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Full Description
This book traces the shift from medieval to modern institutions in English agriculture. It explores their importance for productivity growth, income distribution, and the contribution of agriculture to British economic development. Robert C. Allen's pioneering study shows that, contrary to the assumption of many historians, small-scale farmers in the open-field system were responsible for a considerable proportion of the productivity growth achieved between the middle ages and the nineteenth century. The process of enclosure and the replacement of these yeomen by large-scale tenant farming relying on wage labour had relatively little impact on the agricultural contribution to economic development during the industrial revolution. Enclosures and large farms enriched landowners without benefiting consumers, workers, or farmers.
Thoroughly grounded in the archival sources, and underpinned by rigorous economic analysis, Enclosure and the Yeoman is a scholarly and challenging reassessment of the history of English agriculture. It will be indispensable reading for all historians concerned with the making of modern Britain.
Contents
Part 1 The rise of the Yeoman and the landlord's agricultural revolution: enclosure in the South Midlands; enclosure and depopulation; the rise of the Yeoman; the disappearance of the Yeoman in the open fields. Part 2 Enclosure and productivity growth: the adoption of modern methods; yields and output; employment and labour productivity; rent increases and farm efficiency. Part 3 Capitalist agriculture and productivity growth: Yeomen, capitalist farmers and the growth in yields; labour shedding and the growth in productivity. Part 4 Agrarian change and industrialization: the failure of proto-industry and the origin of the surplus labour economy; the agricultural revolution and the growth of GDP. Part 5 The distribution of the benefits of technical progress: who gained from the agricultural revolution: the Yeoman alternative.
