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Example research essay topic: Percent Of The Population Industrial Revolution - 1,202 words

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It has, been variously called the "Western Miracle" (Rosenberg and Birdzell 42) and the "European Miracle, " (Jones) but it is commonly known as the Industrial Revolution. Subsequent to the Middle Ages, populations in Western Europe began developing technology that enhanced their ability to generate products and which led to significantly higher standards of living than populations elsewhere on the planet. It should be noted that this does not suggest that the quality of life was better for the Europeans, only that even the poorest European was materially better off than his counterpart in India or China. This research examines why the Industrial Revolution took place in Europe, and why it did not occur elsewhere, specifically Asia. Analysts who have taken on the question of why the industrial revolution occurred in Europe have proposed several theories, each of which, alone, fails to adequately explain the phenomenon. Some have attributed the industrialization to imperialism, but some economically successful countries grew prosperous before imperialism and some, such as Norway and Switzerland, avoided imperialism altogether.

Possession of natural resources has also been put forth as a possible answer. Unfortunately, natural resources do not become economic assets until the knowledge and means of using them (technology) becomes available. In addition, Japan, with far fewer natural resources than Mexico and the Soviet Union, for example, has become a highly successful economic entity. City-states which were successful during the early stages of the industrial revolution, such as Venice, also suggest limitations to the physical resources idea (Rosenberg and Birdzell 42 - 43). While the above theories cannot account for the industrial revolution of Europe alone, they can be combined and, with other components, used to produce a workable theory as to why the "miracle" occurred in Europe and not the Orient or India. In 1500, Europe was third in population in the world, behind China and India.

Proportionately, Europe progressed at a higher rate than either China or India during the period 1650 - 1850. It is estimated that the real wage tended to be higher than that of the Orient and India during the thirteenth century and possibly even during the twelfth (Jones 3). What these figures indicate is that although Europe may not have been as populous as the Orient or India, it was more successful at taking care of the people it did support. Asia lagged behind Europe in mechanical engineering. Large civil engineering and luxury court projects provided abundance that appeared monumental and grand, but such projects were enjoyed by a small elite. It is estimated that at the start of the fourteenth century, the combined peoples of France, Germany and Britain supported 15 percent of the population through peasant work (meaning that 85 percent of the population were peasants).

As late as the 1880 s, however, 2 percent of the population of China consumed more than 24 percent of the national product, a statistic which indicates the high level of poverty endured by the very poor (Jones 4). The Europeans also tended to not maximize human capital. Marriages were delayed, with some never marrying at all, and childbirth took place at later ages. In India and the orient, there was a decided emphasis on having numerous children, marrying off daughters as soon as they were physically able, and favoring sons over daughters. Some attribute this difference to the Europeans' natural resources which permitted them to consume livestock products and use draft animals. In order to keep this standard of living, they produced fewer children, which would have competed with the animals for the scarce food resources (Jones 14 - 15).

The lack of an extended family also contributed to later marriages and fewer children among the Europeans. When all goods and lands were passed to a single heir, it was not uncommon for that heir to wait until the inheritance before marrying. Other sons would go out to "make their fortune" before they would marry. The Europeans even went so far as to legislate marriages as early as the eighteenth century. Those seeking to marry had to obtain approval from the local authorities, who effectively withheld it from poorer inhabitants. Lacking a large human capital stock on which to draw for labor, the Europeans turned to domesticated animals to produce much of the labor for them.

With fewer children to provide for, more could be invested in producing strong animals, and in educating the human labor force as well, who, with spare time provided by not working the fields, could turn to other endeavors, such as woodworking. Europeans enjoyed better clothing, more varied food, more furniture and more household utensils than did their counterparts in China and India. There is another reason that Asians were more likely to attempt to maximize their human capital: effective disaster recovery. During 1556 and 1759, an Asian was 30 times more likely to die in a major earthquake than was a European (Jones 27). Such regular disasters meant that the human capital stock was regularly depleted.

In addition, there is evidence that parasites were much more common in Asia than in the colder European countries, leading to additional depletion of the human capital stock. Floods regularly occur along the Yellow River in China and the Yangtze resulting in famine from lost crops in subsequent years, not to mention lost animal and human stock as a direct result of the flood. Drought is also more severe in Asia than in Europe, with severe effects on the crops, often water-intensive, such as rice (Jones 28). Recovery from natural disasters in Asia was also a long and drawn out process when compared to that of the Europeans.

One harvest failure could cause serious problems; two spaced closely together were catastrophic. One lost crop during a decade would require a reserve of 10 percent of the net output, a level which Western producers are reluctant to carry even today. Without those reserves, the devastation was nearly complete among the Asians as expert workers and working animals died. By keeping a large population from which to start, recovery could take place somewhat faster when capital stocks were depleted from disasters.

The Europeans, conversely, had adopted another tack. Since they had not maximized human capital, but instead had additional livestock and materials, they were better able to recover from disasters. Brick became a common building material in Poland in the fifteenth century, and its use spread across Europe over the next several hundred years, thus protecting the Europeans from the ravages of fire, and helping to protect them from their own wars. Since buildings represented a large share of fixed capital, the savings was a large one (Jones 34). But these differences alone do not account for the industrial revolution. Europe was apparently in a better position to take advantage of the knowledge that began to rapidly accumulate as a result of the renaissance (much of it from Asian and Islamic cultures).

Western science organized a better attack on the secrets of nature, and used greater resources in that endeavor, than did other cultures, according to some analysts (Rosenberg and Birdzell 43). Introduced in the late- 15 th century, the printing press enabled scientists engaged in widely divergent activities to continue to p...


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Research essay sample on Percent Of The Population Industrial Revolution

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