A Revised History for Advanced Level & Colleges

By Nassoro Habib Mbwana

The book is a response of the suggestions and opinions provided to me by the students on writing a text that could be beneficial for them and other readers. The book covers the period from the fifteenth century to the present (2014). It includes the development of Europe from mercantilism to a new imperialism, globalization and a neocolonial situation, and underdevelopment to the less developed countries in the southern hemisphere.

It also justifies and revises important areas in the current (2009) syllabus, which had been left by other authors in writing history texts for the advanced level. Therefore, the book justifies some areas that are beyond the syllabus, but the questions do appear in examinations. The book is directed to be useful for A-level and college students, the teachers, and other readers who have an interest with history.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris UK
• Release date: Nov 10, 2017
• ISBN: 9781514461600

Nassoro Habib Mbwana

Nassoro Habib Mbwana was born in Mpwapwa town in Dodoma as the third child of Mzee Habib Mbwana Sulayman Msonde. He was educated at Tubugwe and Kibaya Primary Schools (19881994). He joined Kiteto Secondary School (Kibaya/KitetoManyara) in 1995 to 1998 and became the only student (out of fifty-five) in the class to be selected to join government high school. He studied advanced level at Ndanda Secondary School in MasasiMtwara (19992001) and graduated at the University College of EducationZanzibar (UCEZA) from his 20022005 academic years, where he was awarded his BAEd in history (upper second class) by the college in affiliation with the International University of AfricaKhartoum. He also has a master of arts in development studies (20112013) of the University of Dar es Salaam. He taught various schools, including Laureate International SchoolZanzibar (history, form IIV: 2004); Benbellah Secondary SchoolZanzibar (history, form VVI: 2005); Coastal High School (history, form V-VI: 20052011); Arafah Boys & Girls Seminary (history, form VVI: 200708); and Al-Kheri Girls Seminary (history, form VVI: 2009-2011). All of them are in Tanga City. Also he taught social sciences for grade-three A-teachers certificate at Arafah Teachers College (August 2005 to January 2006) and Eckenforde Teachers College in Tanga (2006 to 2008). From 2008 to 2010, he taught history and civics for diploma certificate at Eckenforde Teachers College. The author is a mobile lecturer for Kunduchi Girls Islamic High School in Dar es Salaam and Istiqaama Tanga Islamic Secondary School in Tanga City. A Revised History for Advanced Level & Colleges is the authors first published book. Mr. Nassoro H Mbwana has three unpublished manuscripts: part one of A Revised History for Advanced Level, Dissertation on Informal Sector Operators, and Gender Mainstreaming in Islam.

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ABSTRACT

This book shades the lights on capitalism development. It involves the European and United States of America. The book generally aims at gratifying students’ demand for Advanced History for Secondary Education and colleges. It therefore, spans the period from the 15th century to the present. The book involves the development of capitalism in Europe and the United States of America from mercantilism to neo imperialism. More ever, the book tries to plaster the world’s contemporary situation in which the United States America ascended as the leading imperial power since 1900. Though USA did not get colonies in Africa or elsewhere even until the 20th century, the open door policy and free market becomes orders on her foreign policy. The book also shows the impact of capitalism development to the third world countries. The author has entitled this book as ‘A Revised History for Advanced Level & Colleges - Part Two’ so that to replace and revise some important insights which have been ignored by other authors. This book therefore, is made up of nine topics with sample questions of the final National Examination and trials held in schools. Writing of this book has mainly involved the use of secondary sources of data. These data were largely guided by the objectives that have been raised by the author in the introductory part. Therefore many published books have been consulted by the author in producing this book. It is concluded in the book that capitalism development has been acting upon many aspects of human life. It is also asserted that capitalism has brought many effects to the developing countries. In chapter seven of the book, the author alerts that it was capitalism that acted upon the increasing the onging Israelis – Palestinian conflicts and a total decline of the Soviet Union as well as communism at large.

Dr. Mikidadi H. Alawi

26th January, 2012

CONTENTS

Dedication

Abstract

Acknowledgement

List Of Abbreviations

List Of Figures

Introduction

Chapter 1   The Rise Of Capitalism In Europe

Chapter 2   The Rise Of Democracy In Europe

Chapter 3   The Rise Of Imperialism In Europe

Chapter 4   The Rise Of Dictatorship In Europe

Chapter 5   Africa And The Rise Of Socialism

Chapter 6   Factors For The Rise Of The United States Of America

Chapter 7   Threats To World Peace After The Second World War In 1945 To The Present

Chapter 8   Neo Colonialism And The Concept Underdevelopment

Chapter 9   Sample Questions For Final Examinations And Trials At Schools And Colleges

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

In writing this book I have debts of appreciations. My initial appreciation and acknowledgement must go to the Al-Mighty God (Allah) Who gives me power and strength to enrich materials the students and other readers. I would like to acknowledge my father Mzee, Habib Mbwana Msonde of Kiteto Manyara and my beloved mother Bi. Aysha Hassan Nyagani. The authors to whom I used their books, the librarians, and my History Lecturers at the University College of Education Zanzibar including: Dr. Ahmed Imteyaz (UCEZA), Prof. Juma, Abdulrahman (UCEZA) lecturing at The Muslim University of Morogoro - MUM, Prof. Mihanjo (UDOM), Dr. Msellem, S.A (DUCE), Dr. Masebo, O. (UDSM), Dr. Sumbay, G (UDSM) and Mr. Ambindwile, G (UDSM). Without forgetting the beloved ones: Bi. Naima Mussa Said (Umu-Umaymah) and Bi. Zuhura Amri Ferouz (Umu–Umrah) for their patience and courage.

