Economic Change and the Expansion of the State (^) ‹ 97
- The enclosure movement made England into a society characterized by
A. great economic inequity
B. great economic opportunity
C. industrialization
D. urbanization
Short Answer- Briefly explain the rise of technical innovation in eighteenth-century agriculture.
Illustrate your explanation with THREE examples.
Answers and Explanations- D is correct as the passage asserts that Parliament and local justices of the peace “ena-
bled [large landowners] to redistribute the land in their own favor.” A is incorrect as
the passage indicates that Parliament and local justices of the peace looked out for
the interests of the landowning classes, not of the agricultural laborers. B is incorrect
because nothing in the passage refers to political innovation. C is incorrect because the
passage indicates that Parliament and local justices of the peace helped to bring about
enclosure, which was an agricultural innovation. - B is correct because the passage indicates that the commissioners who oversaw the peti-
tioning process were of the landowning class and “awarded themselves the best land and
the most of it.” A is incorrect because the passage makes no reference to urban industry.
C is incorrect because the passage clearly indicates that the process favored the land-
owning class. D is incorrect because the passage makes no reference to cottage industry. - A is correct because the last sentence of the passage indicates that enclosure created an
England in which the landowning classes had great, landed estates, while the peasantry
was “marginal,” and the rest of the population were reduced to being “wage laborers.”
B is incorrect because the passage makes no reference to enclosure furthering economic
opportunity. C and D are incorrect because the passage makes no reference to indus-
trialization or urbanization. - Suggested answer:
Thesis: The rise of technical innovation in eighteenth-century agriculture was a response to
the rising demand for food and goods created by an increasing population. The process of
innovation was spurred on by its reciprocal nature, as innovation in one sector of the process
created a demand for innovation in other sectors.
Paragraph Outline:
I. For example, the increasing population created an increased demand for textile produc-
tion. That demand created a need for faster ways to process larger amounts of wool and
cotton goods. As a response, the flying shuttle was developed in 1733 to increase the speed
at which cloth could be woven; the spinning jenny was developed in the 1760s to increase
the amount of thread that could be spun by a single spinner; and the cotton gin was
developed in 1793 to increase the speed with which seeds could be removed from cotton.
II. The process of innovation in one aspect of textile production created a demand for inno-
vation in other aspects. By doubling the speed at which cloth could be woven, the flying
shuttle created a demand for greater amounts of thread. That demand was met by the
spinning jenny, which increased the amount of thread that could be produced by a single
spinner, but that in turn created a demand for faster, more efficient harvesting of cotton.
That demand was met by the cotton gin.PRACTICE14_Bartolini_Ch14_089-098.indd 97 27/04/18 1:54 PM