At the end of the seventeenth century, European economy was based on the agriculture. About 80% of the population depend upon the farming for their survival. At that period, the process of cultivating plants was ancient and the products obtained was very poor. As a result, when crops were damaged by natural disaster, people were forced to eat grass, bark, nuts and other famine foods to escape from starvation. Due to the shortage of food, people became weak and suffered from epidemic diseases such as influenza, dysentery and smallpox. When new methods and developments were introduced in agricultural technology, the output was good enough and finally starvation came to an end in western Europe.
The existing problem was the exhaustion of the soil, reduced in the amount of nitrogen and then destruction of crops. There was an open field system, where the lands were divided into several large fields and given to the peasants of a village to cultivate. They used to cultivate same grain crops which led to
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European peasants believe that they could increase the amount of cultivable lands by fifty percent, if they replace the unplanted fallow lands with crops.
The farmers also switched from a two field system to a three field system, leaving more land for animals to graze. With this new three field system, farmers were able to grow crops in the fall, such as grain and wheat, in the first field. Then the second field would be spring grown grains and the third field was left unseeded to regain fertility for the crops. With two thirds of the land being planted meant more grain was harvested.
The society was affected because the farm lands abandoned and the food food prices dropped. There was not as much food needed because the populations had dropped. The people were down sick and they could not work which caused the farm lands to be abandoned and
The supply of food had to be able to feed more people and ensure stability. The traditional method would often see poor harvest or shortages of land, the new methods the Agricultural Revolution provided ensured the stability that was needed in Europe. Dikes and drain land was developed so farmers and landlords could farm larger areas. They also experimented with new crops that would restore the soil and supply more animal food. The iron plow was another great agricultural innovation because it allowed land to be cultivated longer without having to be left unplanted. Crop rotation and a new method of animal breeding also contributed to the success of the Agricultural Revolution. However, these new methods caused peasant revolts because it challenged the traditional peasant ways of production. The increased production of food with the new and efficient production methods allowed death rates to fall and children to grow because people were more nouritoused. The increase in food production allowed Europeans to grow without the fear of
They became as important as wheat and rice. After they were settled down, people could not imagine their lives without those accustomed crops. Because of no necessity in cultivated soil, potato and corn grew well almost everywhere. Those crops saved lives of huge numbers of European poor people. Pigs and cattle were feed, which led to the increase of meat on the markets. The population of Europe and Asia grew tremendously since potato and maize were first introduced to the people. “Between 1650 and 1750, the population of Europe, including Asiatic Russia, increased from 103 million to 144; the population of Asia, excluding Russia, increased from 327 million to 475 million” (Stearns et al.
The main crop being produced in this area was tobacco. There was such high demand for tobacco, it eventually cause the soil to become try old and tired. By the soil drying out it increased the need for new land.
Economically, the Agricultural Revolution majorly impacted the way of life in the Europe, through new technological farming advancements and improved land efficiency, ultimately leading to a greater abundance of food. Compared to feudal society when people depended on small individual crop yields, many fields were combined in order to produce much larger harvests, increasing the bounty of food overall. Improved land efficiency came with new innovative ideas, including crop rotation. Allowing nutrients such as nitrogen to return to the soil, crop rotation along with fodder crops rotated the fields of crops every few years, leading to more successful yields of crops. Additional advancements in farming technology, such as the seed drill, helped
Monarchs prohibited exports of food stuff, condemned black market speculators, placed price control on grain, and outlawed large-scale fishing. These all contributed to the continent-wide downward spiral. France was unable to sell grain because of crop failures and shortage of labor. Any grain that could be shipped were taken by pirates and looters. Countries in the Hundred Years War depleted treasures, population, and infrastructure. Malnutrition, poverty, disease, and hunger with war, growing inflation and other economic concerns made Europe in the mid-fourteenth century full of tragedy. The social and economic change greatly accelerated during the fourteenth-fifteenth centuries. The church’s power was weakened and some social roles were replaced by secular ones. Peasants began to cause uprisings, such as France, Jacquerie rebellion. The reduction of Europe’s population from thirty-fifty percent could have resulted in higher wages, more land, and more food. Population losses brought economic changes based on increase social mobility and improved the situation for surviving peasants in Western Europe. In Eastern Europe, stringency of laws tied the remaining peasant population tightly to the land because it was hardly affected by the Black Death. Peasant revolts were less common in the east and the plague may be partly responsible for Eastern Europe’s lag in scientific and philosophical
New mechanized farming techniques led farmers to be able to increase their profits (Document C). With the help of the new technology for farming, farmers produced more crops than ever. However, the overproduction of wheat and the Great Depression is what unfortunately led to the reduced market prices. As a result, the wheat market was swamped, and people were too poor to buy. Furthermore, due to the great loss, farmers were unable to earn back what they produced, so instead they expanded their fields in an effort to turn their unfortunate circumstance into a profit. However, the prairies they covered with wheat caused the grass to slowly disappear and the fields were left bare (Document
The new world had acres of land to cultivate crops, raise cattle and farm. In many cases, the Old World crops were grown much more industriously in the New World soils and climates than in Europe (Nunn). For example, by 1680 the sugarcane production was predominantly produced by the new world . With the large increase of supply there was also a large increase in demand. Sugar became available to even the lower class. Overall, caloric intake increased throughout the world. New world foods were also brought to Europe such as the potatoes. Potatoes soon became a staple in European diet that when there was a shortage in Ireland hundreds of people died from starvation. Demand for new world foods and more supply of common food from the Americas, increased the health and economy of
High prices forced farmers to concentrate on one crop. The large-scale farmers bought expensive machines, increasing their crop yield. This caused the smaller farmers to be left behind. The small farmers could no longer compete and were forced give up their farms and look for jobs in the cities. The smaller farmers
After the collapse of the Roman Empire, Western Europe faced a period of regression and continuity. This collapse meant that few had the knowledge and skill to continue the foundation that the Romans had created. The Romans’ withdrawal caused chaos in small kingdoms, without that ‘central government’, tribes and countries were at war with one another, causing a halt in the progression in public health. Wars destroyed the Roman public health system and also the medical libraries, they disrupted trade so countries became poorer, travel became dangerous – reducing communication between doctors, education and the development of technology was disrupted.
New farming technology enabled the people of the Middle Ages to increase their food production, helping to feed a growing population. The
Along with famine, pestilence was also a great enemy to the early farmer. One of the most famous plagues began in the 1330s, which became known as the Black Death. It was caused by fleas carrying Yersinia Pestis, a bacterium which began to infect humans when fleas bit them. One study estimated that “it claimed an estimated 60% of the European population” (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2015, History of Plague, para. 4). Some towns were completely wiped out, while other towns suffered so much that there weren’t enough living to bury the dead. On the other hand, hunter-gatherers would not have to worry so much about this problem due to them thriving in much lesser numbers. A source of food from gathered plants and hunted animals didn’t support a giant population, so these nomads groups need not worry much about these invisible enemies, for their smaller groups weren’t such a hotbed for the spread of
Around when the Industrial Revolution began, agriculture began to take a turn in it’s way of harvesting crops. New techniques of growing and tending crops spread across Europe in the 1700s. “The improved yield of the agricultural sector can be attributed to the enclosure movement and to improved techniques and practices developed during this
Agriculture has changed dramatically, especially since the end of World War II. Food and fibre productivity rose due to new technologies, mechanization, increased chemical use, specialization and government policies that favoured maximizing production. These changes allowed fewer farmers with reduced labour demands to produce the majority of the food and fibre.