I would be ungrateful if I forget to appreciate material contribution of my cousin brother Shaffi, A. Omary, his family and the staff at Neema Educational Centre (Tanga); my young brothers: Kamru Habib Mbwana (LLB-Mzumbe and LLM-UDSM) – lecturing at Mzumbe University (Mbeya), and Mbwana, A. Mbwana, who is pursuing Bachelor of Science and Telecoms / IT at the University of Dodoma (UDOM); and my brother-in-law, Eng. Mohammed B. Kuganda (BSc. Eng).

I do appreciate the contribution of my ‘A’ Level students who I taught at Benbellah Secondary Zanzibar (March – August 2005), Coastal High School (December 2005 to September 2011), Arafah Boys’ and Girls’ Seminary (November 2007 / January 2008), al – Kheri Girls’ Seminary schools (April 2009 to September 2011), Eckenforde Teachers College – Tanga for Diploma Certificate (2008 to 2010), and Bright Independent Tuition - Tanga. I would like to appreciate the role played by my student Mbondei, Riziki of Sebastian Koloa University College – Lushoto for typing part of the manuscript and Rashid W. Mwashembe for his courage on writing that book

Grateful thanks to Aunt Zahra M. Ally and her son Feisal Said Shillingi at Zahra Computer Centre at the 12th Road Street opposite Old Tanga Bus stand for printing, photocopying and binding the pamphlets that I produced since 2007. My acknowledgement would be ended to Mr. Mikidadi, H. Alawi for his contribution, editing and writing the abstract, al-akhy Ahmad Lubwama of Yemen English Medium in Dar es Salaam, Said Ayoub (B.A. Ed & M.A. DS) of Minaki secondary. Finally, I do conclude my acknowledgement to my Publishing Consultant, Mr. Ceasar Ian for his endless consultation, and the Production Team of the Xlibris Publishing (A Penguin Random House Company) for accepting the manuscript and re-editing, setting, publishing and marketing the book. May all of them be rewarded by The Al-Mighty God (Allah).

Nassoro Habib Mbwana

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.3:    List of the British Prime Ministers

Figure 2.4:    List of American Presidents since 1789 to 2014

Figure 7.1:    The structure of NATO

Figure 7.2:    General Secretaries of the NATO since 1949 to 2014

Figure 7.4:    A letter from Balfour, the forma British Prime Minister to Lord Rothschild

Figure 7.6:    The list of Afrikaner’s leaders i.e. Prime Ministers and Presidents since 1910

INTRODUCTION

The book is much directed to accomplish students’ demand for Advanced level and Colleges in the World history for the past and present. A Revised History for ‘A’ Level & Colleges - Part Two covers the period from the 15th century to the present. It includes the development of Europe from mercantilism to a new imperialism and a neo – colonial situation to the Less Developed Countries in the Southern Hemisphere. Underdevelopment in the Less Developed Countries has been mentioned at the end of the book as a phenomenon that was created since 1500 to the current and contemporary Neo-colonialism and Globalization.

The book has been entitled A Revised History for Advanced Level & Colleges - Part Two in order to justify and revise important areas which had been little mentioned or left out by other authors in writing history texts for Advanced Level. It is a textbook that justifies and revises the following areas:

o The ‘War of the Roses’ or Thirty Years War from 1455 to 1486 / 87 as a series of dynastic civil wars for the throne of England has been mentioned as the initial stage in the transformation of European societies from feudalism to capitalist global domination.

o The English Civil Wars (Great Rebellion) of 1642 to 1649 between the Stuart absolute feudal systems represented by King Charles I and the Parliament marking the beginning of the 17th century English revolutions.

o American War of Independence or the American Revolution and the Declaration of Independence in 1776 have been justified in that book though the current syllabus silenced on it. Also, the American Civil Wars that was fought around 1860s between the democrats and republicans is another important scenario in the development of democracy. The inclusion of both the American Revolution and American Civil Wars (reason) aimed to show how democracy developed from Western Europe (Britain) to America resulting into the creation of American Liberal -Democracy which is mushrooming throughout the world.

o The Napoleonic wars (1799 – 1815) between the First Republic of France under Napoleon I and Britain.

o The European revolutions of 1848 in the German states, Italian states, Austria and Denmark towards the development of capitalist democracy.

o The Crimean War of 1854 – 1856 between the Russian Empire and Britain supported by Napoleon III of France.

o Immediate causes and effects of the Franco-Prussian War between the Prussian Empire (German states) and the Second French Empire led by Napoleon III.

o The Berlin Congress of 1878 in manifesting the rise and development of German imperialism under Bismarck’s influence and ambitions.

o Formation of the Permanent Court of Arbitration as introduced in the new syllabus for ‘A’ level.

o In the rise and development of dictatorships in Europe, Japanese Fascism is well discussed with a brief background of Japanese feudalism and later capitalist development through industrialization and democracy. Fascism (dictatorship) in Japan was instituted by the Showa dynasty from 1926 to until 1945. That makes differences with other History books for ‘A’ level which had silenced on Japanese fascism though the current syllabus had mentioned.

o The book also revises crucial areas which were silenced by the syllabus in the rise and development of socialist thought. It includes the socialist political movements and forms like African socialism, Christian socialism, independent socialist theories, academic political form, Democratic socialism, Libertarian socialism, Anarchism, Traditional social democrats, and Syndicalism (trade unions). African socialism as a form, had the varieties of philosophies including: Consciencism, Negritude, Authenticity (Mobutism), Zambian Humanism, and Ujamaa in Tanzania.

o Also, the text addresses the origin, rise and development of Zionism and the process in creating the state of Israel in Palestine as a Jewish homeland. It mentioned the types of Zionism i.e. Christian Zionism (dispensationalists), Labour Zionism, Liberal Zionism (General Zionism), Nationalist Zionism, Religious Zionism, and Green Zionism. Also, the ongoing Israeli – Palestinian conflict and how the Palestinians’ problems have been created is well discussed.

o In most cases, the question of Apartheid system in South Africa is discussed though the syllabus does not mention. Apartheid system has been included so as to make students, teachers and other readers understanding the concept and finding (searching) similarities and differences with Zionism in Palestine / Israel.

