Rethinking the industrial revolution : five centuries of transition from agrarian to industrial capitalism in England / by Michael Andrew Zmolek.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Zmolek, Michael Andrew.

Contributor:

EBSCOhost

Rosengarten Family Fund.

Series:

Historical materialism book series ; v. 49.

Historical materialism book series ; v. 49

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Industrial revolution--England.

Industrial revolution.

Great Britain--Economic conditions.

Great Britain.

Economic conditions.

England.

Physical Description:

1 online resource.

Place of Publication:

Leiden : Brill, 2013.

System Details:

text file

Summary:

In Rethinking the Industrial Revolution: Five Centuries of Transition from Agrarian to Industrial Capitalism in England, Michael Andrew Zmolek offers the first in-depth study of the evolution of English manufacturing from the feudal and early modern periods within the context of the development of agrarian capitalism. With an emphasis on the relationship between Parliament and working Britons, this work challenges readers to 'rethink' the common perception of the role of the state in the first industrial revolution as essentially passive. The work chronicles how a long train of struggles led by artisans resisting efforts by employers to transform production along capitalist lines, prompted employers to appeal to the state to suppress this resistance by coercion. Book jacket.

Contents:

Part 1 England Transformed

Manufacturing and Agrarian Capitalism, 1348-1783

1 The Pre-History of Industry 47

Wage labour and the guilds 49

The evolution of the guild system in England 57

Queen Betty's law 66

The economic context in Tudor and Stuart Times 70

Nef's 'early industrial revolution' 74

'Capitalism' in medieval and early modern mining 81

Mining and agrarian capitalism: the instructive case of Whickham 86

The so-called phase of proto-industrialisation 91

Conclusion 101

2 Parliament and Revolution 105

The crisis of the early seventeenth century 107

Parliament's civil war 116

Restoration to Glorious Revolution 136

The post-revolution settlement 146

The glorious financial revolution 148

'Free trade' 156

Conclusion 162

3 Agrarian Capitalism: The Key to Britain's Rise to Power 165

Views on the relationship between agriculture and manufacturing 166

War, debt and the land tax 171

The storm before the calm 174

Stability and 'old corruption' 182

The so-called agrarian depression: 1730-50 192

The return to war and the '45 206

Conclusion 212

4 An Empire in Crisis 215

Pitt and empire 218

The emergence of popular politics: Wilkes and George III 223

Rebellion at home and abroad 235

The survival of empire 244

Conclusion 248

5 Harvesting the Agrarian Revolution 253

The end of the demographic pause 256

Internal and external expansion 259

Parliamentary enclosures and the consequences of increasing agrarian productivity 265

The great enclosure debate 270

Conclusion 279

Part 2 'Such Machines... As Cannot Err'

Capital and Technology in the Making of Industrial England, 1700-1800

6 Technology and History 283

The ahistoricism of technological determinism 288

The technology of Antiquity 301

Medieval to early modern technology 307

The technology of the Industrial Revolution 322

Conclusion 338

7 The Social Origins of the Factory 343

'Plen-ty of time': The multifarious conditions of labour, 1700-60 348

Wages and the emerging labour market 355

Concentration and regional specialisation 359

Solutions for poverty 368

The first factory 379

'A gymcrak of some consequence' 384

The turning point 393

Conclusion 396

8 Factories and Machinery 401

Wedgwood 403

The specific role of machinery 415

Manufacture versus machinofacture 420

'King Cotton' and the cotton king: from factory to factory system 428

Technological versus organisational innovation 444

Discipline and control 451

The arrival of the power-loom 455

Conclusion 457

9 Capital and industry 461

Woollens and worsted 462

Linen: the second-class textile 467

Iron and steam 469

Mining 479

Beer, paper and chemicals 483

The capitalist 490

Origins and definitions of capital 495

Conclusion 500

Part 3 Custom's Last Stand

The Rise and Fall of Artisan-Led Resistance to Capitalism in England, 1783-1848

10 Custom and Law 509

The paradox of custom 511

'A Whig state of mind': political economy, the bloody code and the decline of paternalism 521

'Is there any principle in these things?': the return of radicalism 532

'You offer no motives': outdoor relief and the problem of the poor 548

Conclusion 555

11 Rebellion and Reaction 557

'A tribute to Welsh pluck1: invasion, rebellion and mutiny 558

The Radicals are drinking Pitt's health': the Combination Acts in context 562

The tension within radicalism 572

'So simple is the plan, so faithful are the men' 577

The second generation of industrialists in charge 583

War, commerce and British Capitalism 585

Luddism and the repeal of Queen Betty's law 592

Conclusion 603

12 Class and the State 609

The postwar crisis 614

The 'Malthusian moment' 618

'Bread or blood' 624

The makings of a working class 633

'A land of Roast Beef and Plum-Pudding' 643

'A ramshackle and cumbersome machinery of government' 646

'A prey to be plundered': the reversal of the combination laws 656

Conclusion 673

13 Reform and the Oligarchy 677

High politics 678

Swing 688

'No kings, No lords, No inequalities' 697

Free labour 709

Grand Union 716

The New Poor Law 727

Capital formation and the railway boom 738

Conclusion 744

14 Chartists and Liberals 749

The People's Charter and the National Petition 750

The age of petitioning 761

The strike of 1842 765

Reform and disorder under Peel 768

Repeal of the Corn Laws and the Irish Potato Famine 773

'All men are brethren' 778

'A paddock and a pigsty' 785

Conclusion 790.

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Electronic reproduction. Ipswich, MA Available via World Wide Web.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Rosengarten Family Fund.

ISBN:

9004251790

9789004251793

Publisher Number:

99955108505

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.