Agricultural Revolution Unit 5 / Note Page 1 1

THE SPREAD OF THE AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION The Agricultural Revolution began in Britain, in the early 1700s. It soon spread to other countries. In Northern Europe, it took place in the mid- 1700s. In America, the A.R. took place in the second half of the 1700s.

From: Lots of farmers Most people farm Poorly used land Hand tools Not much food To: Very few farmers Many work in factories Better used land Machines Plenty of food Agricultural Revolution

A. Farming Families Communal farming, three-field crop rotation. Farmers conservative, pragmatic. Sharp rise in pop in late 18 th century required cultivation of marginal lands. Hard to keep pace with larger pop. demands. 4

Farming in the Middle Ages Manual labor (basic tools) Shared labor Common land / Open fields Three field system Gleaning by the poor

1. BIGGER FARMS A. ENCLOSURES Enclosing land meant put hedges, fences, or stone walls around farms to claim the land and keep people and animals out.

Small, individually owned farms were bought or taken away from poorer farmers and turned into large enclosed farms owned by a richer farmer.

AFTER Each landowner received a single piece of property No common lands Before Each person got some good and some bad land. There was common land. B. ENCLOSURES B. ENCLOSURES

Small Farmers are forced off their land: Had to pay for :  Fences/Walls to surround their farms  A team of oxen Could no longer glean or gather wood Often had to sell plots to large landowners:  Forced to Rent or  Work for someone else

Map of Land Enclosed by Parliament

Sometimes land was just taken from people because they could not prove ownership. This increased the number of people looking for work. Also accounts for the large number of Scottish immigrants to colonial North Carolina / esp. mountains regions. Example: The Highland Clearances in Scotland

Enclosure Benefited Large Land Owners: They had the political strength to pass the enclosure law They owned large unified farms under this system which meant:  Farming was more efficient  Didn’t need consent of the village to experiment with new crop methods  Could obtain cheap labor

LAND RECLAMATION In addition to enclosures, farms also increased in size because of land reclamation: Marshlands were drained Forests were cleared Poor soil was enriched and used more

Agricultural Innovations : Cover crops (clover / turnips) restore nutrients & provide fodder. English & Dutch – meadow floating – flood fields in early spring to prevent freezing, grow early grasses, kill less livestock in winter. 14

2. BETTER EQUIPMENT: MACHINES OF THE AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION Labour on farms had always been done by hand. This was harder to do now with bigger farms. Farmers with large farms were earning more money, and now they were more interested in investing in machines

Invented by Jethro Tull Planted seed in neat rows Improved germination by making furrows, dropping seed into them, and covering them Reduced amount of seed used in planting

17 1. Jethro Tull - Seed Drill

2. Cast-iron plow (1797) – American Charles Newbold

19

3. Reaper – Englishman Joseph Boyce (1799) and American Cyrus McCormick (1834)

21

BETTER TECHNIQUES: CROP ROTATION People learned that crops could be rotated to improve the nitrogen in the soil instead of just leaving land fallow. WheatCloverBarleyTurnips

CROP ROTATION

Use of Clover and Turnips fixed nitrogen in the soil while also providing food for animals Yields of Wheat and Barley proved to be better than Rye, especially with the improved nitrogen levels in the soil

SELECTIVE BREEDING Farmers began the selective breeding of animals such as sheep and cattle Produced better animals with better offspring Produced more milk, meat, and wool

26

27

Summary: Agricultural Revolutions Need Bigger Farms Enclosures Land Reclamation Better Equipment Machines Better Techniques Crop Rotation Selective Breeding

B. Rural Manufacture Supplement income, farmers start piece work / cottage industries. Putting out system – entrepreneurs buy raw materials, “put out” to cottages, returned finished products to sale. Required simple, inexpensive tools, little capital, low skill, supplement farms income. 29

30

31

Farmers start to rely on income, leads to lower wages / standard of living. Marry younger = pop increase. 32

1.Agricultural production increased. 2.Cost of food dropped. 3.Increased production of food helped create a rapid growth of population. 4.Large farms, using machines and scientific methods, began to dominate agriculture. Farming became big business. Of the Agricultural Revolution

5.The number of small farms began to decline. 6.The number of farmers decreased sharply. 7.Many farmers moved to the cities. 8.The population of cities increased rapidly.