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“The Clothier’s Delight, or the Rich Men’s Joy and the Poor Men’s Sorrow”
This poem illustrates the conflict between workers and employers. Disputes over the weights and qualities of the goods being sold were widespread. Rural labor was cheap, scattered, and unorganized making it difficult to control or regulate. Merchant capitalists, therefore, pushed for more efficient ways to get results out of workers. This pressure lead to a boom in productivity as competition increased and the consumer economy grew. -
Last of the Bubonic Plague Outbreaks
The last major Bubonic Plague outbreak in Europe occurred between 1721 and 1722. Stricter quarantine procedures in ports on the Mediterranean and with ships coming from Turkey decreased Europe’s exposure to the plague. In addition to this, the original carriers of the plague, the black rats, were slowly outcompeted by brown rats who did not carry the plague. The decrease in plague outbreaks and other epidemics allowed for the massive population growth seen during the 18th century. -
Invention of the Flying Shuttle
The Flying Shuttle was invented by John Kay. It allowed weavers to throw the shuttle back and forth between threads with one hand. This made it easier and faster for rural workers to create finished goods and helped expand the Cottage Industry. The Cottage Industry and the transition of the working masses from agricultural workers to wage workers led to the Industrious Revolution. -
Height of the Atlantic Slave Trade
The Atlantic Slave Trade brought captured slaves from Africa to colonies in North and South America. Merchants made their fortunes off of selling and transporting slaves and at its peak, 80,000 slaves were being traded a year. The slaves worked on sugar and tobacco plantations and were essential to the colonial economy. The horrors of the Atlantic Slave Trade led the British Parliament to ban slavery in 1807. -
End of the Seven Years War
The Seven Years’ War was the culmination of years of competition between France and Britain to determine who was the leading colonial power. France's defeat gave Britain all of its land in North America and most of its land in India. The land gained after the Seven Years War named Britain the indisputable colonial power. This expansion of power led to Britain implementing its mercantilistic policies in all of its colonies and eventually outcompeting the Dutch in the Indian Ocean. -
Navigation Acts
The Navigation Acts were acts of economic warfare directed at the Dutch to protect the British industry. They decreed that colonists had to sell certain products only to England and that goods had to pass through England so a tax could be collected, which led to foreign countries raising prices. Any products shipped to or from Colonies had to be on British ships. This angered the colonists and was one of the grievances that caused the American Revolution. -
Start of Anti-Slavery Movement in England
The Atlantic Slave Trade peaked during the 18th century. While the horrors of slavery were not witnessed firsthand by many British citizens, an anti-slavery movement became popular. Quakers condemned slavery as un-Christian and the Anti-Slavery movement occurred at the same time as the First Great Awakening, an international religious revival. This was the first peaceful mass political movement based on public opinion in British history and led to Parliament abolishing the slave trade in 1807. -
The Wealth of Nations
Adam Smith wrote The Wealth of Nations in 1776 in response to new patterns of labor in the 18th century. He criticized government regulation of trade and industry and advocated for free enterprise. He argued that the “invisible hand” of free competition would benefit the rich and the poor and that monopolies like guilds hurt the economy. The Wealth of Nations introduced Economic Liberalism which became the basis for modern economics. -
Inoculation Against Smallpox
Edward Jenner observed that milkmaids who had been exposed to cowpox did not develop smallpox after being exposed. To test the theory that cowpox gave immunity to smallpox, Jenner injected cowpox into a young boy and then later exposed him to smallpox repeatedly. The boy did not develop smallpox and Jenner concluded he had successfully created a vaccine for smallpox. Governments made smallpox vaccination compulsory and the decrease of smallpox related deaths contributed to the Population Boom. -
Dutch East India Company is dissolved
In the 18th century, England became obsessed with expanding its colonial empire and used the Navigation Acts to hurt Dutch trade and economy by limiting their ability to ship materials to England. After the British gained almost all of France’s territory in India at the end of the Seven Years’ War, they slowly took over Indian Ocean trade from the Dutch. This led to the dissolution of the DEIC and was indicative of Britain’s emergence as the true colonial power in both the Americas and India.