The book revises all important areas in the current syllabus by expanding them in order to satisfy the needs of the students and their teachers. Those areas have been revised, justified and clarified in details with simple language so as to make the readers acquire and understand the points. No matter if those areas could be mentioned in the introduction but, when one reads the book will justify the revision that I have made. The work I have done in this book is not far beyond with what was agreed by Hill (1980: 1) ‘history is not a narrative of events. The historian’s difficult task is to explain what happened’.

Also, the book tries to cover the world’s contemporary situation in fact that the United States America ascended as the leading imperial power since 1900. Though USA did not get colonies in Africa or elsewhere even until the 20th century, the open door policy and free market become orders on her foreign policy. Though the Cold War and Apartheid system in South Africa ended in 1990s, the Arab-Israeli conflict prevails. Through the Middle East Crisis, a wave of demonstrations in the Arab nations (except Saudi Arabia and Oman) including North Africa, the Ukranian conflict, and military operation in Somalia (the Horn of Africa) we may assume the upcoming 3rd world war and the establishment of the new world order with one government.

At the end of the book, I tried on my level best to jot down Questions which would keep and guide the teachers, students and other readers who had interested on world history finding the answers. Those Questions have been written chronologically according to the topics. The aim is to simplify reading especially for the students who are slow learners in finding the facts. I hope that through the given questions and discussion throughout the book, the students will acquire historical knowledge, creating possibility in attempting the questions during their internal and external examinations (Mock up and final).

However, with very much appreciation to the authors of various books, I have used partly as citation, the quotations in this book had been rendered accurately from the contemporary sources as shown at the end of this book. I have correctly preserved the epithets, the grammatical errors, and language used; the quotes do not reflect my own views and ideas, but rather those of the participants.

Nassoro Habib Mbwana.

The Voice of UCEZA – CHUKWANI

May 2013

CHAPTER ONE

THE RISE OF CAPITALISM IN EUROPE

Capitalism is an economic system in which most of the means of production are privately owned and production is guided and income distributed largely through the operation of markets. Capitalism has been dominant in the western world since mercantilism. According to the Britannica Concise Encyclopedia capitalism was fostered by the Reformation, which sanctioned hard work and frugality, and by the rise of industry during the Industrial Revolution, especially the English textile industry (16th – 18th centuries).

The Oxford Dictionary of Geography defines capitalism in Marxist terms as an arrangement whereby one class of the capitalists or bourgeoisie owns the factors of production while the workers possess only their labour, which they sell. Thus, according to Marxism, capitalism is a system of social domination which exploits the workers by undervaluing this labour. Accumulation is a key characteristic of capitalism, and a feature of advanced capitalism is the possession of capital by fewer and fewer owners.

A more general usage defines capitalism as a system where the factors of production are privately owned. Sales occur for profit in markets which are free in the sense that, subject to the constraints of the law, entrepreneurs are able to engage in business. The implicit assumption is that individuals are rewarded in relation to their economic contribution. However, some claim that the basic relationships of the capitalist economy are the cause of limits to growth.

Accordingly, Karl Marx "sought the essence of capitalism neither in rational calculation nor in production for markets with the desire for gain (a system termed by Marx, ‘simple commodity production’). For Marx

Capitalism is a historically specific mode of production, in which capital (in its many forms) is the principal means of production. Capitalism is therefore built on a social relation of struggle between the bourgeoisie and the working class. Its historical prerequisite was the concentration of ownership in the hands of the ruling class and the consequential and ‘bloody’ emergence of a property less class for whom the sale of labour-power is their only source of livelihood."

Capitalism is an economic system based on private ownership of the means of production, in which personal profit can be acquired through investment of capital and employment of labor.

According to the Columbia Encyclopedia, Capitalism is grounded in the concept of free enterprise, which argues that government intervention in the economy should be restricted and that a free market, based on supply and demand, will ultimately maximize consumer welfare. These principles were most notably articulated in Adam Smith’s, The Wealth of Nations (1776), he opposed the prevailing theory of mercantilism."

Capitalism is an economic, political and social system of production, "under which the greatest wealth in the society was produced not in agriculture but by machines in factories and in mines…the bourgeoisie who had originated in the in the merchants and craftsmen of the feudal epoch and who rose to be industrialized and financiers (Rodney, 1972), became the dominant class.

However, Capitalism is an economic system in which the means of production are privately owned and operated for a private profit, decisions regarding supply, demand, price, distribution, and investments are made by private actors in the free market; profit is sent to owners who invest in businesses, and wages are paid to workers employed by businesses and companies.

Origin and Periodization:

• The word ‘Capitalism’ is derived from Capital evolved from Capitale, a Late Latin word based on proto-Indo-European caput, meaning head.

• Also, the origin of chattel and cattle in the sense of movable property (only much later to refer only to livestock).

• Capitale emerged in the 12th to 13th centuries reflecting funds, stock of merchandise, sum of money, or money carrying interest

• The term capitalist refers to an owner of capital rather than an economic system.

• In France, Étienne Clavier referred to capitalistes in 1788, six years before its first recorded English usage by Arthur Young in his work Travels in France (1792).

• Others who used the term capitalism in their works are:

• David Ricardo, "Principles of Political Economy and Taxation "published in 1817;

o Samuel Taylor Coleridge, "Table Talk" of 1823;

o Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, "What is Property?" of 1840;

o Benjamin Disraeli, "Sybil" in 1845; and

o Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, "The Communist Manifesto," of 1848.

