The Story of Enclosure and the Industrial Revolution, Part 2

Enclosure and the Industrial Revolution, Part 2 - The Three Enclosure Movements

2023.5.2 Nam Sangmin

The enclosure movement did not happen all at once over a short period of time. It took place slowly over a long span of time, and its character differed by period.

It is generally known as having occurred in two enclosure movements, but in reality it can be divided into three periods. To avoid confusion with existing knowledge, I will refer to the second phase as an early and a late period.

1. The 1st Enclosure (1455–1607)

As mentioned in Part 1, enclosure in the 16th century was driven by landlords seeking to maintain land income in the face of rising prices and falling rents. The land in question was common arable land: land that had long been cultivated under customary common farming arrangements was enclosed and turned into pasture. However, what made this problematic was that it was carried out not through agreement with peasants or legal procedure, but through coercion by landlords. At the time, enclosure was legally prohibited as part of peasant protection policy, but landlords pushed ahead in violation of the ban. As a result, despite its limited scale, it drew heavy public criticism and sparked a series of protest movements. Overall, the change amounted to only about 2%, but in some areas it was such a severe shock that entire villages disappeared.

The fact that landlords carried it out despite public condemnation and in violation of the law gives some sense of how deep their sense of crisis was. However, this also led later generations to view the entire enclosure movement that followed as if it were simply an illegal act by landlords defying the will of the state.

2. Early 2nd Enclosure (17th century to the first half of the 18th century)

Enclosure advanced significantly in the 17th century, with as much as 24% taking place during this period. Unlike in the 16th century, enclosure at this time was aimed at increasing the efficiency of farmland use and expanding grain production by converting commons and wasteland into cultivated land. It was also linked to the agricultural revolution of the 17th and 18th centuries (the Norfolk four-course rotation system), which I will explain in more detail later. Another reason was that the Corn Law enacted in 1660 guaranteed domestic grain prices above a certain level, thereby strengthening incentives for grain production.

However, enclosure in this period was basically carried out by agreement among interested parties, so despite being the most widespread, it caused few problems and therefore did not attract much social attention.

Then, by the 18th century, the enclosure movement stagnated amid a prolonged agricultural depression.

3. Late 2nd Enclosure (the Parliamentary Enclosure Movement, for about a century after the mid-18th century)

Enclosure in this period was carried out under acts of Parliament. For that reason, it is also called the Parliamentary Enclosure Movement. In fact, most of the harmful effects of enclosure occurred during this period.

Although the first Enclosure Act was enacted in 1604 by a Parliament composed mostly of landlords, most implementation took place over the short period from 1750 to 1830. Through this Parliamentary Enclosure Movement, about 20% of all enclosures across the entire period were carried out, and its impact on small farmers was even more destructive. This was largely because it was a sudden, extensive transformation implemented rapidly over a short period through legal compulsion, and also because it was tied to compulsory provisions in the Poor Laws.

As a result of parliamentary enclosure, medieval collective rights such as customary tenancy rights and common rights of use were completely extinguished, while manorial control rights or tax rights over land were converted into private property rights. The large numbers of rural unemployed created in this process fell into poverty, and it was only later, through the Industrial Revolution, that they found jobs and were relieved.

In the next installment, I will discuss the agricultural revolution, as well as the problems of the Poor Laws and urban guilds, which deepened the harmful effects of enclosure.

▶ Join the liberalism reading group:

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▶ Enclosure and the Industrial Revolution, Part 1:

https://band.us/band/76473539/post/615

▶ Enclosure and the Industrial Revolution, Part 2:

http://docs.google.com/document/d/1YNq19R4egRxctDt--Q63s8f4ZmAHlzPxW9yKdeko388/edit?usp=sharing

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Original title: 인클로저와 산업혁명 이야기 2

Author: Jayujuui 입문 독서토론모임

Date: 2023-05-04

Source: https://www.cfe.org/bbs/bbsDetail.php?cid=reading01&pn=3&idx=25588