Add to Industrial Rev. Vocab.
• Agriculture – maintain soil for growing crops and raising animals
• Rural – area of land with little population or economic activity
• Urban – area of land with high population and economic activity
Before the Industrial Revolution
I. Growing cropsA. very little changed in agriculture from the end
of Roman Empire in 476 AD until 1700sB. work was done by hand and using animal power
II. Open fields
A. 90% of people in England were farmers
B. land around villages was shared by farmers
in large open fields called “common land”
1. three main fields containing different crops
were split into sections and
divided into strips
a. “commoners” were given
strips for subsistence
farming
b. strips were scattered – farmers had
to travel long distances to their section in another
field – no direct access
c. also shared common pastures (grass land) where
animals would graze (eat grass)
2. One section left fallow so that soil could regain fertility
Disadvantages of Common Land
III. Enclosure Movement
A. Enclosure movement led to the Agricultural Rev.
1. law passed to put up fences
2. lords paid for land then rented to farmers
3. peasants couldn’t afford land and had to move
B. ended farming villages and common lands
C. increased productivity and resources
1. farmers had land in one area – eliminated
time spent traveling to strips of land
D. facilitated use of crop rotation
1. growing different crops that absorb different
nutrients from soil
2. soil remains fertile because never depleted of
nutrients
Gleaners:to gatherbit by bit
Reap:to gather or collect
What does the Grim Reaper have to do with all of this?
IV. Cottage industry (work done in the home)
A. Two-step process for making cloth
1. Spinners made thread from cotton
2. Weavers wove thread into cloth on looms
(machine that moves thread together)
3. Way to make extra money – work together as family with
each person having specialized skill