Characteristics of Capitalism:

The Concentration in a few hands of ownership of the means of producing wealth and unequal distribution of the product of human labour - {private ownership of property / major means of production}: However, the accumulation of the means of production (materials, land, tools) as property into a few hands; this accumulated property is called capital and the property-owners of these means of production are called capitalists. Rodney (1972: 7) adds that capitalism was characterized by the concentration in a few hands of ownership of the means of producing wealth and by unequal distribution of the products of human labor. The few who dominated were the bourgeoisie who had originated in the merchants and craftsmen of the feudal epoch, and who rose to be industrialists and financiers.

Capitalism as a system within the metropoles or epicenters had two dominant classes: firstly, the capitalists or bourgeoisie who owned the factories and banks (the major means for producing and distributing wealth); and secondly, the workers or proletariat who worked in the factories of the said bourgeoisie (Rodney, 1972). The emergence of two classes i.e. the Bourgeoisie - capitalists as private property owners against the working class (proletariats) resulted to the existence of class struggles and antagonism.

The result of the division of labor is to lower the value (in terms of skill and wages) of the individual worker; this would create immense social problems in Europe and America in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Competitions existed among the capitalists, example the chartered companies. This is greatly based on trade and monopolization of other economic firms for individual profits. National wise competition characterized the newly tiny independent states of the old Roman Empire.

Existence of the capitalist states in which the ruling class defended their interests economically, socially and politically – for example: England, Portugal, Span, France, German, Netherlands, Italy and Belgium.

Advancement of science and technological innovations, improvement in agriculture and factories (industries), commerce, navigation and technology.

Agriculture increasingly becoming a capitalist enterprise, peasants losing right over land in England.

Factors for the Liquidation of Feudalism:

The transition from Feudalism to capitalism in Europe started gradually in the 15th century speeded up in the 16th century and came to an end after the French Revolution of 1789 when King Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette were persecuted by the emerging capitalist-bourgeoisie. By this change from Feudalism to capitalism, capitalism had entered into three phases of development; mercantile capitalism (1450 – 1650), Competitive industrial capitalism (1700s – 1850) and Monopoly, an Imperial capitalism (1870 – 1960s).

Feudalism spread in Europe starting in France to Spain, Italy and later Germany and Eastern Europe. In England the Frankish form was imposed by William I (William the conqueror) after 1066, although most of the elements of feudalism were already present." Feudalism reached its zenith in the 13th century and started to decline gradually in the 14th and 15th centuries. There were some circumstances that led to the liquidation of feudalism to emergence of capitalism in Europe where by the power of the landlord was shifted to the monarchy (the Tudor)

THE AGRARIAN REVOLUTION:

a)  Agricultural Background

Agricultural activities in Europe began earlier during the Feudal epoch under the Land/Feudal Lords who exercised land as part of private ownership but distributed to the serfs by renting them. In the rise of capitalism through mercantilism (1500 – 1700) the transformation in agriculture began and opened a good way to the Agrarian Revolution from 1750 -1820, at the same time Britain was transformed into competitive industrial capitalism.

The historical background shows. ‘most remarkable developments in the English economy between 1660 and 1700, again, were the growth of agricultural output and the expansion of entrepôt overseas trade and the associated production of services’ (Inikori, 2002: 55).

Overton (1996: 10) writes that five hundred years ago English farmers grew four major cereal crops: wheat, rye, barley and oats, together with the pulse crops of peas and beans; they also kept cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry. Although these crops and livestock are kept by farmers today, cereal crops have been changed dramatically by plant breeding during the twentieth century, During the last five centuries sugar beet, potatoes, rape, turnips and swedes amongst others have been added to the sixteenth-century list of crops, although all but sugar beet were introduced in the three centuries before 1850.

The Situation before the Agrarian Revolution

i)  The Common Field System and its problems.

The Common Field System system was used in three – fifths (3/5) of the cultivated land. According to Overton, in his book, Agricultural Revoution in England: The Transformation of the Agrarian Economy 1500-1850, published in 1996: pg. 22 - 23 defines that the term ‘field system’ refers to the layout (the fields) and the organisation (the system) of the land in a farming community. The layout of fields refers to the disposition of the physical features of the field system, while the organisation of the field system consists of two aspects: the rules and regulations governing how the fields were cultivated, and the legal property rights attached to the owner ship and use of land.

The members of the village community held in common the arable land which was divided into three (sometimes two) fields one of which lay fallow, one grew wheat, and the other barley each year. Each strip was divided into narrow strips allotted to the villagers.

According to Overton (1996: 2) land is cultivated under a crop rotation where two or three grain crops are followed by a fallow. Fallow is land left uncropped, either as a mass of self-seeded weeds, or as bare earth which would have to be ploughed to prevent weeds growing.

Fertility is also seen as a function of the amount of manure, which in turn depends on the amount of fodder available for animals to eat. Most of this fodder came from meadow and pasture, but a weedy fallow would also have provided some food (ibid: 2).

o The meadow land was held in common, except from about Lady Day to hay harvest.

o Each villager had rights of pasture on the waste lying outside the cultivated land. Overton (1996: 25) adds that animals would graze on common pastures, and be tethered on patches of grassland in the subdivided fields, but after the harvest, all the animals of the village would be allowed to graze the stubble until it was time for the land to be ploughed, first on the winter corn stubble and then on the spring corn field.

o Each village community was isolated owing to the bad roads, self-sufficing, making its own implements and house hold utensils, spinning its own wool, and making its own clothes, and

o Wasteful of Open Field System. This system had remained practically wasteful and became disadvantageous to the capitalist development.

