Question 2 Explain briefly the factors which led to the enclosures in England.
Class 9 - Social science - Peasants and Farmers Page 137
Answers
The factors which led to the enclosure in England are given below:
a) The price of wool raised up in international markets in the 16 century. As a result the farmers of England wanted to expand wool production and earn profits.For this they were eager to improve their sheep breeds.Therefore they divided and enclosed common lands by building hedges around their fields.
b) The English population increased at a fast rate from 7 million in 1750 to 21 million in 1850 to 30 million in 1910. This increase population means more demand for food grains and other products. Due to increasing population the pressure on land also increased and the people had no other option except to enclose open fields.
c) During this period industrialisation was taking place at a rapid speed. There was a large scale Migration of people from rural areas to town in search of jobs. As the Urban population grew the market for food grains expanded and the price of foodgrains rose. Therefore the peasants were encouraged to grow more grains and agricultural land were enclosed to increase production.
d) France was at war with England during the end of the 18th century. This slowed down the import of food grains in England. This lead to soaring up of prices of food grains in England . Thus the land owners were encouraged to enclose land and enlarge the area under cultivation of grains.
e) As a demand for food give the increasing at a very fast rate the rich people started using machines. These machine needed large farms. So the rich landlords started enclosing more and open fields.
f) Enclosures were also seen as to make long term investments on land and plan crop rotation to improve the soil .
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Hope this will help you...
(i) Increase in Prices of Wool In the 16th century, the price of wool in the international market went up so the rich farmers wanted to expand wool production to earn higher profits.
(ii) Increased Demand for Grain From the mid 18th century, the population of England expanded rapidly; more people were living in the cities and working in the factories. As urban population grew, demand for foodgrains increased and foodgrain prices rose.