Woloch And The Agricultural Revolution

Woloch’s second driving force that brought Europe into the modern age circled around the Agricultural Revolution that occurred during the eighteenth century. England utilized Dutch and Flemish practices to increase their crop production which allowed England to catapult its people into a more effective farming custom. Usually, farmers would leave certain pieces of land idle in order to keep it fertile, but this proved to be a rather poor technique and a waste of time and land (Woloch 141). England’s innovation in its husbandry techniques could be seen in three major changes. The first was the English began to cultivate all land by reclaiming wastelands and dividing up sections of arable land for people to use. They would plant meadows with

The second shift occurred on a larger scale by using larger pieces of land to produce crops rather than rely on smaller pieces of land, which was the more traditional way to farm (Woloch 141). Lastly, the English began to introduce new crops that helped raise livestock, which resulted in an increase in crop production (Woloch 141). By integrating livestock with each other, farmers would access more usable manure which helped them maintain a successful and innovative farm. “In short, the land would always be growing something of value,” according to Woloch (142). These innovations began in England, but eventually had an impact on the rest of Europe (141-142)

Historians were able to monitor economic growth in the eighteenth century as a result of increased crop production. An increase in crop production meant a better working economy. If agricultural prices were too high, people would go hungry and suffer. If the prices were too low, then there could be, according to Woloch, economic stagnation,

These ideas were raised by a group of Enlightenment thinkers known as the Philosophes. The philosophes believed that everyone should critically analyze their institutions (like the Church) as a way to improve their society (Smith Week 6 Notes). In fact, many ideas that seem common to people today, were quite radical at the time they were first discussed (Smith Week 6 Notes). The first new idea, skepticism, was introduced by Pierre Bayle, who studied Rene Descartes’ Discourse on Method. Working off of Descartes, Bayle introduced criticisms for the church by pointing out their moral hypocrisies which could be found in the Bible (Woloch 188). Bayle questioned many aspects of Christianity, like the Scripture, religious belief, morality, and its history (Woloch 188). Even though he was devout, Bayle believed the Bible was merely a “set of myths” that were intended to “terrify and appeal to the emotions of those who could not or would not think for themselves” (Woloch 188). This idea of skepticism was highly criticized for having the potential to lead to unbelief and atheism, but allowed the Enlightenment to happen since the Enlightenment focused on change and critical analysis. Europe also had a variety of religions, each vying for toleration within their nation. Due to the high volume of religious wars fought in Europe, many political leaders chose to tolerate religions more and more as a way to ensure stability and