Other problems and disadvantages of the Open Field System are:

a) The separation of the strips allotted to each man in order to insure a fair division of good and bad land entailed a great waste of time and labour. Sometimes these strips were separated by a grass strip (called a ‘baulk’) but often there was no obvious physical boundary between the strips (ibid: 24).

b) There was little inducement to clean or manure land which another would occupy the next season.

c) The grain crops were miserable, as it was impossible to secure the assent of all the community to new method of tillage and the ignorance or prejudice against the cultivation of root crops and artificial grasses, and

d) There were continual quarrels as to boundaries and trespass. Field systems are also complicated because the relationships between their various elements were not always consistent from system to system. Thus while in some cases the presence of one feature was associated with another (subdivided fields with common property rights for example) in other cases it was not (ibid: 23).

ii)  The Enclosures System

(See the next page on the meaning, causes and effects of the enclosures system).

Background of the Enclosures:

Before enclosure, much of the arable land in the central region of England was organised into an open field system. Enclosure was not simply the fencing of existing holdings, but led to fundamental changes in agricultural practice. Scattered holdings of strips in the common field were consolidated to create individual farms that could be managed independently of other holdings.

Prior to enclosure, rights to use the land were shared between land owners and villagers (commoners). For example, commoners would have the right (common right) to graze their livestock when crops or hay were not being grown, and on common pasture land.

The history of enclosure in England is different from region to region. Not all areas of England had open-field farming in the medieval period. Parts of south-east England (notably parts of Essex and Kent) retained a pre-Roman system of farming in small enclosed fields. Similarly in much of west and north-west England, fields were either never open, or were enclosed early.

THE AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION

The Agrarian Revolution was an economic transformation in agriculture from the common / open field system of production under feudalism to modern and imperative methods characterized by the commercialized capitalist system of production. This occurred from 1750 – 1820. The World Book English Encyclopedia, shows that agriculture flourished, and the reign of George I has marked the golden age of the English labour. This is due to the increase of the demand for food due to the growing of population resulted to the farming object for profit than for subsistence.

The British Agricultural Revolution describes a period of development in Britain between the 17th century and the end of the 19th century, which saw an epoch-making increase in agricultural productivity and net output. This in turn supported unprecedented population growth, freeing up a significant percentage of the workforce, and thereby helped drive the Industrial Revolution. In recent decades, enclosure, mechanization, four-field crop rotation, and selective breeding have been highlighted as primary causes, with credit given to only a relatively few individuals.

In criticism to the above assertation, by citing Eric Kerridge in his book, Agricultural revolution, ‘he argues that the agricultural revolution took place in England in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and not in the eighteenth and nineteenth.’ More specifically he argues that the ‘agricultural revolution’ occurred between 1560 and 1767, with most achieved before 1673. Thus by the 1970s, three periods - 1560-1673, 1650-1750 and 1750-1850 - were rival contenders for the period of the ‘agricultural revolution’ in England (Overton, 1996: 5-6).

Causes for the Agrarian:

i) Farming became more scientific, new Methods replaced the previous;

Introduction of cultivation of Turnips by Turnip Townsend and Clover, and the rotation of crops which obviated the necessity of fallow land and added a third to the cultivated area of England provided winter food for stock, and the increase of stock meant increased manure for the fields.

■ The improved methods of manure and drainage by the marling of light land by the use of better implements increased soil fertility for production.

■ The improved sheep breading by Robert Bakewell (1725 – 1795), a Leicestershire farmer and his new Leicester were remarked for weight rather than size.

ii) Mechanization of Agriculture:

In agro-mechanics, Jethro Tull made early advancements in agricultural technology with his seed drill (1701) — a mechanical seeder which distributed seeds efficiently across a plot of land. Overton (1996: 122) agrees that Jethro Tull is familiar as inventor of the seed drill in 1731; in fact designs for seed drills were published in the early sixteenth century. Yet it was over forty years after Tull’s invention before it attracted imitators and 120 years before the drill was widespread in English agriculture. Tull’s method was to sow seed in rows with a drill and hoe between them with a small plough (the horse hoe).

The most important improvement before the mid-eighteenth century was the substitution of iron for wood for the parts of ploughs and harrows that were subject to the most wear. In the sixteenth century ploughs were generally wheeled and heavy. By 1600 the lighter, two-horse ‘Dutch plough’ was to be found in parts of eastern England. A dramatic improvement was the Rotherham plough patented by Disney Stanyforth and Joseph Foljambe in 1730. This was a light general-purpose swing plough (that is with no wheels) that was easy to make, cheap to produce and yet stronger than other contemporary ploughs. Fewer horses were needed to pull it, and there was consequently less need for a man or boy to tend the horses; ploughing could be carried out by one man (ibid: 122). It remained in use in Britain until the development of tractor. It was followed John Small of Doncaster and Berwickshire in 1763.

Andrew Meikles’s threshing machine of 1786 was the final straw for many farm labourers, and led to the 1830 agricultural rebellion of Captain Swing (a probably mythical character comparable to the Luddite’s Ned Ludd).

iii) The Corn Laws of 1773 and 1791:

These Laws were passed by the Parliament when Britain ceased to be a corn exporting country and internally failed to meet home needs in spite of improved techniques of cultivation and enclosures of the land

• 1773: "A Corn law allowed the ‘free importation of corn’

• 1791: A Corn Law prohibited importation when the price was below 50/-. An attempt to protect English corn growers

iv) Political Stability and Policies after the Great English Revolution of 17th century

The English revolution was a great political, social, and economic bourgeoisie revolution in the 17th century i.e. 1649 and 1688 in England by overthrowing the absolute feudal social system replaced by the capitalist class made the land to be a highly attractive field for investment. Under feudal system land was the major means of production while enclosures made the peasants lost their rights over the land.

v) Availability of Reliable Transport Network

The presence of good and reliable transport network like roads, rail lines, and bridges from productive centers to industrial and market centers made agriculture a commercial sector for the capitalist development. For example:

In 1802 to 1820, Telford constructed 320 miles of good roads with 1200 bridges.

By 1815, Macadam greatly improved the surface of roads by using granite chippings.

