Population Revolution in Eighteenth-Century Europe

In late seventeenth-century Europe, what had been evolution in population followed by stabilization changed to population revolution. Increasing contacts with the Americas brought more sophisticated knowledge of the advantages of new foods, particularly the potato. Originally a cool-weather mountain crop in the Americas, potatoes did well in the Pyrenees, Alps, and Scottish Highlands. They also grew well in the long, damp springtime of the northwest European plain. Whatever hesitancy peasants may have felt about eating potatoes quickly passed when famine threatened; after all, people who in famines desperately consumed grass, weeds, and the bark of trees hardly would have hesitated to eat a potato. By the later eighteenth and the nineteenth century, American foods had become the principal foodstuffs of many rural folk. Various agricultural publicists promoted adoption of these foods, and peasants found that potatoes could allow subsistence on smaller plots of land. Fried potatoes soon began to be sold on the streets of Paris in the 1680s, the original French fries. Governments, eager to promote population growth as a source of military and economic strength, also backed the potato.

 

Along with new foods, some landowners began to introduce other innovations. The nutritional base for a population revolution combined regional changes with the use of American foods. Dutch and English farmers drained more swamps and so increased cultivable land. Agricultural reformers further promoted the use of crops such as the turnip that return valuable nitrogen to the soil. Improvements in available tools, such as growing use of the scythe instead of the sickle for harvesting, and better methods of raising livestock also spread. All this took shape from the late seventeenth century onward, building on earlier agricultural changes. At the same time, rates of epidemic disease declined, in part because of more effective government controls over the passage of people and animals along traditional plague routes from the Middle East. It was the change in foods that really counted, however.

 

These developments provided a framework for an unprecedented surge. In virtually every area of Europe, the population increased by 50 to 100 percent in the eighteenth century, with the greatest growth coming after 1750. The Hapsburg Empire grew from 20 million to 27 million people; Spain rose from 5 million to 10 million, and Prussia rose from 3 million to 6 million. Growth would continue throughout the nineteenth century. In Europe as a whole, population rose from 188 million in 1800 to 401 million in 1900. This was an upheaval of truly impressive proportions.

 

The population explosion resulted from a break in the traditional, if approximate, balance between births and deaths in European society. In England between 1700 and 1750, approximately 32.8 people were born annually for every 1,000 inhabitants, and 31.5 people died. Similarly, in Lombardy in the eighteenth century, 39 people were born and 37 people died for every 1,000 inhabitants. Clearly, a major alteration had to occur in either the birth or the mortality rate before the expansion of population could begin. In fact, both rates changed: families began to have more children, and a lower percentage of the population died each year. Lower infant death rates meant more people living to produce children of their own, though falling adult death rates also increased the number of older Europeans.

 

While historians continue to debate the precise balance of causes involved in these dramatic changes, basic outlines are clear. Better food and a reduction in the epidemic-disease cycle allowed more children to live to adulthood, which increased the population directly and also provided more parents for the next generation, a double impact. Rapidly increasing populations provided a new labor force for manufacturing. In the eighteenth century, this mainly involved hundreds of thousands of people, mostly rural, producing thread, cloth, and other products for market sale. This manufacturing expansion helped sustain the growing population, but it could also encourage a higher birth rate. Some people, able to earn money by their late teens, began to produce children earlier; the rate of illegitimate births went up. Others realized that having an extra child or two might help the family economy by providing additional worker-assistants. While death-rate decline was the most important source of Europe’s population explosion, various changes on the birth rate side, though quite short-lived, pushed the population up as well.

 

 

 

【Paragraph 1】In late seventeenth-century Europe, what had been evolution in population followed by stabilization changed to population revolution. Increasing contacts with the Americas brought more sophisticated knowledge of the advantages of new foods, particularly the potato. Originally a cool-weather mountain crop in the Americas, potatoes did well in the Pyrenees, Alps, and Scottish Highlands. They also grew well in the long, damp springtime of the northwest European plain. Whatever hesitancy peasants may have felt about eating potatoes quickly passed when famine threatened; after all, people who in famines desperately consumed grass, weeds, and the bark of trees hardly would have hesitated to eat a potato. By the later eighteenth and the nineteenth century, American foods had become the principal foodstuffs of many rural folk. Various agricultural publicists promoted adoption of these foods, and peasants found that potatoes could allow subsistence on smaller plots of land. Fried potatoes soon began to be sold on the streets of Paris in the 1680s, the original French fries. Governments, eager to promote population growth as a source of military and economic strength, also backed the potato.

 

1. Paragraph 1 suggests that the European population before the late seventeenth century had been

A. growing slowly and then not at all

B. changing in distribution but not in the overall number of people

C. decreasing at a small but stable rate

D. alternating between periods of slow and fast growth

 

2. The word “sophisticated” in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. quickly obtained

B. highly developed

C. widely distributed

D. easily understood

 

3. Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.

A. The constant threat of famine caused peasants to become desperate and eat unusual foods like grass, weeds, and the bark

of trees.

B. Because famine forces people to eat foods they normally would not want to eat, peasants were willing to eat potatoes.

C. Although some people ate foods like potatoes during famine, others preferred to eat easily accessible foods like grass, weeds, and the bark of trees.

