Agricultural Revolution

2 Pages 438 Words

The Agricultural And Industrial Revolution The agricultural and industrial revolutions greatly changed daily life in Europe. The agricultural revolution created a widespread social misery of its own when small fields were converted into large farms. The industrial revolution brought people to work in the factories to manufacture goods in increased numbers. With these two factors, the lives of Europeans in the eighteenth century were changed forever. The agricultural revolution enabled farmers to produce high yields on their lands. These farmers or landlords needed larger fields to plant their crops so the smaller plots of land that were subdivided were connected. Horse-hoeing, adapted by Jethro Tull, came about when farmers realized that it was more efficient than scattering seeds over the ground surface. Lord Townshend's idea of crop rotation became the standard for many English estates. His crop rotation involved planting an entire field of turnips, barley, clover, and wheat in a four year cycle. This increased fertility in the soil. With these advancements, more crops could be grown by fewer farmers. The small farmers, or yeomen, could no longer afford to farm. The common lands, now a part of these large plots of land, could not be accessed by the small farmers. The yeomen could not afford tools or install fences, so they were forced to either become workers on these large farms or work in the city and give up farming all together. These changes in agriculture brought about change in industry. As the small farmers moved to the cities for work, this brought about the industrial revolution and urbanization. The European society saw a rise not only of the cities, but of a new class of people who came to be known as capitalists. This class was based upon ownership and control over the means of production. More and more people began to work in factories and people became accustomed to buying more. New ideas and innovations in production a...