Download 18th Century Demographic & Economic Shifts: Family Economy, Agri & Industrial Revolutions and more Study notes Cultural History of Europe in PDF only on Docsity! Lecture 14 18th Century Society & Economy 3 themes Traditional Family Economy & Malthusian Family Structure replaced by the Demographic Transition Agricultural Revolution begins to replace subsistence agriculture Beginning of Industrial Revolution The Traditional Family Economy Household the basic unit of production Predominance of the Nuclear family in W. Europe Presence of servants Malthusian family structure: adjustment to scarcity Thomas Malthus (18-19th century demographer) Population increases geometrically (2, 4, 8, 16); food supply arithmetically (1, 2, 3, 4) Nightmare world when population outstrips food supply Malthusian System Population grows faster than food supply Population if not purposely checked would outstrip resources In early modern period, preventive checks tried to maintain population within food supply Malthusian family structure (adjusting to scarcity) One did not marry until one had resources to set up separate household Economic considerations important role in determining who one Tendency toward late marriages of both men & women & many remained unmarried High mortality rates, esp. infant mortality & birthing mothers death the functional equivalent of modern divorce with remarriage common absence of older generations low illegitimacy rates “low” fertility rates: late marriage 24-30 month birth intervals numerous miscarriages & stillbirths Overall, 15-20% unmarried by end of life Position of wives: “Partnership Marriage” vs. “Patriarchal Power”? Female subordination, legal & cultural But, reality of strong women & partnership Importance of Children in the Family Economy Change in the 18th century Dramatic Population growth begins: the “Great Demographic Transition” Reasons for the dramatic population growth Decline in mortality theory? Plague decline Primitive efforts at public health Small pox vaccination Quinine & new medicine for malaria & dysentery Change in fertility theory? Increased cottage industry, “putting out” system greater econ. security lowered marriage by few years Improved nutrition of new husbandry Combined change in mortality & fertility theory Changes in the family (beginning in 18th century) Earlier marriage on basis of available jobs Increased popularity of idea of romantic love Increase in illegitimacy Household no longer major unit of production Beginning of gradual decline in domestic servants Two spheres? Men worked in public; married women work at home Increased life expectancy & decline in infant mortality Agricultural Revolution “The New Husbandry” Europe in 1700: Subsistence Agriculture primarily agricultural poverty, bare subsistence level for majority of peasants low productivity despite great amounts of energy/labor reliance upon cereals uncertainty of harvest: crop failures slow & expensive transport retards development of regional markets Agricultural Revolution replaces Subsistence Agriculture Old system: “Vicious Agricultural Cycle” large amounts of fallow (idle) land limit agric. Production New system “New Husbandry” Innovation in Holland & England first New crops: clover -- nitrogen-fixing
