Britain in the Eighteenth Century
In the eighteenth century, Britain was a very different country, both
industrially and agriculturally. Today's major cities such as London
and Birmingham were a fraction of the size that they are today. There
were no major factories, with the eighteenth century equivalent
running on power generated from waterwheels. There were no roads, just
dirt tracks, and all farming was done manually, with help from horses
pulling carts instead of machinery.
Approximately 5.5 million people lived in England and Wales in the
eighteenth century. This was less than there is today living in
London. There is no way to know the exact amount of inhabitants, as
there was no accurate method, like the modern day national census. The
way that historians have accurate estimates on the population
distribution of the country is the usage of old parish records, which
recorded baptisms, marriages and funerals. When many of these were
gathered, an overall view of the country in the eighteenth century was
made.
Roughly a third of the eighteenth century population resided in the
Southeast region of the country, with nearly of them living in rural
towns and villages. Of the whole of the country, the most densely
populated area was roughly from the mouth of the River Severn, to
below the Thames estuary to the south, and the Walsh to the north. The
reasons for this being the most popular choice is the fertile land,
and the relatively warmer climate, compared to the rest of the
country. People moved there because agriculture-based jobs were the
most common, and these factors helped that.
The least populated areas of the co...
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... etc. Coal mining was an industry that took place in the northeast of
England, most commonly around Newcastle.
Even though these trades were growing all the time, the lack of
suitable transport was hindering their development somewhat. There was
no easy was to deliver goods to far away towns, due to the shortage of
navigable rivers. Transporting goods by road was also tricky, as there
weren't enough proper ones. Until the methods of transporting goods
were improved, it was unlikely that people would order large
quantities of things outside the local area.
The early eighteenth century factories needed things such as steam
engines to be used for pumping water out of mines. Even though
inventions such as waterwheels to provide power were used, all
different kinds of industry relied mainly on human strength and skill.
The system of crime and law enforcement had hardly changed in Britain since the medieval times. Justices of the Peace or JPs were appointed by the Crown since 1361. Before the night watchmen and parish constables were introduced a primitive police force was introduced and the JPs were assisted by constables who only worked part time and were very unreliable as the pay was really bad. The early stages of the force consisted of a night watchmen and parish constables, who were prior to the creation of the main police force. Watchmen were groups of men, usually authorised by a state, government, or society, to deter criminal activity and provide law enforcement. Constables were required to apprehend anyone accused of a felony and bring criminals to a justice of the peace. They also had a general responsibility to keep the peace. There was no expectation that they would investigate and prosecute crimes because of limited responsibility and training. Night watchmen patrolled the streets between 9 or 10pm until sunrise and were expected to examine all suspicious characters. In the City of London, the City Marshall and the Beadles (Parish wardens) conducted daytime patrols. Similar to the night watchmen, primary responsibilities were to patrol and deter, drunkenness, beggars, vagrants and prostitutes and to act as a deterrent against more serious offences. Over the course of this period, the arrangements by which men served as constables and watchmen changed significantly, to incorporate how felons were detected and apprehended.
An oppressed people will eventually rise against the oppressor regardless of loyalties they may have had in the past to their oppressor. Humans can only withstand so much oppression before eventually reaching a breaking point-a fact the British Empire failed to realize when they took oppressive actions on their colonies that would cause conflict and culminate into the American Revolution. After claiming victory in the French-Indian War, the British decided to implement policies and taxes in the colonies the colonists that the colonists considered illegal due to lack of their consent. While initially, the colonists did attempt more peaceful and logical alternatives to resolve their discontent with the British Empire, eventually more oppressive taxes and violent events culminated to a full Revolution. Before the revolution, the British had incurred debt from the French-Indian War and needed to raise money: they turned to the colonies as a source of income.
is that in the 1800's the average age a person lived up to was 30. In
Transformation of London in the 1790s. Many changes occurred in London during the 1790s. New ideas were emerging within England and around the world. The onset of the French Revolution contributed greatly to the unrest and the turmoil of the times.
Education did not form part of the life of women before the Revolutionary War and therefore, considered irrelevant. Women’s education did not extend beyond that of what they learned from their mothers growing up. This was especially true for underprivileged women who had only acquired skills pertaining to domesticity unlike elite white women during that time that in addition to having acquired domestic skills they learned to read a result becoming literate. However, once the Revolutionary War ended women as well as men recognized the great need for women to obtain a greater education. Nonetheless, their views in regards to this subject differed greatly in that while some women including men believed the sole purpose of educating women was in order to better fulfil their roles and duties as wives and mothers others believed the purpose of education for women was for them “to move beyond the household field.” The essays of Benjamin Rush and Judith Sargent Murray provide two different points of view with respects to the necessity for women to be well educated in post-revolutionary America.
The mid-1700s were undoubtedly the ultimate festival of the troubled. People around the world felt a sense of conflict as class systems developed in various countries. Beginning in the 1770s, the North American Revolution set the tone for a series of revolutions throughout the Atlantic. From France to Haiti, and from Central America to South America, people fought for a right to prosper.
