift of population off the land into towns and cities.9. Increased agricultural productivity lowered the cost of basic foodstuffs and other necessities. As a result, it increased the disposable income of most of the population (i.e., income not spent on the basic necessities of life).10. With an increased disposable income, English men and women purchased more non-necessities, or luxuries, produced and traded in the urban-based manufacturing and commercial sectors.