The railway systems like was discovered and by 1800 the employment of out ram (beam) for general traffic of cars running on rails, which had been long used in mines, and

In 1824, the Stockton and Darlington Railway opened for passengers.

vi). The Effects and Contribution of the Enclosures System:

Enclosures System is termed by Overton (1996:148) as a blanket term used both by contemporaries and modern historians to cover a variety of changes in landholding. Enclosure can also be categorised according to the kinds of lands it affected. An important distinction is between enclosures of commonfield arable and common waste (ibid: 148):

• The former usually removed common rights, might have involved changes to the nature of leases, and when carried out on a large scale could remodel the layout of a village with new fields, new farms and new roads (ibid: 148).

• Enclosure of upland wastes could have involved the construction of new boundary walls and the removal or drastic alteration to common property rights, but little change in land use need have taken place. Enclosure of lowland wastes, such as heathland and marshland, could, on the other hand, result in a dramatic change to more intensive land use, often involving a switch from extensive pasture to intensive arable (ibid: 148).

Economic historians writing in the first half of the present century concentrated on two periods of enclosure in England: Tudor enclosures (covering the late fifteenth and the sixteenth centuries) and parliamentary enclosures of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. These two periods of enclosure are conspicuous because they attracted the attention of the state (ibid: 148).

According to the above indication in defining and understanding the meaning of Enclosures of Land can bee reffered to as an economic movement made by the rising bourgeoisie class in the Great Britain by enclosing the land from the peasants, poor landlords and the common land of villages. The capitalist wealthy land owners were allowed by the English parliament and government to enclose the land into big farms and estates so a as to increase crops production and sheep breading. That was introduced when the Open Field System (as shown in previos pages) under the feudal lords proving failure to the growing English population in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Fields grouped together as ‘ring fence’ farms under private property rights would be managed by individual owners or tenants who could farm as they pleased (although if they were a tenant they might be restricted by the terms of their lease). Both the crops and stock making up the farm enterprise, and the techniques and management of husbandry operations, were under the control of a single farmer, since with no common property rights existing over the land no one else had an interest in what happened on the farm (ibid: 25).

Enclosures movement is defined as the process of enclosing (with fences, ditches, hedges, or other barriers) land formerly subject to common rights. This meant that the land that peasants had been cultivating on their own was returned to the control of the landowners and redistributed. Scavenging on someone else’s land became illegal, and small farmers (who had no political influence and were generally given the poorer plots) often lost access to wood and water.

The process of enclosure was regarded as important because it removed common property rights, which had hitherto inhibited innovation. It was considered a prerequisite for selective animal breeding in that it prevented the promiscuous mingling of livestock on the commons, and it also allowed the development of the large capitalist farms required for innovations in farming techniques (Ibid: 4).

Reasons for the Enclosures Movement:

Sometimes, known as ‘Parliamentary enclosures’, this was an agreement in the Parliament by wealthy land owners where by all the peasants and the common land of villages in Britain had to be grouped together and put under individual capitalist farmers by mechanizing them. According to Overton (1996: 158) in his book, Agricultural Revolution in England: The Transformation of the Agrarian Economy 1500-1850, once the act had passed through both Houses of Parliament and received the Royal Assent, Enclosure Commissioners appointed a clerk and surveyor to implement the provisions of the act on the ground.

The role of Enclosure Acts, although the process was not standardized until the General Enclosure Act of 1801, many private acts had been passed since the 1750s and enclosure had been common for well over a century before.

The failure of the open or common filed system to increase production of food and cash crops for the growing bourgeoisie factories: The wealthy land owners stressed and pressurized the parliament to allow them enclosing the land for productivity.

The 1500 Enacted Acts were passed by the Parliament from 1760 to 1800 and about three (3) million acres were enclosed in Britain for the mechanization of agriculture.

The failure of the common (open) field system to meet the increased demand for agricultural produce led to the enclosure of common land supported by Arthur Young, appointed secretary to the new Agricultural Board in 1793 with his observations. The main incentive for landlords to enclose was that enclosed land was worth more than open commonfield land. This of course was most attractive to the owners of land whose principal income came in the form of rents (ibid: 162).

The enclosures of land aimed on sheep rising for wool production to increase woolen industries instead of importing wool clothes from Netherlands and the growing of crops. Selective breeding of livestock was more difficult if animals mingled on the commons, whereas small enclosures gave more opportunity to manage animals more efficiently (ibid: 167).

The effects of Enclosures System:

Parliamentary enclosures removed common rights but they could also transform the agricultural landscape almost overnight. Subdivided fields were swept away and replaced with a new landscape of consolidated ringfenced farms (ibid: 159). The peasant and poor landlords lost land ownership thus later were subjected to another form of exploitation under the capitalist industrial owners and wealthy land owners as workers.

The wealthy landowners established large estates led to the increase of crop production and woolen products. These parliamentary enclosures had resulted into the consolidation of strips in the open fields into more compact units, and enclosed much of the remaining pasture commons or wastes.

The increase of productivity like cotton, corn, and wools demanded by the growing population was an outcome. The enclosed land gave more flexibility for farm production, be it for livestock, grain or a combination of the two, compared with commonfield farming (ibid: 160).

Mechanization of agriculture using machines in cultivation, weeding and harvesting: The earliest machines like Turnips, Spinning Machines, etc. resulted into the rise of production and advancement of the society from ‘Agrarian society into the Industrial Revolution in the early 19th century.

Through the ‘agrarian’ there was an introduction of new methods in farming, such as the use of crop rotation, selection of good seeds, and application of fertilizers. All these were copied by other European nations.

The development of science and technology was influenced by the need of increasing agricultural products like cash crops and wools. Agriculture as a capitalist enterprise and an attractive field for investments made the increase of scientific discoveries possible.

