The Rise of Capitalism and the Industrial Revolution
In 1792, he joined the French revolutionary army, and years later, formed the American Grand Lodge. His ideals of independence were accompanied by a project to form a large American state in the hands of a descendant of the Incas. He was one of those most responsible for Venezuela’s independence. He died in prison in Cadiz after having devoted his life to the revolutionary cause.
Mariano Moreno received his doctorate in law from Chuquisaca. Returning to Buenos Aires, he practiced law and was an advisor to the council. He defended free trade, encouraged the creation of the Public Library, founded The Gazette, and made the first translation and publication of Rousseau’s Social Contract. He died in 1811.
Bourbon Reforms
Spain, during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, was ruled by monarchs of the House of Habsburg. In 1700, at the death of Charles II, a monarch representative of the House of Bourbon was appointed. The new monarch ruled with the name of Philip II. The arrival sparked an immediate war with Austria called the War of Succession.
In this war that lasted almost a decade, the international context played an important role since powers such as Portugal were not prepared to tolerate the influence of France on Spanish territory. It ended with the Peace of Utrecht. This treaty granted special leave to England to trade slaves and others of a ship with 500 tons of merchandise. The Spanish trade monopoly doors, closed for so long to England, opened suddenly.
From the Peace of Utrecht, goods of Her Majesty arrived (gradually) to the American colonies. With trade liberalization also entered new ideas of the eighteenth century that influenced the thinking of the native commercial bourgeoisie.
The European Economy from the 12th and 13th Centuries
It was during these centuries that Western Europe experienced a recovery of agriculture and trade. The crisis of the 14th century influenced the weakening of the power of feudal lords, allowing the emergence of a small number of employees and small farmers in the countryside. Meanwhile, new ideals such as work and money were disseminated and became the means to achieve power.
Expansion of Commercial and Financial Capitalism
The monarchs’ need for resources had to resort to the bankers to maintain the bureaucracy, army, weapons, and wars. The Fuggers were those who represented the rising commercial and financial capitalism of modern times. During this process, banks made widespread use of paper money and bills of exchange. This was a commercial document by which a person or entity gave another an order to a third party to pay a sum of money at a fixed date.
At first, in overseas expansion, capitalist participants contributed only to the hiring of crew, freight, etc. Upon completion, the gains were spread, and the constructed society dissolved. These companies further boosted modern colonial capitalism.
Stock trading companies were adopted by other European countries, but except in France, their life was fleeting. Nevertheless, the emergence of these companies consolidated the power of the stock and the stock market.
Industrial Production
While in Europe, the small home industry and urban workshops organized in guilds continued to function, there were fresh economic subjects as the merchant. The merchant provided the raw material (wool, cotton, iron, etc.), tools, and models to produce, and the peasants worked for them, becoming employees. The dealer picked up the product manufactured and sold it. This system was developed mainly in the textile industry. It led to increases in domestic industry.
The practice of the state of mercantilist economic policies helped to focus the finished goods held by the capitalist entrepreneur. At this stage of commercial development, another division of labor started, with mass production lowering the cost of production. The development of these industries was favored by state customs protectionism.
This new production system caused the transformation of the worker, who transformed into a proletarian worker. And in turn, it spun off from its trade union organization, appearing to gain freedom but actually being exposed to employment-friendly industrialists.
Improvements in Agriculture
The Dutch started the process of abandoning agricultural renewal, little by little, the three-year crop rotation. The others began to feed cattle in barns and introduced the planting and harvesting of forage crops. With these methods, the Netherlands prepared and accumulated intensive fodder crops to feed animals during winter, thus preventing food shortages suffered by the European population.
The agricultural technical innovations were introduced first in England, then in France, and subsequently in other countries. In England, three events caused the change in open-field agriculture in the closed field:
- The application of protective tariffs on textile production.
- The price increase that acquired British wool in continental European markets.
- The investment of large sums of money in the countryside by the urban bourgeoisie.
Tull is regarded as the greatest innovator of agriculture in England for making a number of innovations within a closed firm.
Reasons Why the Industrial Revolution Began in Great Britain
Britain had:
- Sufficient capital
- Raw materials
- A large labor force
- A well-developed transportation network
- A stable government
- A favorable business climate