Library Research Assignment

Library Research Assignment

Library Research Assignment

Introduction

A dictionary-defined period would be “the communal method whereby cities augment and societies become more urban. (1. 30/08/2005). Scotland went through huge political and economical alterations from the 1700's onwards. The country went from being a rural, agricultural society with an estimated population of 1.2 million in 1755, to being urbanized, with the population rising to over 2.6 million in 1841(Lenman, p281, 2001). This figure is what makes the urbanization of Scotland so interesting. What were the major components that initiated the community to augment so rapidly?The expansion of community over such a short time span and the communal alterations that occurred with this. The great Agrarian and Industrial revolutions had major parts to play in the urbanization of Scotland and this essay will show some enlightenment on why it was so profoundly noticeable in Scotland. Another point that will be investigated is the consequences of urbanization, how the country ultimately became a modern capitalized country from its rural beginnings.

Before and up until 1750, Scotland was very much a feudalistic country. Lords rented tenants enough land for them to produce food to survive. In return, the tenant would have to labor the Lord's land as well as his own. The Landlord would reap the benefits, the tenant would survive, and as the majority of the people depended on the land as their lively-hood, it was a means to survival. As Devine states,” In 1750 only one Scot in eight lived in a town (population of 4000 or over) and there was only four towns with more than 10000 inhabitants” (Devine, 1999, p125). This shows the enormity of Scots who were living in rural communities, with the main labor being in agriculture, weaving and fishing. The changes to agriculture began with those known as the improvers, whose main outlook was to modernize the way the land was cultivated. As the population of the country began to accelerate quickly, the improvers were looking to produce mass food instead of the old way of cultivation. During the period between 1790-1840 new farming equipment was introduced and the land that was formally cultivated using the “infield-outfield and rug and furrow method” was improved by enclosing the land into fields making it more productive for crops and for livestock Crop rotations were also introduced which was making use of the land at all times. The introduction of single tenant ...