Enclosure facilitated innovation and changes in land use because the constraints imposed by common property rights, the scattering of land, and collective decision making could be overcome. Contemporaries were virtually unanimous that enclosed fields offered more opportunities for making money than did commonfields (ibid: 165).

The growth and development of towns and cities: The urbanization of the English population was largely fueled by dispossessed peasants who moved to the city in the hopes of finding new work.

The Aftermath of the Agricultural Revolution on the English Society:

Gradual Disappearance of the Common or Open Field System: The gradual disappearance of the old common / open field system introduced by the feudal lords and a vast increase in production and in the value good of farms. For example, in 30 years the annual rent of one farm increased from £ 180 to pound £ 800.

Increased Important of Capitalist Agriculture due to the costs of new methods and scientific system of cultivation like manure, fertilizers, seeds, weeding, and mechanization of agricultural system and the expense of large farms formed by enclosures of the land.

The Decay of the Yeomen i.e. Small Farmers Owning Their Farms: Many sold their property / land at a high price due to the increase of value of land and migrated to towns. Those who retained their farms could not afford to introduce new method were impoverished by the domestic manufactures, often ruined by locatives in the prices of corn, they grandly rank into the position of the labourers.

Employment of Women in the fields: Before the Agricultural Revolution, women worked alongside their husbands in the fields and were an active part of farming. The increased efficiency of the new machinery, along with the fact that this new machinery was often heavier and difficult for a woman to work, made this unnecessary and impractical, and women were relegated to other roles in society. To supplement the family’s income, many went into cottage industries.

The degradation of the labourers: Enclosure Acts: Namely gave compensation for the old right of common posture and of cutting fodders and bedding which had been of great value to the lower classes.

The Rise of Industries: The agricultural production such as corn and wool and the application of mechanized and other methods in agriculture fastened the Industrial Revolution (1750 – 1850s) in terms of clothes and fibers industries.

The Peasants Lost Rights over Land: The peasants were being driven off the land in England and agriculture technologically more advanced. It was also becoming support larger farm and to provide more effective basics for the woolen and Linen Industries in particular. The transformation in the technological base of industry, its social and economic organization had taken place.

The liquidation of feudalism: The liquidation of feudalism especially in the systems of production such of common open field system replaced by the new methods i.e. mechanics, fertilizers, good selected seeds and weeding.

Population Pressure: The increase in population led to more demand from the people for goods such as clothing. To supply continually growing demand, shrewd businessmen began to pioneer new technology to meet demand from the people. In his book, Overton (1996:138) by taking London as a case study, indeed in 1300 the population of London had been around 80,000, and food came by road from up to 20 miles away and by water from up to 60 miles away. In the early sixteenth century London had a population of around 55,000; this grew to 200,000 by 1600, 575,000 by 1700 and 960,000 by 1801.

Facilitated Industrial Development and Employment: A new class of landless labourers, products of enclosure, provided the basis for cottage industry, a stepping stone to the Industrial Revolution. People who once were farmers moved to large cities to get jobs in the factories.

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II)  THE RISE OF MERCANTILISM:

Mercantilism is the economic doctrine in which government control of foreign trade is paramount important for ensuring he prosperity and security of the trade. At that time trade especially the overseas trade was given priority. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, 4th Ed. (2004) mercantilism ‘is the theory and system of political economy prevailing in Europe after the decline of feudalism, based on national policy of accumulating bullion, establishing colonies and a merchant marine, and developing industries and mining to attain a favorable balance of trade.’

Therefore, the Oxford Dictionary of British History (2001, 2004) define mercantilism as a general term coined in 1763 by Mirabeau, is usually applied to the system of economic policy which flourished between 16th and 18th centuries. However, on that definition, (the Britannica Concise Encyclopedia determines that though the term (of mercantilism) existed earlier, the term was not coined until the 18th century by Adam Smith in his Wealth of Nations (1776). Adam Smith criticized the mercantile theory and favoured free trade.

The period was mainly characterized by trade as the means of getting capital and profit. However, Mercantilism was a system of trade for profit, although commodities were still largely produced by non-capitalist production methods. The commercial revolution flourished during mercantile era as trade based on slave trade and unequal exchange of commodities as the Triangular trade was developed. In England mercantilism started in 1450s when the War of the Roses between the merchants of Yorkshire and feudal lords of Lancashire began.

The Theory of Mercantilism:

In most cases mercantile theory was trade i.e. it was an economic theory popular in the 1500s stating that there is a certain amount of wealth in the world and it is a nations’ best interests to accumulate it. A country achieves wealth through producing and exporting more good than they import’. It meant that, according to the aim of mercantilism, ‘merchants would sell products to foreign nations and purchases products to foreign nations and purchased items to be sold within the nation.

Origin of Mercantilism:

This was the first stage in the development of capitalism in Europe. It is "the earliest forms of capitalism originated in Rome, the Middle East, and the early middle Ages. The most effective participants were merchants and craftsmen who originated from feudalism.

According to Richard Hooker in his work "The European Enlightenment Glossary", stating that as the Roman Empire expanded, mercantilism correspondingly expanded. But the contraction of the Roman Empire from the fifth century onwards also contracted mercantilism until, by the 700’s, it was not a substantial aspect of European culture, that is, European economies tended to localize

Arabian Peninsula had a long history of mercantilism through trading routes betweeb the oldest three great empires of Egypt, Persia (the modern Iran), and later Byzantium under the Turkish rule. Therefore, Islam from the seventh century A.D. onwards spread out from the Arabian Peninsula or the Middle East like wildfire acrossing Northern Africa, Spain, the Middle East and Asia. Globally, at that time, it can be known as Arabic mercantilism.

The medieval Europeans essentially learned mercantilism from their Islamic neighbors, evidenced in large part by the number of economic terms in European languages that are derived from Arabic, such as tariff and traffic.

