An Introduction to the Industrial and Social History of England

CHAPTER I. Growth of the Nation to the Middle of the

Growth Of The Nation To The Middle Of The Fourteenth Century Page

1. The Geography of England................................. 1

2. Prehistoric Britain...................................... 4

3. Roman Britain............................................ 5

4. Early Saxon England...................................... 8

5. Danish and Late Saxon England........................... 12

6. The Period following the Norman Conquest................ 15

7. The Period of the Early Angevin Kings, 1154-1338........ 22

CHAPTER II. Rural Life and Organization

Rural Life and Organization

8. The Mediaeval Village.................................... 31

9. The Vill as an Agricultural System...................... 33

10. Classes of People on the Manor.......................... 39

11. The Manor Courts........................................ 45

12. The Manor as an Estate of a Lord........................ 49

13. Bibliography............................................ 52

CHAPTER III. Town Life and Organization

Town Life And Organization

14. The Town Government..................................... 57

15. The Gild Merchant....................................... 59

16. The Craft Gilds......................................... 64

17. Non-industrial Gilds.................................... 71

18. Bibliography............................................ 73

CHAPTER IV. Mediaeval Trade and Commerce

Mediaeval Trade And Commerce

19. Markets and Fairs....................................... 75

20. Trade Relations between Towns........................... 79

21. Foreign Trading Relations............................... 81

22. The Italian and Eastern Trade........................... 84

23. The Flanders Trade and the Staple....................... 87

24. The Hanse Trade......................................... 89

25. Foreigners settled in England........................... 90

26. Bibliography............................................ 94

CHAPTER V. The Black Death and the Peasants' Rebellion

The Black Death And The Peasants' Rebellion

Economic Changes of the Later Fourteenth and Early Fifteenth Centuries

27. National Affairs from 1338 to 1461...................... 96

28. The Black Death and its Effects......................... 99

29. The Statutes of Laborers............................... 106

30. The Peasants' Rebellion of 1381........................ 111

31. Commutation of Services................................ 125

32. The Abandonment of Demesne Farming..................... 128

33. The Decay of Serfdom................................... 129

34. Changes in Town Life and Foreign Trade................. 133

35. Bibliography........................................... 134

CHAPTER VI. The Breaking Up of the Mediaeval System

The Breaking Up Of The Mediaeval System

Economic Changes of the Later Fifteenth and the Sixteenth Centuries

36. National Affairs from 1461 to 1603..................... 136

37. Enclosures............................................. 141

38. Internal Divisions in the Craft Gilds.................. 147

39. Change of Location of Industries....................... 151

40. The Influence of the Government on the Gilds........... 154

41. General Causes and Evidences of the Decay of the Gilds. 159

42. The Growth of Native Commerce.......................... 161

43. The Merchants Adventurers.............................. 164

44. Government Encouragement of Commerce................... 167

45. The Currency........................................... 169

46. Interest............................................... 171

47. Paternal Government.................................... 173

48. Bibliography........................................... 176

CHAPTER VII. The Expansion of England

The Expansion Of England

Economic Changes of the Seventeenth and Early Eighteenth Centuries

49. National Affairs from 1603 to 1760..................... 177

50. The Extension of Agriculture........................... 183

51. The Domestic System of Manufactures.................... 185

52. Commerce under the Navigation Acts..................... 189

53. Finance................................................ 193

54. Bibliography........................................... 198

CHAPTER VIII. The Period of the Industrial Revolution

The Period Of The Industrial Revolution

Economic Changes of the Later Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries

55. National Affairs from 1760 to 1830..................... 199

56. The Great Mechanical Inventions........................ 203

57. The Factory System..................................... 212

58. Iron, Coal, and Transportation......................... 214

59. The Revival of Enclosures.............................. 216

60. Decay of Domestic Manufacture.......................... 220

61. The Laissez-faire Theory............................. 224

62. Cessation of Government Regulation..................... 228

63. Individualism.......................................... 232

64. Social Conditions at the Beginning of the Nineteenth Century................................................ 235

65. Bibliography........................................... 239

CHAPTER IX. The Extension of Government Control

The Extension Of Government Control

Factory Laws, the Modification of Land Ownership, Sanitary Regulations, and New Public Services

