The Penguin Social History of Britain by Roy Porter
Author:Roy Porter
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780141926476
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2008-11-03T16:00:00+00:00
The economic infrastructure and tonic atmosphere of eighteenth-century England put prosperity within the reach of many. Obviously, growth was neither universal, uniform, nor linear. Trade moved in cycles. Capital investment, building, etc., fluctuated from boom to gloom and back again. Ebullience depended largely upon uncertain factors such as harvests and warfare, which affected prices, interest rates and the pulse of markets. Perhaps at some point during the century, the trade cycle supplanted the harvest as the heartbeat of the economy.
In an economy as regionally diverse, great dangers lurk in proposing general, national trends: one risks masking more than is revealed. One place’s meat was another’s poison. Chester’s decay as a port – the Dee silted up – was given the coup de grâce by the growth of Liverpool. The Worcestershire town of Bewdley stagnated after its merchants missed the boat of canal development. Nearby Stourport became a canal junction and outstripped it. In any case, it is folly to be categorical about economic movements: our statistics will not bear it.
Nevertheless, certain patterns of long-term development are discernible. The century dawned on an expansive note. Population, which had fallen between 1650 and 1680 and remained stagnant until the end of the seventeenth century, was beginning to climb once more. A population of only slightly over 5 million in 1700 had become 5.2 million by 1710. Commodity imports and exports were rising. The War of the Spanish Succession meant fat government contracts on items such as weapons, ships, uniforms and boots. Furthermore, imperial and commercial expansion was multiplying overseas trade outlets. From 1707, the Act of Union opened free trade with Scotland, providing ready markets for England’s manufactures. Not least, the early century was a time of hectic activity in the City. Because the Bank of England seemed to have made credit secure by linking investment with government, speculation in shares, and, above all, investment in government securities soared to new peaks. More companies were floated. The rich were gambling with surplus wealth rather than leaving it idle. The brisk business in patents indicates great expectations.
In the late 1710s and 1720s, however, this movement evaporated. Not all sectors were affected. Thus exports continued to move ahead. Worth £6.4 million in 1711, they went up to £7.5 million in 1721, £8.4 million in 1731, and, £9.1 million in 1741, the increases being due mainly to a steady rise in manufactures. Over 100 ships were leaving Bristol a year on the slave trade, with capacity for about 30,000 slaves. Between 1714 and 1760, imports rose 40 per cent and re-exports 50 per cent.
Yet in the 1720s the population rise ceased, in part because of waves of lethal epidemics ravaging the country. Typhus, typhoid and other fevers struck repeatedly, 1718–19, 1727–31 and 1740–42 being particularly severe spells. In a single year an epidemic could wipe out in a locality the population gains of a decade. Dr Hillary at Ripon reported the poor dying like flies in 1727: ‘Nor did any other method which art could
Download
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.
Africa | Americas |
Arctic & Antarctica | Asia |
Australia & Oceania | Europe |
Middle East | Russia |
United States | World |
Ancient Civilizations | Military |
Historical Study & Educational Resources |
Elizabeth by Philippa Jones(1928)
Mary Boleyn by Alison Weir(1566)
Traitors of the Tower by Alison Weir(1433)
A Journal of the Plague Year (Oxford World's Classics) by Daniel Defoe(1311)
A Short History of England by Simon Jenkins(1153)
Eleanor of Aquitaine by Marion Meade(1148)
Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively(1140)
The Real Middle Earth by Brian Bates(1126)
Life of Pi by Yann Martel(1118)
Queen Isabella by Alison Weir(1111)
Notes From a Small Island by Bill Bryson(1109)
London Under by Peter Ackroyd(1082)
American Idol by Richard Rushfield(987)
Tudors Versus Stewarts by Linda Porter(973)
Her Majesty's Spymaster by Stephen Budiansky(962)
Albion by Peter Ackroyd(919)
Cromwell, Our Chief Of Men by Fraser Antonia(885)
The Creation of Anne Boleyn by Susan Bordo(880)
Children Of England: The Heirs of King Henry VIII 1547-1558 by Weir Alison(872)
![](/ebook_detail_files/space.gif)