Glossary
Agricultural Revolution
A period of significant agricultural innovation and increased productivity in Europe, particularly from the 17th to 19th centuries.
Example:
The Agricultural Revolution provided the surplus food and raw materials necessary to support the growing urban populations and industrial workforce.
Black Death
A severe pandemic of bubonic plague that swept through Europe in the mid-14th century, causing massive population decline.
Example:
The Black Death significantly reduced Europe's population, leading to labor shortages and changes in social structures.
Columbian Exchange
The widespread transfer of plants, animals, culture, human populations, technology, diseases, and ideas between the Americas, West Africa, and the Old World in the 15th and 16th centuries.
Example:
The Columbian Exchange introduced new crops like potatoes and corn to Europe, which became staple foods and supported population growth.
Enclosure
The process of consolidating small, scattered landholdings and common lands into larger, privately owned farms, often fenced off.
Example:
Enclosure led to more efficient commercial farming but displaced many rural laborers who then sought work in cities.
Enlightenment Ideas
Intellectual and philosophical movements of the 18th century emphasizing reason, individualism, and human rights, influencing political and social reform.
Example:
Enlightenment ideas about individual liberty and government responsibility fueled calls for reform and better conditions for the working poor in industrializing societies.
Factory System
A method of manufacturing using machinery and division of labor, where workers are brought together in a central location (the factory) to produce goods.
Example:
The factory system replaced traditional cottage industries, leading to mass production but also new forms of labor discipline and social organization.
Industrial Revolution
A period of major industrialization and innovation that began in Great Britain in the late 18th century, transforming economies from agrarian and handicraft-based to industrial and machine-based.
Example:
The Industrial Revolution fundamentally reshaped European society, leading to the growth of factories, new social classes, and rapid urbanization.
James Watt
A Scottish inventor and mechanical engineer whose improvements to the Newcomen steam engine were fundamental to the Industrial Revolution.
Example:
James Watt's more efficient steam engine made it possible to power machinery in factories far from water sources, accelerating industrial growth.
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu
An English aristocrat and writer who championed the practice of smallpox inoculation in Britain after observing it in the Ottoman Empire.
Example:
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu's advocacy for inoculation helped introduce a crucial public health measure to Western Europe.
Poorhouses
Public institutions established to house and provide work for the poor, often in exchange for labor.
Example:
As poverty increased in industrial cities, poorhouses were established to manage the growing number of destitute individuals.
Prisons
Facilities for the confinement of individuals convicted of crimes or awaiting trial.
Example:
The rise in urban crime during the Industrial Revolution led to an increased need for and reform of prisons as a means of social control.
Seed Drill
An agricultural tool invented by Jethro Tull that sowed seeds at specific depths and intervals, greatly increasing crop yields.
Example:
The invention of the seed drill made planting more efficient and reduced seed waste, leading to higher agricultural output.
Smallpox Inoculation
An early medical practice of introducing a small amount of smallpox material into a person to induce immunity, predating vaccination.
Example:
Thanks to early efforts in smallpox inoculation, many lives were saved, contributing to the 18th-century population boom.
Steam Engine
A heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid, famously improved by James Watt.
Example:
The widespread adoption of the steam engine powered factories, locomotives, and ships, becoming a symbol of the Industrial Revolution's technological might.
Thirty Years' War
A devastating European conflict (1618-1648) primarily fought in Central Europe, which led to widespread death, displacement, and resource destruction.
Example:
The Peace of Westphalia, which ended the Thirty Years' War, reshaped the political map of Europe and established the concept of state sovereignty.
Urbanization
The process by which populations shift from rural to urban areas, leading to the growth of cities.
Example:
Rapid urbanization during the Industrial Revolution created overcrowded cities with new challenges related to sanitation, housing, and crime.
Workhouses
Institutions where the poor were offered accommodation and employment, often under harsh conditions, in exchange for their labor.
Example:
Many impoverished individuals faced the grim choice of starvation or entering a workhouse, where conditions were often deliberately harsh to deter idleness.