Explain the condition in 18th century English countryside. That created condition for proto industrialization
Answers
The conditions that influenced the proto-industrialization in England were:
(i) The demand for trade grew in the countryside, which led to eventual modernization of the industry and economy.
(ii) As the land for the peasants was not sufficient, they moved towards the industry.
(iii) The condition for the peasants deteriorated while the conditions for the merchants improved. By this, the peasants took employment with the merchants. Some changed their professions as well.
(iv) Merchants provided loans to the peasants in order to increase their production for international trade.
(v) New production was made in factories.
Answer:
In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, merchants
from the towns in Europe began moving to the
countryside, supplying money to peasants and
artisans, persuading them to produce for an
international market. With the expansion of
world trade and the acquisition of colonies in
different parts of the world, the demand for goods
began growing. But merchants could not expand
production within the cities. This was because
here urban crafts and trade guilds were powerful
and prevented the entry of merchants.
During the 18th century this was a time when
open fields were disappearing. Cottagers and poor
peasants who had earlier depended on common
lands for their survival, gathering their firewood,
berries, vegetables, hay and straw, had to now look
for alternative sources of income. Many had tiny
plots of land which could not provide work for all
members of the household. So when merchants
came around and offered advances to produce
goods for them, peasant households eagerly
agreed to take up the work.
This also provided extra income that supplemented
their meagre income from small fields.