The frequency of popular protest and rebellion in Early Modern England offers an insight into the nature of the social relations people maintained. P. Clark refers to the repetition of rebellion and popular protest as being ‘a recurrent phenomenon’ which spread throughout Europe in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth century. This implies that people thought there was a necessary cause to act in such a way, believing that change was possible to address their grievances. Additionally, Andy Wood further emphasises the ideology of the repetitive nature of popular protest and rebellion through the existence of a ‘shared tradition of popular protest’. This implies that there was a continuation in the motivations of those who chose to rebel. Many of the
During the election of 1800, Thomas Jefferson succeeded in defeating the incumbent, John Adams, and assumed the presidency. In terms of elections though, the election of 1800 itself was a fascinating election in that it a heavily-contested election and was effectively the first time political parties ran smear campaigns against each other during an election. The Republican Party attacked the Federalists for being anti-liberty and monarchist and tried to persuade the public that the Federalists were abusing their power through acts such as the Alien & Sedition Acts and the suppression of the Whiskey Rebellion (Tindall and Shi 315). The Federalists, on the other hand, attacked Jefferson for his atheism and support of the French Revolution and warned that his election would result in chaos (316). By the end of the presidential election, neither Adams nor Jefferson emerged with his reputation completely intact. Still, rather than an election between Adams and Jefferson, the election of 1800 ultimately boiled down to a deadlock between Jefferson and his vice presidential candidate, Aaron Burr, who each held seventy-three electoral votes, resulting in the election was sent to the House of Representatives. In the end, the deadlock was resolved only by Alexander Hamilton, whose immense hate for Burr allowed Jefferson to claim the presidency. However, the election of 1800 was more than just a simple presidential election. The election of 1800 was the first peaceful transfer of power from the incumbent party to the opposition and represented a new step in politics, as well as a new direction in foreign policy that would emerge from Jefferson’s policies, and to this extent, the election of 1800 was a revolution.
Throughout the course of history, new ideas have emerged and often changed relationships in society. Different historical circumstances are the reasons these ideas have come up. England and the thirteen colonies have had both positive and negative effects on their relationships due to these ideas. For example, two ideas were the Theory of Mercantilism and Salutary Neglect.
Everyday life in the United States is very different today than it was in the 1700's. Life was harder and the settlers did not have nearly as many luxuries as society has today. Some aspects of the colonial times that were different then are today include family, employment, and social activities. Life in the United States in the 1700's was filled with hard work, cooperation, and dedication to one’s land and family.
Changes in British policies toward the colonies between 1750 and 1776 played paramount in the evolution of relations between British North America and Mother England. Tension between England and the colonies mounted from the conclusion of the Seven Years’ War to the signing of the Declaration of Independence as a result of the several implemented changes imposed by Parliament for the purpose of increasing income and tightening the grip on America.
The American Revolution was the very first contemporary revolution. A revolution is defined as an aggressive takeover of a government or a command in order to get a new, better system in place. The American Revolution was fought between America and Great Britain. In 1755, the Revolution took place because America wanted and needed a change; they wanted to be independent from Great Britain. America craved liberty and independence. The American Revolution was the first historic time that a group of people would fight for independence for the reason of gaining a set of moralities that were universal and would act as laws. The main reason why Americans wanted to be free of the rule of Great Britain was because of trade regulations, and taxes. The American Revolution ultimately started because of the issues that the British economy put in place.
The New England colonies developed a close-knit homogeneous society and a thriving mixed economy of agriculture and commerce. They developed this by creating a group called the New England Confederation. This focused on the protection of the people in the colony in the event of enemies trying to attack them. On page 49, it says “The primary purpose of the confederation was defense against foes or potential foes, notably the Indians, the French, and the Dutch.” They created this as a safety net for the New England colonies. Every part of the New England colonies had two votes, it didn’t matter on the size of the colonies. The ran it as their own because the king of the time didn’t care much for the colonies.
Mercantilism Essay England in the 17th century adopted the policy of mercantilism, exercising control over the trade of the colonies, thus greatly affecting their political and economical development. Mercantilism was the policy in Europe throughout the 1500's to the 1700's where the government of the mother country controlled the industry and trade of other, weaker settlements with the idea that national strength and economic security comes from exporting more than what is imported. Possession of colonies provided the countries with sources of raw materials and markets for their manufactured goods. This system had political and economical repercussions on the inflicted because it inspired many new laws and acts for the colonies, and it restricted the colonies trade to England, reducing the revenue that the colonies received. The thirteen colonies were influenced by the mercantilism policy of England due to the numerous trading prohibitations and taxes that were placed on them and the goods they trafficked.
Divergences are just some of the many words used to describe the future of England’s society during the seventeenth century. It seemed that humanities only goal was to become a business tycoon and hit the big time. These however were not words or used to describe the Puritans.