Towards the end of the 17th century, Europe’s economy was agrarian, meaning it was a type of economy that relied primarily on agricultural industry, including livestock farming or crop production. As a result of this, there was usually only just enough production to barely survive, and additionally, many people were constantly on the verge of famine. This was mostly due to the unpredictability of the current agricultural system, which allowed for bad weather and bad harvest to entirely dictate the economy. Not to mention, the complete crop failure experience every 8-9 years. In addition, contrary to typical slow population growth, during the 1600’s, due to the struggle for resources by the population and widespread poverty, birth rates were
…show more content…
This was due to a dramatic decrease in mortality, as a result of the bubonic plague disappearing, improvements in water supply and sewage systems (resulting in better health), and a change in production of food supply, which we now call the agricultural revolution. Many countries, such as England, followed the Dutch’s lead and saw improvements in the quality of living for the peasants, which lead to a time of prosperity in Europe due to a new sufficient way to keep peasants livelihood better than usual. As a result of the population explosion and lack of a sufficient amount of food and water to help civilization survive, the formation of new agricultural processes, the commencement of the cottage industry and the new global trading systems, served to be the three main crucial and significant aspects of the Agricultural Revolution from the 1600’s-1700’s, across Europe. This thus explains how the Dutch could not afford to not become the trailblazers of this revolution, due to the high population density within their own country, and the risk of a societal collapse if improvements in production from farms did not …show more content…
Consequently, this became one of the main elements of the agricultural revolution. Perhaps the most significant change was the innovation of using enclosed fields instead of the traditional open field system. The open field system was a system in which towns would divide the land to be cultivated into several large field and then cut up into several narrow strips. Field were farmed as a community and entire families plowed, sowed and harvested crops. However, there was a major problem to this system, for it caused soil exhaustion due to loss of nitrogen in the ground and there was also a lack of fertilizer or manure to help replenish this, causing fallows to occur. A fallow led to peasants having a tough time getting enough food to feed their families, as previously mentioned. With the new usage of enclosed fields, landowners would enclose the land and as a result there was a better rotation of crops that restored nitrogen to the ground. New plants, such as peas, beans, turnips, grass, and potatoes, were being grown, in addition to the already prominent staple crops. In places such as Flanders, a new 10 year rotation system was implemented in order to replace the 8 year traditional one. These new innovations led to not only more food for the peasants, but to more food for farm animals, and stronger animals meant more offspring and
This was due to a dramatic decrease in mortality, as a result of the bubonic plague disappearing, improvements in water supply and sewage systems (resulting in better health), and a change in production of food supply, which we now call the agricultural revolution. Many countries, such as England, followed the Dutch’s lead and saw improvements in the quality of living for the peasants, which lead to a time of prosperity in Europe due to a new sufficient way to keep peasants livelihood better than usual. As a result of the population explosion and lack of a sufficient amount of food and water to help civilization survive, the formation of new agricultural processes, the commencement of the cottage industry and the new global trading systems, served to be the three main crucial and significant aspects of the Agricultural Revolution from the 1600’s-1700’s, across Europe. This thus explains how the Dutch could not afford to not become the trailblazers of this revolution, due to the high population density within their own country, and the risk of a societal collapse if improvements in production from farms did not …show more content…
Consequently, this became one of the main elements of the agricultural revolution. Perhaps the most significant change was the innovation of using enclosed fields instead of the traditional open field system. The open field system was a system in which towns would divide the land to be cultivated into several large field and then cut up into several narrow strips. Field were farmed as a community and entire families plowed, sowed and harvested crops. However, there was a major problem to this system, for it caused soil exhaustion due to loss of nitrogen in the ground and there was also a lack of fertilizer or manure to help replenish this, causing fallows to occur. A fallow led to peasants having a tough time getting enough food to feed their families, as previously mentioned. With the new usage of enclosed fields, landowners would enclose the land and as a result there was a better rotation of crops that restored nitrogen to the ground. New plants, such as peas, beans, turnips, grass, and potatoes, were being grown, in addition to the already prominent staple crops. In places such as Flanders, a new 10 year rotation system was implemented in order to replace the 8 year traditional one. These new innovations led to not only more food for the peasants, but to more food for farm animals, and stronger animals meant more offspring and