Key Points from Lecture on the Industrial Revolution and Agricultural Changes

Overview of the Period (1700-1914)

• Significant social, political, and economic upheaval worldwide.
• Transformation of daily life.
• Focus on key factors leading to the Industrial Revolution:
  • Agricultural Revolution
  • Rise of factories
  • New technology
  • Role of Britain's empire

Agricultural Practices Before the Industrial Revolution

• Majority lived in open field villages.
• Reliance on subsistence farming:
  • Farming dictated by seasons.
  • Harvest dependent on weather conditions (sun, rain, wind).
• Crop rotation system:
  • Three-field rotation: two fields planted (e.g., barley and wheat), one field left fallow.
  • Livestock grazed on fallow field to replenish soil nutrients.

Enclosure Movement

• Landowners began enclosing open fields into paddocks.
• Aim: tighter land control and increased productivity.
• Consequences for peasants:
  • Loss of access to land and resources,
  • Shift to seeking employment either on farms or in towns.
  • Some landowners subdivided their land and leased it back to peasants.

Key Innovations in Agriculture

• Jethro Tull's Seed Drill (1700):

  • Horse-drawn mechanism that planted seeds more effectively.
  • Increased crop yields five-fold by preventing seed loss (e.g., from birds, wind).

• Rotherham Triangular Plough (1730):

  • Patented by Joseph Foley Ambi.
  • Lighter, iron blade reduced labor and increased efficiency.
  • Required only two horses instead of four.

Lord Charles Townsend (Turnip Townsend)

• Introduced the Dutch Four Crop Rotation System in the 1730s:
  • Rotated crops: wheat, turnips, and barley.
  • Turnips enriched soil nutrients, enhancing subsequent wheat and barley growth.
  • Winter feeding of turnips to livestock allowed farmers to keep animals through winter.

Impact of Agricultural Improvements

• Reduced number of people needed for food production.
• Transition from subsistence farming to commercial agriculture:
  • Surplus food sold in local and foreign markets.
• Shift in economic structure and increased productivity in agriculture.