66. National Affairs from 1830 to 1900..................... 240

67. The Beginning of Factory Legislation................... 244

68. Arguments for and against Factory Legislation.......... 249

69. Factory Legislation to 1847............................ 254

70. The Extension of Factory Legislation................... 256

71. Employers' Liability Acts.............................. 260

72. Preservation of Remaining Open Lands................... 262

73. Allotments............................................. 267

74. Small Holdings......................................... 269

75. Government Sanitary Control............................ 271

76. Industries Carried on by Government.................... 273

77. Bibliography........................................... 276

CHAPTER X. The Extension of Voluntary Association

The Extension Of Voluntary Association

Trade Unions, Trusts, and Cooeperation

78. The Rise of Trade Unions............................... 277

79. Opposition of the Law and of Public Opinion. The Combination Acts....................................... 279

80. Legalization and Popular Acceptance of Trade Unions.... 281

81. The Growth of Trade Unions............................. 288

82. Federation of Trade Unions............................. 289

83. Employers' Organizations............................... 293

84. Trusts and Trade Combinations.......................... 294

85. Cooeperation in Distribution............................ 295

86. Cooeperation in Production.............................. 300

87. Cooeperation in Farming................................. 302

88. Cooeperation in Credit.................................. 306

89. Profit Sharing......................................... 307

90. Socialism.............................................. 310

91. Bibliography........................................... 311

An Introduction to the Industrial and Social History of England

INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND

CHAPTER I. Growth of the Nation

GROWTH OF THE NATION

To The Middle Of The Fourteenth Century

*1. The Geography of England.*--The British Isles lie northwest of the Continent of Europe. They are separated from it by the Channel and the North Sea, at the narrowest only twenty miles wide, and at the broadest not more than three hundred.

The greatest length of England from north to south is three hundred and sixty-five miles, and its greatest breadth some two hundred and eighty miles. Its area, with Wales, is 58,320 square miles, being somewhat more than one-quarter the size of France or of Germany, just one-half the size of Italy, and somewhat larger than either Pennsylvania or New York.

The backbone of the island is near the western coast, and consists of a body of hard granitic and volcanic rock rising into mountains of two or three thousand feet in height. These do not form one continuous chain but are in several detached groups. On the eastern flank of these mountains and underlying all the rest of the island is a series of stratified rocks. The harder portions of these strata still stand up as long ridges,--the "wolds," "wealds," "moors," and "downs" of the more eastern and south-eastern parts of England. The softer strata have been worn away into great broad valleys, furnishing the central and eastern plains or lowlands of the country.

The rivers of the south and of the far north run for the most part by short and direct courses to the sea. The rivers of the midlands are much longer and larger. As a result of the gradual sinking of the island, in recent geological periods the sea has extended some distance up the course of these rivers, making an almost unbroken series of estuaries along the whole coast.

The climate of England is milder and more equable than is indicated by the latitude, which is that of Labrador in the western hemisphere and of Prussia and central Russia on the Continent of Europe. This is due to the fact that the Gulf Stream flows around its southern and western shores, bringing warmth and a superabundance of moisture from the southern Atlantic.

These physical characteristics have been of immense influence on the destinies of England. Her position was far on the outskirts of the world as it was known to ancient and mediaeval times, and England played a correspondingly inconspicuous part during those periods. In the habitable world as it has been known since the fifteenth century, on the other hand, that position is a distinctly central one, open alike to the eastern and the western hemisphere, to northern and southern lands.

Her situation of insularity and at the same time of proximity to the Continent laid her open to frequent invasion in early times, but after she secured a navy made her singularly safe from subjugation. It made the development of many of her institutions tardy, yet at the same time gave her the opportunity to borrow and assimilate what she would from the customs of foreign nations. Her separation by water from the Continent favored a distinct and continuous national life, while her nearness to it allowed her to participate in all the more important influences which affected the nations of central Europe.

Within the mountainous or elevated regions a variety of mineral resources, especially iron, copper, lead, and tin, exist in great abundance, and have been worked from the earliest ages. Potter's clay and salt also exist, the former furnishing the basis of industry for an extensive section of the midlands. By far the most important mineral possession of England, however, is her coal. This exists in the greatest abundance and in a number of sections of the north and west of the country. Practically unknown in the Middle Ages, and only slightly utilized in early modern times, within the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries her coal supply has come to be the principal foundation of England's great manufacturing and commercial development.

The lowlands, which make up far the larger part of the country, are covered with soil which furnishes rich farming areas, though in many places this soil is a heavy and impervious clay, expensive to drain and cultivate. The hard ridges are covered with thin soil only. Many of them therefore remained for a long time covered with forest, and they are devoted even yet to grazing or to occasional cultivation only.

The abundance of harbors and rivers, navigable at least to the small vessels of the Middle Ages, has made a seafaring life natural to a large number of the people, and commercial intercourse comparatively easy with all parts of the country bordering on the coast or on these rivers.

Thus, to sum up these geographical characteristics, the insular situation of England, her location on the earth's surface, and the variety of her material endowments gave her a tolerably well-balanced if somewhat backward economic position during the Middle Ages, and have enabled her since the fifteenth century to pass through a continuous and rapid development, until she has obtained within the nineteenth century, for the time at least, a distinct economic precedency among the nations of the world.

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