population growth

causes, impact

1600s population

• ‘25 = 4.1m

• ‘88 = 4.8m

• rate of pop growth = c 0.5% per yr

causes

migration

• large no. foreign migrants arrived ‘51

  • post civil war, commonwealth

  • religious toleration

    • lots ppl who had prev left returned

• econ migrants → british towns

  • lots = skilled weavers Low Countries

• internal migration → towns (ops)

  • urbanisation

  • ⭡ stable job security

  • ⭡ likely settle down + have big fam

mortality + fertility rates

• lower mortality rates

  • Bubonic Plague 1348 - ⭣ pop from 5m to 1.5m

  • after epidemic pop begun to steadily ⭡

  • ppl = better at dealing w disease (quarantining)

  • fams ⭡ confident in having children

  • relative domestic peace

• war ⭡ fertility rates

  • lots older siblings died

  • other siblings encouraged to marry younger to maintain land ownership

• marriages taking place earlier -

  • elite women - higher standard living for gentry

  • ⭡ employment ops

  • women fertile - have ⭡ children

    • higher chance survival

agriculture

• ⭡ demand due to pop growth

  • forced agriculture methods to evolve

  • mass production

  • sustained pop - allowed it to continue to ⭡

• ⭣ death rates

• employment ops

impacts

london

• employment ops (good job market)

• food abundance/sec

  • 1600-80 nearly 400% more grain = needed to feed london

• by 1700 over 9% pop lived london

• densely populated - soc-pol ideas spread faster

  • post ‘66 fire coffee houses = popularly used to discuss current affairs

• london impacted rural life

  • ⭡ agricultural demands + rural econ

  • cld support imports bc centre of road + shipping network

other towns

• ⭡ Norwich centre of east anglian cloth industry

• ⭡ Chester leather industry

• developed industrial centre in Bristol (processing, importing, trading of goods)

  • port town

poverty

• ⭡ poverty in towns

• competition for jobs

  • Norwich - lots ppl lived below poverty line

farmers

• initially pop ⭡ at reasonable rate

  • relatively easy to make profit

• post ‘50 -

• smaller farm owners pushed out jobs - x compete w efficiency of large amalgamated enclosed farms

  • many → reliant poor relief

  • worsened by inflation

• benefited wealthy large landowners

rural transport infrastructure

• need to transport more goods from industries in towns/rural areas around England

• some large landowners/town councils invested in improvement of rivers/roads + wagons