D. Famine had the greatest impact on peasants, whose regular diet of potatoes expanded to include other vegetation.

 

4. According to paragraph 1, all of the following contributed to the widespread adoption of the potato in Europe EXCEPT

A. Peasants growing potatoes for their own use could support themselves on smaller plots of land.

B. Potatoes grew well in a variety of locations in Europe.

C. Potatoes were the preferred food of European military forces.

D. Agricultural publicists encouraged the public to eat potatoes.

 

 

【Paragraph 2】Along with new foods, some landowners began to introduce other innovations. The nutritional base for a population revolution combined regional changes with the use of American foods. Dutch and English farmers drained more swamps and so increased cultivable land. Agricultural reformers further promoted the use of crops such as the turnip that return valuable nitrogen to the soil. Improvements in available tools, such as growing use of the scythe instead of the sickle for harvesting, and better methods of raising livestock also spread. All this took shape from the late seventeenth century onward, building on earlier agricultural changes. At the same time, rates of epidemic disease declined, in part because of more effective government controls over the passage of people and animals along traditional plague routes from the Middle East. It was the change in foods that really counted, however.

 

5. According to paragraph 2, regional farmers did all of the following to improve food production in Europe EXCEPT

A. They improved the way they raised farm animals.

B. They used both the sickle and the scythe to harvest crops.

C. They grew special crops that nourished the soil.

D. They created more farmland by draining swamps.

 

 

 

 

【Paragraph 3】These developments provided a framework for an unprecedented surge. In virtually every area of Europe, the population increased by 50 to 100 percent in the eighteenth century, with the greatest growth coming after 1750. The Hapsburg Empire grew from 20 million to 27 million people; Spain rose from 5 million to 10 million, and Prussia rose from 3 million to 6 million. Growth would continue throughout the nineteenth century. In Europe as a whole, population rose from 188 million in 1800 to 401 million in 1900. This was an upheaval of truly impressive proportions.

 

6. In paragraph 3, the author mentions the Hapsburg Empire, Spain, and Prussia in order to

A. support the claim that the population explosion covered most of the European continent

B. give examples of population growth during the nineteenth century

C. suggest that the population of Prussia grew more slowly than the populations of other countries

D. demonstrate that the fastest population growth took place in Spain

 

 

 

【Paragraph 4】The population explosion resulted from a break in the traditional, if approximate, balance between births and deaths in European society. In England between 1700 and 1750, approximately 32.8 people were born annually for every 1,000 inhabitants, and 31.5 people died. Similarly, in Lombardy in the eighteenth century, 39 people were born and 37 people died for every 1,000 inhabitants. Clearly, a major alteration had to occur in either the birth or the mortality rate before the expansion of population could begin. In fact, both rates changed: families began to have more children, and a lower percentage of the population died each year. Lower infant death rates meant more people living to produce children of their own, though falling adult death rates also increased the number of older Europeans.

 

 

7. According to paragraph 4, the expansion of Europe’s population was made possible by

A. a major improvement in the care of older Europeans

B. increased variation in the ages at which people gave birth to children

C. a change in traditional beliefs about family size

D. increased birth rates accompanied by a decline in mortality

 

【Paragraph 5】While historians continue to debate the precise balance of causes involved in these dramatic changes, basic outlines are clear. Better food and a reduction in the epidemic-disease cycle allowed more children to live to adulthood, which increased the population directly and also provided more parents for the next generation, a double impact. Rapidly increasing populations provided a new labor force for manufacturing. In the eighteenth century, this mainly involved hundreds of thousands of people, mostly rural, producing thread, cloth, and other products for market sale. This manufacturing expansion helped sustain the growing population, but it could also encourage a higher birth rate. Some people, able to earn money by their late teens, began to produce children earlier; the rate of illegitimate births went up. Others realized that having an extra child or two might help the family economy by providing additional worker-assistants. While death-rate decline was the most important source of Europe’s population explosion, various changes on the birth rate side, though quite short-lived, pushed the population up as well.

 

8. According to paragraph 5, what effect did the epidemic-disease cycle have on population during the eighteenth century

A. Childhood diseases kept population growth rates from rising even higher.

B. Periodic epidemics caused population growth rates to rise and fall in cycles.

C. The effect varied by area, with urban populations more affected by disease than rural areas.

D. Fewer childhood deaths from disease led to an increased number of children in the current and future generations.

 

【Paragraph 1】In late seventeenth-century Europe, what had been evolution in population followed by stabilization changed to population revolution. ■Increasing contacts with the Americas brought more sophisticated knowledge of the advantages of new foods, particularly the potato. ■Originally a cool-weather mountain crop in the Americas, potatoes did well in the Pyrenees, Alps, and Scottish Highlands. ■They also grew well in the long, damp springtime of the northwest European plain. ■Whatever hesitancy peasants may have felt about eating potatoes quickly passed when famine threatened; after all, people who in famines desperately consumed grass, weeds, and the bark of trees hardly would have hesitated to eat a potato. By the later eighteenth and the nineteenth century, American foods had become the principal food stuffs of many rural folk. Various agricultural publicists promoted adoption of these foods, and peasants found that potatoes could allow subsistence on smaller plots of land. Fried potatoes soon began to be sold on the streets of Paris in the 1680s the original French fries. Governments, eager to promote population growth as a source of military and economic strength, also backed the potato.

 

9. Look at the four squares【■】that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage. What were the factors that led to this population revolution?

Where would the sentence best fit?

 

10.【Directions】An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below. Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices that express the most important ideas in the passage. Some sentences do not belong in the summary because they express ideas that are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage. This question is worth 2 points.

 

 

Population began to expand in the late seventeenth century Europe.

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Answer Choices

A. Climate conditions in Europe allowed for the introduction of new crops that competed with American foods for popular consumption.

B. An important cause of population growth was improved nutrition, due in large part to the addition of the potato and other American foods to the standard European diet.

C. Regional landowners developed improved agricultural techniques, and mortality rates declined as governments gained control over traditional plague routes.

D. Growth rates varied widely across the continent but were highest in France, Spain, and Britain and lowest in Prussia and the Hapsburg Empire.

E. Birth rates went up as more people lived long enough to have their own children, had children earlier, and had larger families.

F. Government policies promoting population growth helped to create a large labor force for the manufacturing industry.

 

 

 

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