From the 1300’s, Europeans had began to expand out their mercantile practices by exploring distant parts of the globe for the mercantile ambitions. Mercantilism finally revived in Europe in the fourteenth century, as mercantilism spread from Spain and Portugal to other European nations.

By 1485, the first capitalist Tudor Monarch in Europe was established by King Henry VII. The period from 1500 to 1700 is marked with the mercantile activities based on trade in the overseas i.e. the triangular trade.

The Features of Mercantilism:

Mercantilism was mainly featured by Bullionism as the ‘monetary policy of mercantilism, which called for national regulation of transaction in foreign currency and precious metals (bullion) in order to maintain a favourable balance in the home country. Bullion is referred to as ‘gold and silver’ considered with respect to quantity rather than value. Slave trade was the most important system of exchange that valued the merchants until it was transformed to competitive capitalism in the second half of the 18th century.

The national unification: This was due to the rise of the capitalist class and the creation of states. The countries to undergo this were England, France, Spain, German, Netherlands and Portugal in which resulted to good market, peace, monetization / currency, legal system for private property and taxation.

Bullionism: The increase of the wealth-money in terms of precious metals like gold and silver. Among the major tenets of mercantilist theory was bullionism, a doctrine stressing the importance of accumulating precious metals. Mercantilists argued that a state should export more goods than it imported so that foreigners would have to pay the difference in precious metals. Mercantilists asserted that only raw materials that could not be extracted at home should be imported; and promoted government subsidies, such as the granting of monopolies and protective tariffs, were necessary to encourage home production of manufactured goods."

Protectionism: These are enacted laws on trade through barriers and tariffs so that to protect the internal products example protecting merchants against the authoritarianism of guild system. England is much benefited by enacting protectionism laws protection English production and markets. In the British – American colonies different tariffs were passed to protect the English merchants. For example, the Tea Act of 1774 which resulted to American War of Independence that started in 1775 to 1783.

Expansionism policy: During the 16th century throughout mercantilism the Europeans especially Portugal, Spain, Netherlands, and England began slowly the tendency of expansion for new land. The main objective was trade but the English made colonies in the New World in order to acquire raw materials, cheap labour especially slaves from Africa, areas for economic investments and markets. This was after geographical discoveries in America, Africa and Asia.

Creation of armies and the navy: These were created purposely for the protection of trading activities in the land and during piracy. Piracy as a primitive method in getting capital threatened the British and commerce during the overseas trade. The navy system was discovered so that to maintain and protect the merchants against the pirates from other countries.

Unequal exchange of commodities: This was done by exchanging commodities between European merchants, African, Asian and American traders and investors. That occurred during the overseas trade by exchanging valuable commodities in Africa and America with unvalued goods from Europe.

Primitive accumulation of capital: This shaped the period from 1500 to 1700 aimed to accumulate the wealth for the development of the merchants and craftsmen. It was through plundering and looting of the properties, piracy, slave trade, and unequal exchange of items as described below.

THE CAUSES

FOR THE RISE OF MERCANTILE CAPITALISM

a). The Role of the Tudor Monarchy

The Tudor Monarchy is rooted in feudal society; it could to a certain extent balance between the bourgeoisie and progressive gentry, on the one hand, and the feudal lords on the other. After the great noble houses had destroyed one another in the fifteenth-century Wars of the Roses, the strength of the advancing and declining classes was in equilibrium for a brief period, during which the function of the monarchy was to see that concessions to bourgeois demands did the least possible harm to the ruling class (Hill, 1940).

The Crown tried to control trade and industry in the interests of the national exchequer, posed frequently as the defender of the peasant and artisan against the rich: but always in the last resort it continued to retreat before the bourgeoisie, on whom it depended for supplies and loans (Hill, 1940).

In fact, until about 1590, the monarchy had many interests in common with those of the bourgeoisie in town and country in the struggle against Spain, against the international Catholic Church, against rival noble houses disputing supreme control with the House of Tudor and ruining the country with their private wars, hence the collaboration in Parliament between monarchy, gentry and bourgeoisie. Yet, there was a point beyond which the retreat could not be continued, and ultimately the unity of interest broke down (Hill, 1940).

The monarchy was bound up with the feudal order by more than the bonds of conservative sentiment. The King was himself the greatest of feudal landlords and, though he was in a better position than others to get a rake-off from the new capitalist wealth, he was opposed no less than any other landowner to a fundamental change from a feudal to a capitalist order of society (Hill, 1940).

In the early sixteenth century, the monarchy had used the bourgeoisie as an ally against its most powerful rivals-the other great feudal houses weakened by the Wars of the Roses and the Church. The alliance between Crown and Parliament (representing the landed classes and the merchants) had in the early sixteenth century been genuine. But by the last decade of the sixteenth century, when all its internal and external foes had been crushed, the bourgeoisie ceased to depend on the protection of the monarchy; at the same time the Crown became increasingly aware of the dangerous possibilities of the growing wealth of the bourgeoisie, and strove to consolidate its position before it was too late (Hill, 1940).

b) Primitive Accumulation of Capital:

The primitive methods / ways of accumulating capital took place during the mercantile era after the demise of feudalism in the 15th – 18th centuries. Primitive Accumulation of Capital differs from the modern ways of accumulative capital. The ways /methods were:

Plundering and looting of the properties was done in towns and in the big houses. Plundering and looting took place during the wars, for example during the crusades of 11thand 12th centuries between Muslims and Christians, the fight between French and England Monarchy 1337-1453. King Napoleon plundered during Napoleonic wars from 1795 to 1815 to turn his subject people into an international Napoleonic Empire.

Piracy is the method of robbing properties during the oversea trade was done purposely to increase the wealth to the nations.

Confiscation of the properties: The confiscation of the properties took place during the reformations / changes in Europe. In the Roman Church, it had been done by the Protestants who later named themselves as the Church of England (Anglican Church) against the Roman Catholic Church. The reason for