A. The Agriculture Revolution had a great impact on European society, it had many great accomplishments, but there were a few downfalls.
Among the new systems that emerged because of the Agricultural Revolution in Europe were the open field system and the enclosure system. Because of the increased availability of staple foods due to agricultural innovations the Europe population boomed. This in turn put more pressure on farmers and farms to supply food to the increased population. Mechanization on farms came in the form of seed drills and threshing machines, which in turn took away jobs from a labor population that was on the rise. At the same time the development of enclosures was out stripping open field systems, thereby unsettling the traditional social and work structures of community farming. In the Netherlands more efficient dikes and drainage methods turned the Holland into a new competitor in the food marketplace (Abel, 2013). New marketplace-oriented ideas spread throughout the landed classes. Estates that had been devoted to producing agriculture to support local communities transformed into agricultural exporters. Tenant farmers became less valuable in the process and the rural populations suffered economically. The new competitive marketplace system drove up the price of food for the rural poor. Because of the scarcity of food and jobs, people began migrating to urban areas. Rural towns suffered and urban centers swelled with poor laborers. Crowded conditions, lack of nutrition, and poor sanitation caused disease to spread and infant mortality rates to increase sharply (Abel, 2013). Social discontent caused by food shortages and lack of employment became common. Wages paid to male laborers destroyed the partnership between men and women who had previously worked and lived as tenant farmers. Wage paying jobs changed the need for an agriculturally based family life and the domestic role of women became less valuable (Long, 2004).
1) Discuss the foreign relations of the Chinese Empire with its European counter parts.
Rapidly industrializing countries in Europe failed to persuade China that open trade between Asia and Europe was a good thing. A series of military campaigns ensued, which China lost. Europeans and Japanese established treaty ports in China. Chinese law did not apply in these treaty ports. Eventually Americans, British, French, Germans, and Japanese all had treaty ports and spheres of influence in China. The impact of these outsiders on China’s economy was devastating. The subsequent social chaos caused by foreigners and their missionaries in China gave rise to many rebellions. Here is a short list of the major conflicts between the Chinese Empire and its European counterparts: 1839-1842 Great Britain defeats China; 1842-1843 Great Britain takes control of Hong Kong; 1860 Great Britain takes control of Kowloon; Russia takes control of land between Amur and the Ussuri Rivers; 1884-1885 France defeats China and takes control of French Indo-China; 1894-1895 Japan defeats China; 1900-1901 Westerners join to defeat the Boxers (Spence, 1990).
2) Prior to its revolution, Haiti was one of the wealthiest colonies during its time.
France’s colony in the Caribbean, Saint Domingue, was the single wealthiest European-owned colony in the world in the late 1700s. Saint Domingue’s riches came in the form of sugar and coffee farmed with slave labor. At the time of the French Revolution a society known as Société des Amis des Noirs advocated abolition, a halt to France’s participation in the slave trade, and emancipation and education for free blacks (Johnson, 2014). French slave owners vehemently opposed interference in their very profitable exploitation of slave labor in the colonies. Under the combined assault of domestic upheaval and British interference in its colonies, France outlawed slavery in 1794. Black and mixed-race rulers governed the wealthy colony of Saint Domingue. British troops took over part of the island. Bitter rivalries ensued between General Toussaint in Saint Domingue and other contenders. Toussaint made promises to the French military, the British, and even negotiated with Americans. Ultimately, the reparations paid by Saint Domingue to French slaveholders, rapid modernization, Napoleon’s policies, and internal conflict destroyed the island’s economy (Johnson, 2014).
3) Discuss the issues that led to the American Revolution.
The Sugar Act is the common name for the The American Revenue Act of 1764. This law extended the period of time to enforce the tax on sugar and molasses products. The tax also applied to fabric, coffee, and wine. American merchants had been avoiding paying the tax to the British government. The British sent the Royal Navy to America to enforce the tax. The American colonies were experiencing an economic downturn when The Sugar Act was extended. Economic problems were exacerbated when Americans were forbidden to print paper money. This meant Americans had to pay with British pounds sterling. The colonists issued a complaint to the British titled, Our Trade Is Most Grieviously Embarrassed. This document accused the British of imposing hardships on America and of neglect. Colonists claimed that The Sugar Act was disruptive to the profitable trade of sugar products. Americans contended that collecting the tax would unsettle seaports and the shipping industry. The increased British naval presence in the colonies was viewed as a threat to use military force against civilians. Confronted with violence and taxes, it is not surprising that the American colonists reacted with revolution (Carson and Bonk, 1999).
Bibliography
Abel, Wilhelm. 2013. Agricultural Fluctuations in Europe From the Thirteenth to twentieth centuries. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis. http://public.eblib.comCarson, Thomas, and Mary Bonk. 1999. Gale encyclopedia of U.S. economic history. Detroit: Gale Group. http://search.ebscohost.comJohnson, Ronald Angelo. 2014. Diplomacy in Black and White John Adams, Toussaint Louverture, and Their Atlantic World Alliance. University of Georgia Press. http://public.eblib.comLong, Cathryn J. 2004. The agricultural revolution. San Diego: Lucent Books.Spence, Jonathan D. 1990. The search for modern China. New York: Norton.
