Agricultural Rev Europe Was Still Essay

Prior to the 18th century, crops were rotated in a three-year cycle. During the 18th century, a four-year rotation cycle was introduced. The potato and the turnip became some of the most important crops during the 18th century agricultural revolution, because the potato could feed large amounts of people and the turnip could also be used for animal fodder. The greater amount of animal fodder increased farm animal yields. Farm technologies also improved: such as the mechanized seed drill.

The consequences of the 18th century agricultural revolution were tremendous and coincided with the social, political, and economic changes taking places concurrently. Population explosions that fueled the agricultural revolution continued to alter the demographics of Europe and enable larger-scale grassroots movements. Populism gradually began replacing the centuries-long feudal aristocracies and monarchies were toppling.These political changes significantly altered land use policies. Moreover, the population explosion occurred alongside urbanization. Not only did Europe have more people but it also had less people working on farms. The combination of the two factors meant that farms needed to become larger in scale, more productive, but fewer in number. Farms become more capitalistic: producing surplus goods for market demands. The greater diversity of crops also altered the agricultural market during the time, and farming technologies also reflected the burgeoning Industrial Revolution. In fact, the agricultural revolution was integral to the Industrial Revolution: allowing urbanization and subsequent population migrations to be feasible. Farming became more specialized and mechanized and especially more capitalistic.

Works Cited

Rosner, Lilsa & Theibault, John. A Short History of Europe 1600-1815. M.E. Sharpe, 2000….....