Britain in the Eighteenth Century

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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...

... middle of paper ...

... 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.

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