Pre-industrial economies and society Notes

Pre-industrial economies and society

Life before industrialization: an overview

1. Before the Industrial Revolution, most societies were agrarian.
2. Daily life followed the rhythms of the seasons, tools were simple, and production was slow and based on human or animal labour.
3. Technological change occurred, but usually at a gradual pace.

What defined life in pre-industrial economies?

1. Agriculture as the foundation of society

1. Over 80–90% of the population worked in farming.
2. Tools were basic: wooden ploughs, hand-hoes, sickles.
3. Crop yields were low because of poor fertilisers, exhausted soil, and limited knowledge of crop rotation.

2. The ‘cottage industry’

1. Goods like wool, cloth, or tools were produced in people’s homes.
2. Merchants supplied raw materials, families did the labour, and merchants collected finished goods to sell.
3. Production depended on manual skill and family labour availability, so output was unpredictable.

3. Local and slow trade networks

1. Roads were rough; rivers were the only efficient transport.
2. Most communities were self-sufficient and rarely traded far beyond nearby towns.

4. Limited energy sources

1. Wood, charcoal, windmills, and watermills provided power.
2. No large-scale energy source existed to drive machines: a major bottleneck to growth.

5. Social structures based on tradition

1. Nobles owned land; peasants worked it.
2. Social mobility was rare.
3. Religious institutions shaped education, moral codes, and festivals.

Analogy

• Pre-industrial society was like a small, slow village running on “manual mode”
  • Everyone farmed, families produced goods at home, roads were rough, energy came from simple tools, and social rules were fixed, so everything moved at the pace of people, animals, and tradition.

How did traditional economies limit growth?

1. Low productivity

1. Agriculture produced just enough food for survival. Poor harvests meant famine.
2. Low output in farming also meant fewer people could specialize in other jobs.

2. Labour-intensive production

1. Without machines, everything, spinning, weaving, metalwork, required time and skill.
2. This restricted the volume of goods societies could produce.

3. Scarce and inconsistent energy

1. Human and animal power limited the scale and speed of work.
2. Watermills and windmills were helpful but location-dependent.

4. Slow innovation diffusion

1. New ideas travelled slowly because literacy rates were low and communication networks were limited.
2. Even when one region invented something, others might not adopt it for decades.

5. Transport and market limitations

1. Poor roads meant goods could not be moved efficiently.
2. High transport costs kept prices high and discouraged large-scale production.
3. Together, these limits kept economies in a cycle of slow growth, low productivity, and vulnerability to crises.

Why did change become necessary?

By the 1700s, several pressures and opportunities made transformation unavoidable:

1. Population growth

1. Europe’s population rose rapidly: partly due to better diets and fewer wars.
2. More people meant greater demand for food, clothing, tools, and housing.

2. Rising demand for goods

1. Urban centres and global trade networks (especially through European empires) expanded markets.
2. Traditional production methods could not keep up.

3. Agricultural changes

1. Enclosure, improved crop rotation, and selective breeding increased food production.
2. These reforms freed some rural workers, creating a labour force ready for factory work.

4. Competition and global expansion

1. European powers competed for trade and colonial influence.
2. This increased the need for faster production, stronger industries, and more efficient economic systems.

5. Scientific and technological developments

1. A growing culture of experimentation, the Enlightenment, early scientific methods, and engineering advances, supported new inventions.

6. Pressure to solve long-standing shortages

1. Fuel shortages (lack of wood), low yields, and slow hand production pushed societies to search for alternatives such as:
   1. Coal
   2. Steam power
   3. Mechanized production.

Case study

The Industrial Revolution In Britain

• The population was increasing
  • More people → more workers
  • More demand for goods
• Britain’s overseas trade was growing
  • Empire trade made merchants rich
  • Raw materials and markets easily available
• Britain’s agriculture had improved
  • Better farming → more food
  • Surplus labour for factories
• Transport was improving
  • Better roads and canals
  • Faster, cheaper movement of goods and ideas
• Britain had entrepreneurs and inventors
  • Lots of new ideas and risk-takers
  • Many key machines invented in Britain
• Britain had plenty of raw materials
  • Coal to power machines
  • Iron to build them
• Britain was at peace
  • Stability → business and trade could grow