2023 - The Rise of Early Capitalism

The Rise of Early Capitalism

Cultura y Civilización de los Pueblos de Habla Inglesa I FL - UNC

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UNIT II: Medieval England Economic and Social Developments The beginnings of Capitalism in the Late Middle Ages: economic and social significance.

TIE-UP: In our previous lesson, we examined how the Norman Conquest of England by William (Duke of Normandy), at the beginning of the XI century (Early Middle Ages), resulted in profound economic, social and political changes in the country. The new monarch imposed on the English a distinct kind of feudalism -territorial feudalism- primarily a system of production based on land tenure and land as its means of production. But, in the Late Middle Ages, some forces began to operate which gradually disrupted the manorial system and dissolved the fabric of the early medieval society.Hitherto we have considered the economic and social developments in late medieval rural England and how a natural economy was superseded by a money economy.

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UNIT II: Medieval England Economic and Social Developments The beginnings of Capitalism in the Late Middle Ages: economic and social significance.

Now, in this lesson, we will consider the economic and social developments in medieval urban England and we will explore:

• the guild system as the system of production in towns in the Early Middle Ages,
• its subsequent deterioration and replacement by the domestic system in the Late Middle Ages which, in turn, led to the rise of early capitalism in England,
• the impact of these economic developments on the nature of social relationships and organization so as to describe the major changes in class structure experienced by the English society of the period,
• how, with the growth of trade on capitalist lines, the corporate society organized on a guild basis slowly evolved into an individualist society organized on a capitalist basis.

What is capitalism?

Before approaching the genesis and growth of early capitalism, it is essential to define the concept of Capitalism.

What is capitalism?

Capitalism is an economic system, dominant in the Western world since the breakup of feudalism, in which most means of production are privately owned and production is guided and income distributed largely through the operation of markets. (Heilbroner, 2022)

Capitalism is an economic system in which the means of production, distribution and exchange are privately owned and operated for profit. (Webster Dictionary of the English Language, 2004)

Adam Smith "The Father of Capitalism"

The Guild System

Now that you have a general picture of capitalism and its main traits, we will explore the Guild System, the system of production prevailing in urban England in the Early Middle Ages.

Read Chapter II of The Growth of the English Society by Lipson. Then, examine the sources below. Use your knowledge and the information from these sources to answer the questions

here.

Many people in Medieval England worked the land and; consequently, farming was critically important to a family in this period as it was its main means of livelihood. Hence, most people lived in villages in the countryside where there was plenty of land for tilling. On the contrary, Medieval towns were small and sparsely populated but still needed the food produced by surrounding villages. (Adapted from Trueman, 2022)

The Domestic System

Now we will explore the factors that led to the collapse of the Guild System in the Late Middle Ages and, in turn, to the rise of early capitalism in England.

Read Lipson's Chapter II again. Then, examine the sources below. Use your knowledge and the information from these sources to answer the questions

here.

The gradual break-up of the old gild society was not due to the degeneracy of the gild regime, which was a symptom rather than a fundamental cause; it was the inevitable product of economic forces.

(Lipson, 1951, p. 48)

The images here will give you an idea of how the new economic developments of the period affected the social structure in urban England. Based on the information read and analyzed, and on the sources on the following slide, answer: 1. What new social classes emerged as a consequence of the rise of early capitalism?2. How powerful were these social classes? Why?

All these concurrent indications of the prevalence of capitalism in English industry -prior to the introduction of machinery- justify the conclusion that a capitalist society was no new creation when great inventions inaugurated its second phase, that of power-driven machinery (…) Long before the advent of the factory age, the capitalist employer had become the pivotal figure in industry, whose organization was controlled and dominated by him.

The position of labour in the new economic order, which by easy stages dissolved the fabric of medieval society, attests the early growth of capitalism. The structure of industry was being reconstituted on lines which were incompatible with the survival of the master craftsman in an independent capacity. We can best account for the rise of a wage-earning class if we bear in mind that the criterion of the wage system is not the ownership of the instruments of production but the ownership of the raw material.

(Lipson, 1951, p. 93)

(Lipson, 1951, p. 91)

The Rise of Early Capitalism

Lipson (1951) ends his chapter 'The Corporate Society: the Town Community' stating that, in the Late Middle Ages, "a new era was unfolding in which a corporate society organized on a gild basis slowly yielded place to an individualist society organized on a capitalist basis" (p. 50).

To what extent do you agree with Lipson's assertion?

Remember that the contents of this presentation will be discussed in the in-person session.See you then!