Exam 8: Economy and Society Transformed: The Eighteenth Century

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Although there are problems with definition, there is evidence to suggest that the middle class grew during the eighteenth century, both in terms of numbers and of influence. The rise in influence came as the wealth of the middle class increased; commerce, trade, and industry came to assume greater roles in eighteenth-century society; and the distinctions between the nobility and the bourgeois lessened. Some historians argue that the rise of the bourgeoisie is responsible for many of the historical changes of the period, but this all-purpose explanation often misses many key factors. In particular, how the middle class was emerging throughout the early modern period, the lack of a middle-class consciousness, and the sense that the "middle class" remained a stepping-stone on the way to the desired noble status.

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This question asks students to discuss the changes in agriculture during the eighteenth century and to examine how these contributed to the broader availability of food during the eighteenth century. In doing so, students will consider the changes and the effect they had on food production as a whole. Answers should highlight the interconnected nature of these changes and speak to a broader sense of how the availability of food has a cumulative effect on population size. A good answer should provide:
$\bullet$ Reference to the commercialization of agriculture, which was the fundamental part of the move away from subsistence-based agriculture.
$\bullet$ An overview of the broader changes within agriculture and a discussion of how these increased agricultural productivity and contributed to the commercialization of agriculture. Possible topics to consider include:
o The introduction of new crops such as corn and potatoes. Potatoes allowed more food per acre and corn provided much-needed calories.
o Developments in relation to bringing more fallow land into regular production. This discussion should highlight the move away from the three-field system of rotation to the use of certain crops such as legumes and peas, and the use of convertible husbandry. Other possible topics to discuss here include the draining and reclaiming of low-lying land for agriculture. In highlighting the changing use of land, answers should focus on explaining why bringing more land into production resulted in more food.
$\bullet$ Connections between these small changes and their cumulative effect on society. This discussion should focus on explaining what the broader changes meant and how they increased agricultural efficiency and output. Elements to discuss include: improved nutrition and health, the reduction of infant mortality, and the increase in the standard of living for people.
$\bullet$ Excellent answers may also make reference to Thomas Malthus and his arguments in Essay on the Principle of Population (1798).