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The Early Modern Economy - Manufacturing and (proto-)industry

5 important questions on The Early Modern Economy - Manufacturing and (proto-)industry

What determined the geographical location of industrial production?

The geographical location of industrial production was determined largely by the availability of labour.

What determined trends in industrial manufacture?

Trends in industrial manufacture were largely dictated by foreign demand in the distant markets for which many consumer goods were produced. During slumps, disinvestment could be instantaneous, throwing thousands of underemployed weavers out of work altogether.

What emerged in the late sixteenth century in terms of production?

The late sixteenth century also saw the emergence of new industries, often stimulated by mercantilist attempts to achieve national self-sufficiency in specific products: the first stirrings of small-scale production of such commodities as salt, soap, starch, alum, pins and thread, which subsequently made possible the consumer revolution of the eighteenth century, took place in this period.

What consequences did the diversification and specialization of industrial activity have for the settlements in which the manufacturing workforce lived?

The majority of industrial communities grew increasingly large and densely peopled, as a consequence both of attracting migrants in search of work and retaining those who were born there.
Coal-mining areas in particular were notorious for their disproportionate levels of population growth, but areas of textile production also experienced rapid demographic expansion caused both by in-migration and increased fertility, made possible by falling age at first marriage among wage-earning cloth workers.

What did the growth of an industrial sector imply?

The growth of an industrial sector implied that the agricultural workforce would need to become increasingly productive to meet rising levels of demand.

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Early Modern History

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