2. The changing cloth trade Flashcards
What was the putting-out system?
- Subcontracting of labour to those able to carry out work from home
- Anyone in a family could work and women could combine the production of cloth with the rearing of children
- Merchants would provide raw materials necessary - would collect finished product to be sold at market
How did the putting-out system benefit from population growth in the 17th century?
- More labour available
How did the boom in international markets in the 17th century benefit the cloth industry?
- The value of exports (X) rose from £600,000 in the 1650s to London alone exporting £1.5 million of textiles in the 1660s
- Historian D.C. Coleman - estimated - monetary value of textile X multiplied 15-fold between 1485 and 1714
- Cloth industry exceeded the growth in pop. and value of textiles rose much faster than overall prices for commodities
How much did cloth account for compared to other exports?
1640 - cloth accounted for 92% of X out of London
Even when rival products entered market - still accounted for 74% of X in 1660 and 72% in 1700
Why did the cloth industry lend itself well to the use of a domestic labour force?
- Process of working cloth divided into number of steps - carried out by different members of a family
How did the domestic system easily grow, other than due to flexible labour?
- Primarily based in homes - so free of taxes and regulations experienced by guild-based industries in towns
What were ‘New draperies’?
The heavy swollen cloth that had been the staple of the British textile industry was replaced with lighter mixtures of wool, linen, cotton and silk.
‘New draperies’ become popular in Europe - partly replaced old British system
How did ‘New draperies’ affect the domestic cloth trade?
- It remained relatively buoyant - but output wouldn’t increase significantly until 2nd half of century
- Many traditional centres fell into decline - but Norwich and Colchester flourished - became focus for production for those employed in making new draperies
How did Protestant immigration impact the cloth industry?
- Just over 1,500 Protestant Dutch immigrants settled into Colchester in 1650s - immigration fell after 1681 (end of Catholic Hapsburg rule)
- By 1685 - estimated 13,000 immigrants working in cloth industry in England - tensions created w/ native - Dutch given privileges
Overall impact - positive - English workers learned from Dutch immigrants and developed their skills
- Colchester - those employed in textile industry - rose from 26% to 40% in 1699
What was the key achievement of the Dutch in East Anglia?
Introduction of new worsted draperies - in particular bays and says, types of cloth woven from wool rather than carded
- Dutch immigrants involved in quality control + reputation of Colchester and Norwich meant merchants on continent happy to buy products without reviewing samples first
What were worsted draperies?
Named after village of Worsted in Norfolk - group of cloth types created through combining and weaving rather than the simpler method of carding
Required higher level of skill - relatively versatile and cheap - crucially: appealed to wider market than English wares
How did Dutch immigrants drive change in towns and in the countryside?
- Innovation of the frame knitting machine - drastically reduced the time required to produce cloth - it imitated movements of hand knitters at a much faster pace
Huguenots
- Member of a group of French Protestants who followed the teachings of John Calvin
Reason for, and impact of, Huguenot migration
1681 - began to emigrate after Louis XIV started a process of forced conversion to Catholicism
1685 - Protestantism was declared illegal in France w/ the revocation of the Edict of Nantes
- Huguenots had large numbers of skilled craftsmen among their ranks - many lived in towns
- Silversmiths, watchmakers, gardeners and artisans - came to settle in England - and large number of weavers
- Many settled in Kent and London - established major weaving industry in East End
