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Economy and Society of Europe in the 18th Century
This timeline details specific events important to the development of Europe's economy and population between 1700 and 1799 -
Enclosure becomes widespread
Enclosure had been going on before the 18th century in England, and continued after, but It first became widespread in the early 18th century, and by 1800 had spread over most of England. Enclosure entailed reorganizing owner-less common lands into owned plots which could be more efficiently cultivated. This made the land much more valuable, but stripped the commoners of their de-facto property. -
The last Plague
The last major outbreak of the bubonic plague, which had haunted Europe for centuries, occurred in Marseilles in 1721, where it arrived via ships from Syria. It swept through southern France and killed many people, but it was confined to that region and Europe at large was spared. More importantly, It was the last time a disease that had been decimating the European population for centuries ever grew larger than a small localized outbreak. -
The Flying Shuttle
The flying shuttle was one of the key developments in the industrialization of weaving during the early 18th century. It allowed a single weaver to weave much wider fabrics. The flying shuttle, which was patented by John Kay , greatly sped up the previous hand process and halved the labor force. -
Jethro Tull develops a tool for drill husbandry
Jethro Tull was an English agriculturalist and inventor. He created many important new farming techniques that contributed to the agricultural revolution. Among them were planting seeds at even spacing, uses horses for plowing, and using equipment, rather than hands, to sow seeds. -
The Population Explodes
While Europe's population had been steadily growing slightly faster than normal for around a century, the agricultural revolution of the early 18th century allowed the next generation to be far larger than previous ones. Populations everywhere in Europe, especially in Russia, Italy, and Britain grew dramatically due to the widespread availability of enough food. -
The 7 Years War
The Seven Years War was the first truly large scale global conflict, involving significant fighting in the colonies of the great powers involved. The end of the war saw France losing most if its american colonies. This gave Great Britain a monopoly over the north Atlantic trade routes, but the wars drove them to the verge of bankruptcy and forced them to dramatically increase their colonial taxes to make up the deficit. -
The Restriction of the Guilds
Guilds, which to greatly simplify were like early trade unions, had previously held lots of economic and political power in Europe's urban centers, and had even worked with certain monarchs, using their urban influence to help the ruler in return for political favors. By the mid 18th century however, their tight controls over the production of certain goods had become economically restrictive, and over the course of a decade they were stripped of the power they once had. -
Wealth of Nations
Wealth of nations was an economic text written by Adam Smith. In it he argued for the necessity of competition in capitalism to protect the consumer and ensure the quality of products. Smith also advocated for a limited government and a free, unrestricted market. Wealth of Nations is considered by many to be the foundation text of modern economics -
Mercantalism
As European nations became more protectionist and international trade declined, they forced increasingly tight trade restrictions on their colonies to make up the difference. In Britain's new world colonies, goods could only be exported back to Britain on British ships crewed by British sailors. this state monopolization of the trans Atlantic trade was a large cause of the American Revolution -
Height of the Atlantic Slave Trade
The trade of slaves from the west African coast to European colonies in the new world reached its highest point in the mid 18th century. Most slaves were sent to Brazil or the Caribbean colonies where they worked on highly profitable sugar plantations. Other slaves ended up in the Spanish and British colonies on the american mainland, where they mostly cultivated other cash crops like tobacco and cotton.
