Food Riots During Eighteenth Century Europe Food riots were a form of popular protest generally held to have been common between the seventeenth, eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Food riots were a knee jerk reaction to shortages and unacceptable inflation in the price of necessities[1] . The eighteenth century was particularly prone to this reactionary form of collective action[2] and in order to understand why I have looked at the political and social circumstances within Europe at that time. Food riots were not the only form of protest going on in this period. Wage movements, city riots and peasant rebellions are also evident; however, food riots were the most common. They made up 175 of the documented 275 riots in England between 1735 and 1800 and another 100 such riots in France between 1724 and 1789. Food riots are simply a reaction to the basic human need for food. The population of Europe in the 1740s and 50s increased by a third, especially in France and England which bore the brunt of food riots. Bread was the staple diet and a large chunk of the household budget, up to 50%, was not an uncommon sum spent on acquiring it. Any shortage or price increase would have a devastating effect on the poorest families. Supply and demand was a key factor, harvest failures would create shortages and this was a constant threat due to unpredictability of the weather and rudimentary methods of cultivation. It does not require a genius to work out that a bad harvest and population increase would unbalance the status quo. The baking and milling industries reacted to the pressure for finer, whiter bread by adding alum and... ... middle of paper ... ...The notion of what you or I consider necessities and what constitutes the poverty line may have changed but hunger will always be hunger no matter how people try to dress it up or play it down and desperate times will always invoke desperate measures. Such is the nature of the human survival instinct. --------------------------------------------------------------------- [1] www.questia.com, Food Riots revisited, Lynne Taylor [2] (Ibid) [3] Schama S, 2004, “Citizens, A Chronicle of the French Revolution”, Penguin, London, p66 [4] (Ibid), p68 [5] (Ibid), p68 [6] (Ibid), p317 [7] www.questia.com, Food Riots revisited, Lynne Taylor [8] Bohstedt J, 1983, Riots and Community Politics in England and Wales, Cambridge MA, pp 21-26 [9] Thompson E P, 1991, The Moral Economy Reviewed, p335
The causes of the peasants’ revolt included lack of compensation for services, feelings of spiritual inequality, lords refusing peasant freedom without reimbursement, and the peasants’ manipulation of Lutheran principles; while the responses to the revolt incorporated negativity, violence, and authority
The Black Death went through Europe in 1348-1351 which killed about 30% of the population. This really affected the English peasants because there was a labor shortage, and food was almost nonexistent. Even about thirty years later, life still wasn’t normal, the nice country life of the Middle Ages was gone, and unhappiness was common amongst the poor. The peasant’s revolt in medieval England was caused by unfair punishments, and treating the peasant’s like slaves.
Even though the critical aid of Indians had saved the settlers in Virginia from extinction, conflict—rooted in both ideological and practical reasons—was a prevalent tone in the relations between Virginian settlers and Indians during the 17th century. The undesirable relations began in the first months of the Jamestown colony. The early colonists in Jamestown viewed the Indians as savages and expressed hostility towards them. Captain John Smith established an unstable relationship with the Indians, occasionally stealing food from them. Tensions increased even further when tobacco cultivation became prominent in Virginia, which increased the demand for land as farmers required large tracts of farmland for tobacco cultivation. This increased demand for land caused settlers to expand into areas claimed by Indians. In fact, one of the major causes of Bacon’s Rebellion, the most powerful uprising against authority in North America prior to the Revolution, was the desire to expand into Native American lands. The series of conflicts that triggered Bacon’s rebellion began when Doeg Indians assaulted a plantation in retaliation for intrusions upon native land. White settlers struck back at the Indians in
In late 1600’s, England was in turmoil from events as King Phillip’s War to the Bacon Rebellion. All this chaos caused disorder all throughout England but it reached its height in the 1680’s when King James's policies of religious tolerance was met with an increasing opposition. People were troubled by the king's religion and devotion to Catholicism and his close ties with France and how he was trying to impose Catholicism on everyone, preventing them from worshiping anything else. This made the Protestant unhappy. It was seen that the crisis came to its peak with the birth of the king's son, James Francis Edward Stuart in 1688. In 1688, the struggle for domination of English government between Parliament and the crown reached its peak in the Glorious Revolution. This bloodless revolution occurred in which the English people decided that it’s enough that they tolerated King James and his extreme religious tolerance
The northern areas of America may have been known as a retreat for free slaves; however, in early and mid 18th century slaves received treatment which could be compared to those enslaved in the southern regions of America.
The French Revolution evokes many different emotions and controversial issues in that some believe it was worth the cost and some don't. There is no doubt that the French Revolution did have major significance in history. Not only did the French gain their independence, but an industrial revolution also took place. One of the main issues of the Revolution was it's human costs. Two writers, the first, Peter Kropotkin who was a Russian prince, and the other Simon Schama, a history professor, both had very opposing views on whether the wars fought by France during the Revolution were worth it's human costs. Krapotkin believed that the French Revolution was the main turning point for not only France but for most other countries as well. On the other hand, Schama viewed the French Revolution as unproductive and excessively violent.
9) The effect of the “storming of the Bastille” on the revolutionary moment was it caused the king to pull back his troops and it saved the National Assembly. This caused a rebellious spirit to move across the county.
