Lower Orders of Northwestern Europe
Eddie Mina, Ashka Sheth, Nanditha Lakshmanan, Kristi Kwok
Family Life ● lived in full extended families (agrarian 2-4 gen)
● life expectancy was 30 years
● Love (17 years)o Social mobilityo Unwed Mother rejectiono “Follow your heart”
● Land= wealtho (Britain)
Nobility Gentry Yeoman
● Women worked as servants
● Men worked around the house o could leave home
Children● Children were essential & treated as adults (5-6)
o Education < farming & business ● Followed the role of their parents ● Arranged marriages at a young age ● Crime
o Increased crime in poorer classes o Tried as adults
● Careo Rich used wet nurses o the poor breastfeed
● premarital sex + illegitimate babies increased 20%o Infanticide (hospitals) -Edward
Agricultural Techniques/Practices● Growing populations+land
shortages=need to find new agricultural methods
● Landlords attempt to modernize agricultural practices→peasant revolts
● New Crops=turnip+clover (Netherlands), corn+potatoes (France)
● New Innovations=iron plows, crop rotation, and animal breeding
● Convertible Husbandry=English policy that prevents wasteful land fallowing every 2-3 years
Industrial Revolution
● Began in the late 18th century● Increased demand for production of goods and
services● "Hallmark of modern society"/"hallmark of a
nation's prosperity" ● Great Britian: Home of the Industrial Revolution,
largest free trade area in Europe● France: less workers, less resources, still more
profitable than other European countries ● The Netherlands: very prosperous, compared to GB
it was very late to receive some on the new technologies
Industrial Revolution cont.
● Textile production was a massive part of the Ind. Revolution
● Peasants in the countryside were the "basic units of production"
● The Lower class: more work for the lower class--they became the unskilled labor force
● Women in the Industrial Revolution
Primary Sources
● The Scullery Maid by Jean Baptiste Chardin in 1738
● This picture depicts a lower class or peasant woman cleaning in the kitchen.
Primary Sources● A pauper settlement at the St.
Clement Danes Parish in London 1776.
● Elizabeth Bridgen’s case with Christopher Plumely
