Question

England in the 18th century was most favorably placed for an Industrial Revolution. Discuss the role of the following factor in stimulating industrial expansion:

Enclosure Movement

Answer 1

The role of the given factors in stimulating industrial expansion in England in the 18th Century are described as under:

Enclosure Movement: In the early years of the 18th-century land-farming in England was done in common. Each village-owned three or four fields and every house-holder owned a certain number of acre-strips in each field. Big landlords, with money to spend on farming machinery, wanted to consolidate their holdings. The Acts of Parliament enabled them to buy the land of their neighbours. Thus, the big landlords could convert their acre strips into huge enclosed farms. An enclosed farm was surrounded by a wall or fence which separated it from another such farm, the small farmers, who had sold their land, became landless labourers. Many of them migrated to the cities to work in factories. Thus, there was no paucity of workers in the newly-grown industrial towns.