WORK, LIFE & FAMILY IN THE INDUSTRIOUS REVOLUTION

The Industrious Revolution was the period leading up to the more well-known Industrial Revolution which encompassed a change from an economy focused on agriculture and handcraft production to one dominated by powered machinery and centralized, mass production industries.

While the terms reference mainly economic studies, there is an application to family history research as well. During both periods, families were impacted by the changes going on around them with respect to their living conditions and occupations.

In a book titled The Industrious Revolution, published in 2008, author Jan de Vries took the view that “[i]n a specific historical period in a specific geographical zone, a new form of household economic behavior became increasingly influential, increasing simultaneously the supply of market-oriented production and the demand for a broad but not indiscriminate range of consumer goods.”

The consumption-driven family household, then, would be considered as a unique economic unit that contributed to goods-purchasing behaviors in society. The system was primarily evident in northwestern Europe (England, the Low Countries and parts of France and Germany) and the North American colonies.

Timing of the Industrious Revolution

The Industrious Revolution period began around the time that Europe was just beginning to escape from the ravages of the Little Ice Age (Figure 1, see page 37).

During the 14th and 15th centuries, hardships in the agricultural community meant fewer jobs, mostly for the labouring classes, and an upsurge in the numbers of the landless poor. Harsh living conditions had forced people to restructure their lives when employment opportunities reached record lows and food became increasingly hard both to produce and find.

Families migrated away from rural areas, swelling the towns and cities that had become established during the Medieval Warm Period (900 to 1300 AD). They