A Technological Advancement in European’s Rural Communities

Throughout the economic reforms of the 18th and 19th centuries life for the crankry locomote from one ill to another. The turbulent economic changes that marked this period would good the lifestyle of one generation only to completely impoverish the next. It wasnt until the last workforcetioned part of the 19th century that the standard of living for the average citizen locomote toward what could be considered comfort up to(p).In the early part of the 1700s the majority of Europeans were living in rural communities of no larger than 1000 people. Their lives focused only on survival. They would farm small plots of a larger field, the right for which they would often imbibe to pay a consider subject amount of their income as rent to the landholder. In well-nigh cases, for warmth they would sleep under the same roof as their animals, and heating sources usually consisted of wood, peat or dung, but very rarely coal. age this lifestyle is harsh it had its benefits. Due to the fact that one field would be cultivated by a large portion of the community, decisions on the operate rotation would have to be determined as a community. This provided the peasant with some modicum of freedom.When landholders started enclosing fields, and began cultivating them for profit, it devastated millions. Suddenly they had no immediate source of nutriment nor a place to graze their animals. The immediate effect was wide dot starvation. The long-term result was that with the efficient management of fields, and the introduction of new crops, want the potato, food became more abundant. This instituted a population boom throughout most European nations.With the introduction of the putting-out system by many merchants, as a means to circumvent guild control over the manufacture of goods, peasants were able to support themselves. With their newfound work, and the increased abundance of food they were finally able to feel secure in their livelihoods. This was just the calm before the storm.The suppuration desire among the bourgeoisie for financial gain paired with new technical advances made the putting-out system inefficient. Shifts in production were made toward small workshops or larger factories. Over time the demand for rural industry diminish to the point where many were accepting next to nothing for their goods.It became virtually unworkable for the peasantry to make a living in rural communities. They were increasingly labored to move to cities where they could find factory work. Liverpool, for example, grew by 250 percent between 1600 and 1750.With so far further advances in factory mechanization, hundreds of thousands of jobs became obsolete. After all, if you have a machine that can do the job of one hundred men, why pay one hundred men? Once again on that point was a widespread loss of jobs.Public opinion on penury at the time did nothing to help the situation either. The poor were sort out into two categories the deserving and the undese rving. The deserving consisted of children, the elderly and the crippled. The undeserving were healthy men and women who either were unable to find work. The attitude was that it was their fault they were poor, and thus they were handle as little better than criminals.It wasnt until the advent of the railroad that things really started sounding up for the average citizen. The sheer amount of work required in the construction of a railroad alone provided many with work. In addition, it straightaway became cheap to transport metal, and other heavy raw supplies for the manufacture of goods. This not only dropped the price of commodities, but also spurred industry to an even great extent.I feel it evident that these economic reforms consistently threw the lives of the average citizen into upheaval. We mustiness not overlook, however, the ultimate good this period did for the world. Were it not for the willingness of those early capitalists to pledge advantage of the peasantry as t hey did, we would all likely be farming a small plot of land and heating or homes with dung.