The present, or eighteenth edition, has been carefully revised by Miss M. E. Hirst, M.A., and in addition to such revision she has written a new chapter (Chapter VIII.) which treats of the New Age of Industrial Expansion. The Industrial History of England is thus continued from the point at which the author left it and is carried up to the year 1911.
CONTENTS | |
PERIOD I | |
ENGLAND BEFORE THE NORMAN CONQUEST | |
CHAP. I. INTRODUCTORY—THE ROMANS AND THEIR SUCCESSORS—TRADE | |
CHAP. II. THE LAND: ITS OWNERS AND CULTIVATORS | |
PERIOD II | |
FROM THE NORMAN CONQUEST TO THE REIGN OF HENRY III. (1066–1216 A.D.) | |
CHAP. I. DOMESDAY BOOK AND THE MANORS | |
CHAP. II. THE TOWNS AND THE GILDS | |
CHAP. III. MANUFACTURES AND TRADE: ELEVENTH TO THIRTEENTH CENTURIES | |
PERIOD III | |
FROM THE THIRTEENTH TO THE END OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY, INCLUDING THE GREAT PLAGUE (1216–1500) | |
CHAP. I. AGRICULTURE IN MEDIÆVAL ENGLAND | |
CHAP. II. THE WOOLLEN TRADE AND MANUFACTURES | |
CHAP. III. THE TOWNS, INDUSTRIAL VILLAGES, AND FAIRS | |
CHAP. IV. THE GREAT PLAGUE AND ITS ECONOMIC EFFECTS | |
CHAP. V. THE PEASANTS’ REVOLT OF 1381, AND THE SUBSEQUENT PROSPERITY OF THE WORKING CLASSES | |
PERIOD IV | |
FROM THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY TO THE EVE OF THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION (1509–1760) | |
CHAP. I. THE MISDEEDS OF HENRY VIII., AND ECONOMIC CHANGES IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY | |
CHAP. II. THE GROWTH OF FOREIGN TRADE | |
CHAP. III. ELIZABETHAN ENGLAND | |
CHAP. IV. PROGRESS OF AGRICULTURE IN THE SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES | |
CHAP. V. COMMERCE AND WAR IN THE SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES | |
CHAP. VI. MANUFACTURES AND MINING | |
PERIOD V | |
THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION AND MODERN ENGLAND | |
CHAP. I. THE EVE OF THE REVOLUTION | |
CHAP. II. THE EPOCH OF THE GREAT INVENTIONS | |
CHAP. III. WARS, POLITICS, AND INDUSTRY | |
CHAP. IV. THE FACTORY SYSTEM AND ITS RESULTS | |
CHAP. V. THE CONDITION OF THE WORKING CLASSES | |
CHAP. VI. THE RISE AND DEPRESSION OF MODERN AGRICULTURE | |
CHAP. VII. MODERN INDUSTRIAL ENGLAND | |
CHAP. VIII. THE NEW AGE, 1897–1911 | |
NOTE ON AUTHORITIES FOR INDUSTRIAL HISTORY | |
NOTES | |
INDEX | |
LIST OF MAPS AND DIAGRAMS | |
DIAGRAM OF A MANOR | |
ENGLAND SHORTLY AFTER THE TIME OF DOMESDAY, A.D. 1100–1200 | |
INDIA IN THE TIME OF CLIVE, SHOWING ENGLISH FACTORIES AND DISTRICTS UNDER OUR INFLUENCE | |
INDUSTRIAL ENGLAND, 1700–1750 | |
ENGLAND, SHOWING COAL-FIELDS AND CORRESPONDING MANUFACTURES | |
INDUSTRIAL ENGLAND, 1890 | |
THE INDUSTRIAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND
PERIOD I ENGLAND BEFORE THE NORMAN CONQUEST
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTORY—THE ROMANS AND THEIR SUCCESSORS—TRADE
§ 1.
Under Roman sway Britain reached a high level of prosperity, and there is abundant evidence of this fact from Roman writers. They speak of the rich natural productions of Britain, of its numerous flocks and herds, of its minerals, of its various commercial facilities, and of the revenues derived from these sources. {2}
We know that there were no less than fifty-nine cities in Britain in the middle of the third century A.D., and the population was probably fairly large, though we have no certain statistics upon this point.[1] Large quantities of corn were exported from the land, as many as 800 vessels being sent on one occasion to procure corn for the Roman cities in Germany. This shows a fairly advanced agriculture. Tin also was another important export, as indeed it has always been; and British slaves were constantly sent to the market at Rome. In the country itself great material works, such as walled towns, paved roads, aqueducts, and great public buildings were undertaken, and remained to testify to the greatness of their builders long after their name had become a distant memory. The military system of the Romans helped to produce industrial results, for the Roman soldiers took a prominent part in road-making, building dykes, working mines, and the great engineering operations that marked the Roman rule. The chief towns very largely owed their origin to their importance as military stations; and most of them, such as York, London, Chester, Lincoln, Bath, and Colchester, have continued ever since to be considerable centres of population, though of course with occasional fluctuations. When, however, the Romans finally left Britain (in A.D. 410), both trade and agriculture began to sink; the towns decayed; and for centuries England became the battle-ground of various predatory tribes from the Continent, who gradually effected a settlement, first in many kingdoms, but finally in one, and became known as “the English,” or the Anglo-Saxon nationality (A.D. 827).