The economic watershed of the 17th and 18th centuries was a historically unique passage from limited resources that made material want inescapable, to self-generating economic growth that dramatically raised levels of physical and material well-being. European societies — first those with access to the Atlantic and gradually those to the east and on the Mediterranean — provided increasing percentages of their populations with a higher standard of living.
The gradual emergence of new economic structures that made European global influence possible both presupposed and promoted far-reaching changes in human capital, property rights, financial instruments, technologies, and labor systems.
These changes included:
A major result of these changes was the development of a growing consumer society that benefited from and contributed to the increase in material resources. At the same time, other effects of the economic revolution — increased geographic mobility, transformed employer-worker relations, the decline of domestic manufacturing—eroded traditional community and family solidarities and protections.
European economic strength derived in part from the ability to control and exploit resources (human and material) around the globe. Mercantilism supported the development of European trade and influence around the world. However, the economic, social, demographic, and ecological effects of European exploitation on other regions were often devastating. Internally, Europe divided more and more sharply between the societies engaging in overseas trade and undergoing the economic transformations sketched above (primarily countries on the Atlantic) and those (primarily in central and eastern Europe) with little such involvement. The eastern European countries remained in a traditional, principally agrarian, economy and maintained the traditional order of society and the state that rested on it.
The gradual emergence of new economic structures that made European global influence possible both presupposed and promoted far-reaching changes in human capital, property rights, financial instruments, technologies, and labor systems.
These changes included:
- Availability of labor power, both in terms of numbers and in terms of persons with the skills (literacy, ability to understand and manipulate the natural world, physical health sufficient for work) required for efficient production
- Institutions and practices that supported economic activity and provided incentives for it (new definitions of property rights and protections for them against theft or confiscation and against state taxation)
- Accumulations of capital for financing enterprises and innovations, as well as for raising the standard of living and the means for turning private savings into investable or "venture" capital
- Technological innovations in food production, transportation, communication, and manufacturing.
A major result of these changes was the development of a growing consumer society that benefited from and contributed to the increase in material resources. At the same time, other effects of the economic revolution — increased geographic mobility, transformed employer-worker relations, the decline of domestic manufacturing—eroded traditional community and family solidarities and protections.
European economic strength derived in part from the ability to control and exploit resources (human and material) around the globe. Mercantilism supported the development of European trade and influence around the world. However, the economic, social, demographic, and ecological effects of European exploitation on other regions were often devastating. Internally, Europe divided more and more sharply between the societies engaging in overseas trade and undergoing the economic transformations sketched above (primarily countries on the Atlantic) and those (primarily in central and eastern Europe) with little such involvement. The eastern European countries remained in a traditional, principally agrarian, economy and maintained the traditional order of society and the state that rested on it.
Key Concept 2.2
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Chapter 17
Reading Schedule:
Working the Land (Pgs. 544 - 548) The Beginning of the Population Explosion (Pgs. 548 - 551) The Growth of Rural Industry (Pgs. 551 - 556) The Debate over Urban Guilds (Pgs. 556 - 559) The Atlantic World and Global Trade (Pgs. 559 - 571) Chapter 18
Reading Schedule:
Marriage and the Family (Pgs. 576 - 580) Children and Education (Pgs. 580 - 585) Popular Culture and Consumerism (Pgs. 585 - 596) Religious Authority and Beliefs (Pgs. 596 - 601) Medical Practice (Pgs. 601 - 606) |
Assignments
What Ended Serfdom?What factors brought an end to serfdom in Western Europe, and why did serfdom come into practice in Eastern Europe? In this assignment you will analyze how new economic realities in the 18th century changed these practices.
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What were the attitudes toward the poor in Europe during the time period? How were those who were less fortunate treated by the well-to-do in European society?
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Key Concepts 2.2
- Early modern Europe developed a market economy that provided its foundation for global trade
- Labor and trade in commodities were increasingly freed from traditional restrictions imposed by governments and corporate entities.
- The Agricultural Revolution raised productivity and increased the supply of food and other agricultural products.
- The putting-out system , or cottage industry, expanded as increasing numbers of laborers in homes or workshops produced for markets through merchant intermediaries or workshop owners.
- The development of the market economy led to new financial practices and institutions.
- The European-dominated work wide economic network contributed to the agricultural, industrial, and consumer revolutions in Europe.
- European states followed mercantilist policies by drawing resources from colonies in the New World and elsewhere.
- The transatlantic slave-labor system expanded in the 17th and 18th centuries as demand for New World products increased.
- Overseas products and influences contributed to the development of a consumer culture in Europe.
- The importation and transportation of agricultural products from the Americas contributed to an increase in the food supply in Europe.
- Foreign lands provided raw materials, finished goods, laborers, and markets for the commercial and industrial enterprises in Europe.
Key Concept 2.4 - The experiences of everyday life were shaped by demographic, environmental, medical, and technological changes.
By the 18th century, family and private life reflected new demographic patterns and the effects of the ocmmercial revolution.
Although the rate of illegitimate births increased in the 18th century, population growth was limited by the European marriage patter, and in some areas by various birth control methods.
As infant and child mortality decreased and commercial wealth increased, families dedicated more space and resources to children and child-rearing, as well as private life and comfort.
By the 18th century, family and private life reflected new demographic patterns and the effects of the ocmmercial revolution.
Although the rate of illegitimate births increased in the 18th century, population growth was limited by the European marriage patter, and in some areas by various birth control methods.
As infant and child mortality decreased and commercial wealth increased, families dedicated more space and resources to children and child-rearing, as well as private life and comfort.