In the Middle Ages, much of Europe was sparsely populated. People lived in small settlements separated by lawless wilderness, so they had to be self-reliant.
Category: history of economic growth
The End of Feudalism
Feudalism ended when the factors that had supported it disappeared: small and isolated populations, limited markets, the dominance of the knight in warfare.
Why Were the Americas so Underdeveloped when Europeans Reached Them?
Eurasia was able to produce food surpluses more than a thousand years before the Americas. Food surpluses led to specialization, which led to rapid development.
Economic Ideology and the Glorious Revolution
At the time of the Glorious Revolution, an ideology that emphasized the value of labour pushed aside an ideology that justified the power of the landowners.
The Industrial Revolution
Britain experienced a period of rapid technological progress that forever changed the nature of work, and that allowed it to dominate markets around the world.
The Steam Engine
The steam engine powered a new generation of industrial machinery, and gave rise to modes of transportation that would stitch the world together.
The Scientific Revolution, the Enlightenment, and the Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was one aspect of a dramatic change in the way that people thought of themselves and the world in which they lived.
Why Did the Industrial Revolution Happen in Britain in the Eighteenth Century?
The Industrial Revolution occurred because labour was expensive relative to capital and coal, making technologies that replaced labour with machines profitable.
The Nineteenth-Century Rules for Growth
Britain’s first-mover advantage meant that other countries could not compete with it under free markets. They responded with a variety of protective policies.
The Second Industrial Revolution
The Second Industrial Revolution produced a range of new technologies, including industrial chemistry, electric power, and the internal combustion engine.
Merchants and Mechanics 