Urbanisation
What impact did urbanisation have on London throughout the 18th Century?
London in the 18th century brought about a revolution in urbanisation and the expansion of an urbanised city began in England and spread rapidly all around Europe. Urbanisation brought a dramatic and radical change to London, significantly in the impact of the Industrial Revolution which was effected urban society. There were both general and particular reasons why the eighteenth century was a century of urban growth and amoung the general reasons were the rise in national population, the expansion of industry and commerce, and the displacement of growing numbers of country-dwellers by an agricultural revolution.[1] At the beginning of the 18th century, Britain was primarily an agricultural country with most people living in rural areas and the majority of workers and industires operated within a domestic system.[2] This involved people working in their own homes to produce goods and also to cultivate food on their own farm or piece of land. During the 18th centuy, there was a gradual move away from this way of working and the growth of urbanisation changed the domestic system to improve the lives of the British public. Urbanisation brough together all the manpower it required, whether for manual work or for the 'tertiary sector ' where the new age was creating more and more jobs, especially once London became more urbanised.[3] A further indicator of the abundance of the labour supply was the enormous number of domestic servants and at the end of the 18th century, domestic servants made up over 15% of the population of London and ultimately, England had no labour shortage as it was being urbanised.[4] The invention of machines after the industrial revolution led to a transformation in the ways in which goods could be produced and the speed and scale of the process of the 18th century, saw significant changes in the size, location and lifestyle of the British population.[5]
London in the 18th century brought about a revolution in urbanisation and the expansion of an urbanised city began in England and spread rapidly all around Europe. Urbanisation brought a dramatic and radical change to London, significantly in the impact of the Industrial Revolution which was effected urban society. There were both general and particular reasons why the eighteenth century was a century of urban growth and amoung the general reasons were the rise in national population, the expansion of industry and commerce, and the displacement of growing numbers of country-dwellers by an agricultural revolution.[1] At the beginning of the 18th century, Britain was primarily an agricultural country with most people living in rural areas and the majority of workers and industires operated within a domestic system.[2] This involved people working in their own homes to produce goods and also to cultivate food on their own farm or piece of land. During the 18th centuy, there was a gradual move away from this way of working and the growth of urbanisation changed the domestic system to improve the lives of the British public. Urbanisation brough together all the manpower it required, whether for manual work or for the 'tertiary sector ' where the new age was creating more and more jobs, especially once London became more urbanised.[3] A further indicator of the abundance of the labour supply was the enormous number of domestic servants and at the end of the 18th century, domestic servants made up over 15% of the population of London and ultimately, England had no labour shortage as it was being urbanised.[4] The invention of machines after the industrial revolution led to a transformation in the ways in which goods could be produced and the speed and scale of the process of the 18th century, saw significant changes in the size, location and lifestyle of the British population.[5]
Bibliography: Braudel. F: Civilization and Capitalism, 15th-18th Century: The perspective of the world (University California Press, 1982) McNeese M. Stephen, W. Mark and S. Paul: Social Policy & Warfare (Nelson Thornes, 2000) Narasaiah M.L: Urbanisation And Cities (Discovery Publishing House, 2003) O 'Brien P.K: Oxford Atlas of World History (Oxford University Press, 2002) Rude G.F.E: Europe in the Eighteenth Century: Aristocracy and the Bourgeois Challenge (Harvard University Press, 1972) Schmal H: Patterns of European Urbanisation since 1500 (Routledge, 1981) S W. Robin: World Civilization: A Brief History (Rowman & Littlefield,1993) --------------------------------- [ 1 ]. George F.E Rude: Europe in the Eighteenth Century: Aristocracy and the Bourgeois Challenge (Harvard University Press, 1972) pg 56 [ 2 ] [ 3 ]. Fernand Braudel Civilization and Capitalism, 15th-18th Century: The perspective of the world (University of California Press, 1982) pg. 565 [ 4 ] [ 5 ]. Stephen. M, Mark.W and Paul. S Social Policy & Warfare (Nelson Thornes, 2000) pg. 31 [ 6 ] [ 7 ]. Tim McNeese History of Civilization – The Age of Absolutism (Lorenz Educational Press, 2000) Pg. 26 [ 8 ] [ 11 ]. Fernand Braudel Civilization and Capitalism, 15th-18th Century: The perspective of the world (University of California Press, 1982) pg. 563 [ 12 ] [ 13 ]. Fernand Braudel Civilization and Capitalism, 15th-18th Century: The perspective of the world (University of California Press, 1982) pg. 557 [ 14 ] [ 15 ]. Mark.W, Paul. S and Stephen. M Social Policy & Warfare (Nelson Thornes, 2000) pg. 31 [ 16 ] [ 19 ]. Patrick K. O 'Brien Oxford Atlas of World History (Oxford University Press, 2002) pg. 132 [ 20 ] [ 21 ]. Fernand Braudel Civilization and Capitalism, 15th-18th Century: The perspective of the world (University of California Press, 1982) pg. 557 [ 22 ] [ 23 ]. George Rude: Europe in the Eighteenth Century: Aristocracy and the Bourgeois Challenge (Harvard University Press, 1972)pg.56 [ 24 ] [ 25 ]. Robin.W World Civilization: A Brief History (Rowman & Littlefield,1993) pg. 264 [ 26 ]