Society and Economy under the Old Regime in the 18c, Chapter 15 Flashcards
Description of the Old Regime
Social, political and economic relationships that had existed in France before 1789 or pre-revolutionary Europe, traditional
Characteristics of aristocracy in 18th c
very wealthy, 1-5% of the population, seperate house in representative bodies, land was source of income,economic innovation
Facts and characteristics of French nobility
divided between nobles of the sword and nobles of the robe, exempt from many taxes including the taile, Vingtieme, and corvees, established nobles get most jobs
Features about the nobility of Europe
Poland- exempt from taxes, poor, life and death over serfs
Austria- Hungary- judicial power, eempt from taxes
Prussia-strong, involved in military, bureaucracy, Judicial authority
Russia-created during this time, service, transmitting , noble status, power over serfs, exempt from personal taxes
Aristocratic Resurgence
nobles reaction to the threat to their social privileges they felt from the monarchies expanding power
Economic basis of 18c life
land
Facts of English game laws
only landowners could hunt (1671-1831), everyone else was forbidden to hunt because if could undermine their work habits and land over commercial wealth because of these laws poaching and the black market sprung up
Family economy characteristics
household was the basic unit of production and consumption, benefit of household over individual, everyone worked, father was head, sometimes migrant workers to pay the bills, second family groups were common
Concerns of married women in pre-industrial Europe
earning enough money or producing enough farm goods
Characteristics about children in 18th century
illegitimate births increased, infanticide emerged, new interest in preserving the lives of children, abandoned children= economic burden, many were uneducated and reared towards the family economy lifestyle
Bread Prices during 18th century
steadily rose allowing for landlords to improve their lifestyle= Agriculture Revolution and Peasant Revolts
Agricultural methods used by the Dutch leading up to the Agricultural Revolution
more efficient dikes+ways to drain land, new crops to help the soil and provide animal feed
Europe’s population from 1700-1800
100-120 million to 190-260 million
crops introduced to Europe from New World and their impacts
potato, allowed for population growth to be sustained, one acre could feed an entire family leading to more children lasting until adulthood to reproduce
Innovations and contributors of the Agricultural Revolution
Iron Plow- Jethro Tull Seed Drill Fertilization and Crop Rotation- Charles Townsend Selective Breeding- Robert Bakewell Open Field System Communal System
Enclosure Movement
Combining small strips of land= more production, commercialize agriculture, social disruption
Open Field System
rotation of crops, only 1/2 of land was used, discouraged improvement, very communal, steady, only benefited the poorer farmers
Causes, effects and characteristics of 18th century consumer revolution
The Dutch were very prosperous and paved the way for new wages of consumption, more disposable income, new methods of marketing, new kinds of goods, fashion, new types of food= new dishware, higher standards of learning
Industry which pioneered the Industrial Revolution
Textile Production
Water Frame
created pure cotton fabric, powered by water, Richard Arkwright, 1769, led to more factories in the country, allowed for cotton industry to keep up with demand
Spinning Jenny
1765, James Hargreaves, spun thread into fabric
Flying Shuttle
John Kay, increased productivity of weavers, created bottleneck where weavers were too productive and the spinners couldn’t keep up
The Power Loom
late 1780s, steam was power source, transition from country factories to urban factories
Uses of Steam Engine
steady source of power, Industrial, transportation, pump water out of coal and tin mines, running cotton mills, steam tractor, bulldozer, steamship, steam locomotive
Impact of Steam Engine
revolutionized transportation
Inventors of Steam Engine
Thomas Newcomen, James Watt, Matthew Boulton, John Wilkinson
Henry Cort and Iron production during the 18th century
produced a new method for melting and stirring molten ore, allowed for the removal of more slag, purer iron, rolling mill that shaped still molten metal into shapes needed, more versatile and cheaper demand for iron increased and steam engines could be used more widely
Putting-out system of textile production
agents of urban textile manufacturers would take unfinished fibers to the homes of peasants who would spin it into thread then the agent would take the thread to another peasant family who would weave it into the finished product, merchant would sell product, sometimes didn’t own equipment
Reasons for England being the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution
lead the consumer revolution, London was very popular, Newspapers thrived, social structure influenced lifestyle, economy took off due to colonies, largest free trade area, stable political structure, rich resources, efficient taxes, mobile society, progressive agriculture
Impact of agricultural and Industrial Revolutions on women
forced to take on more domestic role, not a lot of room in new workforce for women, lower wages doing little unskilled labor, Women were seen as a damper to the reforms, cottage industries, more crime, paid less then men, domestic servants
Locations of main Jewish populations in 18th c.
Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine
