Agricultural Revolution Flashcards

Flashcards covering key vocabulary and concepts related to the Agricultural Revolution during the Industrial Revolution.

Open-field farming

Traditional farming before the Industrial Revolution where villagers produced enough food for their community using three large fields with crop rotation.

Advantages of Open-Field Farming

Every farmer received land, land was shared equally, and enough crops were produced to satisfy basic needs.

Disadvantages of Open-Field Farming

One-third of the land was left unplanted, pathways wasted space, time wasted traveling, weeds and diseases spread easily, and there was little opportunity to try new methods.

Enclosure Movement

Landlords enclosed lands of farmers, merging and fencing pieces of land to form big farms.

Agriculture after the Revolution

Large open fields turned into smaller farms owned by wealthy farmers, separated by hedges or stone walls, with smaller farms leased to the public.

Seed Drill

Invention by Jethro Tull that planted three rows of seeds at a time, changing how seeds were planted.

Selective breeding

Farmers started selectively breeding sheep and cattle, mating only the largest and strongest animals to produce offspring with great characteristics.

Crop Rotation

Rotating crops involved planting fields with a different crop each year to maintain soil fertility, increasing productivity.

Advantages of Enclosed Farming

Increased productivity, decreased overgrazing, improved soil conservation, and agricultural innovation.

Disadvantages of Enclosed Farming

Increased unemployment of small farmers and increased social inequality.

Objective of the Enclosure Movement

Landlords combined small strips of land to form bigger farms to raise productivity and use machines.

Results of the Enclosure Movement

Landowners became more invested, experimented with new techniques, and small farmers moved to cities for work.

Impact of Enclosure Movement on Landlords

Landlords could build big farms and use machines to raise production.

Impact of Enclosure Movement on Farmers

Farmers were forced to lose their land and could not make a living.

Impact of Enclosure Movement on Factory Owners

Farmers moved to cities, providing a sufficient labor force.

Seed Drill Advantages

Improved seed growth and reduced the number of farmers needed.

Reapers

New farming machines used to harvest crops faster than using sickles.

Crop Rotation System

Planting different crops on the land each year to enrich the soil and grow crops each year.

Advantage of Crop Rotation

Increased production without needing to fallow land, providing animal food.

Scientific Breeding Methods

Used scientific breeding methods to replace natural ones, choosing only the best animals to breed.

Impacts of Scientific Feeding and Breeding

Increased meat quality and milk production and more food and wool for the increasing population.

Advantage of Scientific Breeding

Improved animal quality, shortened growth time, and increased meat production.

Importance of Agricultural Revolution to Industrial Revolution

The Agricultural Revolution provided raw materials and food, while the Industrial Revolution provided machines.