Even though closely related to poverty, not all that have food insecurities are in poverty. Often it is the working poor that are hit the hardest. The working poor are a group that, despite having a job, their income is too low to meet their needs or that of their family. Most of the working poor (56%) live in families with children, so the poverty of these workers affects many others as well (Problems Facing the Working Poor, Kim 1999). Many lower to middle class families will temporarily struggle with food insecurity at various times during the year.
During the election of 1800, Thomas Jefferson succeeded in defeating the incumbent, John Adams, and assumed the presidency. In terms of elections though, the election of 1800 itself was a fascinating election in that it a heavily-contested election and was effectively the first time political parties ran smear campaigns against each other during an election. The Republican Party attacked the Federalists for being anti-liberty and monarchist and tried to persuade the public that the Federalists were abusing their power through acts such as the Alien & Sedition Acts and the suppression of the Whiskey Rebellion (Tindall and Shi 315). The Federalists, on the other hand, attacked Jefferson for his atheism and support of the French Revolution and warned that his election would result in chaos (316). By the end of the presidential election, neither Adams nor Jefferson emerged with his reputation completely intact. Still, rather than an election between Adams and Jefferson, the election of 1800 ultimately boiled down to a deadlock between Jefferson and his vice presidential candidate, Aaron Burr, who each held seventy-three electoral votes, resulting in the election was sent to the House of Representatives. In the end, the deadlock was resolved only by Alexander Hamilton, whose immense hate for Burr allowed Jefferson to claim the presidency. However, the election of 1800 was more than just a simple presidential election. The election of 1800 was the first peaceful transfer of power from the incumbent party to the opposition and represented a new step in politics, as well as a new direction in foreign policy that would emerge from Jefferson’s policies, and to this extent, the election of 1800 was a revolution.
Throughout France in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries majority of the population consisted of peasants who lived in rural areas across an estimated thirty thousand different villages. The lives of these peasants consisted of hard physical labour that usually took place on farms that they rented from a seigneur . “Life was a struggle to grow enough to feed families and meet obligations. Crop yields were relatively low, and the average villager did not own enough land to live comfortably on what it could produce” . This paper will cover peasant revolts in France during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, as well as their suppressions. Two different kinds of revolts will be looked at, tax revolts and religious revolts. The two kinds of revolts will then be compared and analysed.
the same value as the other orders. Despite the social rifts surrounding the political debate of mid-1789, most contemporaries. fervently sought social unity. This suggests that social unrest may not necessarily have been the basic cause of the outbreak of the Revolution. The.
Many of the French people were left without homes, food or livestock, they were about to face a harsh winter and were unsure if they had enough seeds to plant crops the following year. The climatic changes that occurred over Europe had drastic consequences for agriculture, resulting in malnutrition which pre-disposed the populace to disease. Inflation increased and famine soon spread across Europe, resulting in many deaths. Around 1339, Europe’s population began to increase, this growth began to surpass the capacity of the land to feed its populace. Therefore, a severe economic crisis began to emerge....
The French revolution “broke” Europe. The whole world changed once the effects of the revolution spread through Europe. The series of events that followed the revolution because of the revolution shapes the world today. The general population (the 3rd estate) had enough of absolutism. King Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette were unpopular. This resulted from multiple things including England humiliating France in the Seven Years War, rising food prices (Hart-Davis 302). They had also been the laughing stock of France due to the fact that they couldn’t have a child for years and Louis XIV was short and fat, not necessarily fitting the mold of a king. They didn’t like Marie Antoinette because of her various, expensive indulgences while her country was starving (The French Revolution). The revolution started in 1789 when the 3rd estate decided they had had enough of the system. The Legislative Assembly was formed out of the National Assembly which was formed to reform France. The Legislative Assembly functioned with the king in power as a constitutional monarchy until August 10, 1792 when a mob forced Louis XVI out of his home (Betts). The Assembly declared war on Austria and Prussia (Betts), both of which also fought in the Seven Years War (Hart-Davis 298). In 1792 France was established as a republic and the terror began. Danton and Robespierre gained power and all enemies were suppressed. The two major political parties, the Girodins and the Jacobans fought for power which was won by the Jacobans led by Robespierre. The Girodins had more moderate views of the revolution while the Jacobans wanted radical change. Robespierre was executed in July of 1794 and a new constitution fell into place. A new government was set up for the...
Food during the medieval times was very different from the modern-day food that most people are accustomed to today. For example, drinking alcoholic beverages was as routine as drinking water today. Also, food was not only used to nourish yourself, food served as a measure of wealth and social status. Food with lots of herbs and spices was an indicator of affluence serving as a symbol, because the rich could afford herbs and spices. However, herbs and spices were not only used to determine social status, they had another very important use. Medicine during the medieval ages relied heavily on various types of foods such as but not limited to herbs and spices. These three aspects of food during the medieval ages exemplify the major aspects which
The French Revolution was based a single feeling. This feeling was injustice and the commoners were sick of being persecuted by the higher monarchies. They stood up to the “big guys” and fought for what they believed in and ended up changing History. Throughout all periods of History, there have been many revolutions. According to Merriam-Webster, the definition of a revolution is a sudden, extreme, or complete change in the way people lived or worked. There are many different reasons why a revolution might happen. Some revolutions were caused due to politics, and others were caused by the economics of a country. There were even social and cultural revolutions. France experienced a revolution in the seventeenth and eighteenth century because