A Study Of Rural Labourers In Early Modern England

Based on the rural commercialization of early modern England,this thesis focuses on changes in rural labourers' production activity and consumer behaviour during this period.Through the analysis of these changes,this thesis aims to reveal the transformation of social and economic structure in early modern England rural society.The changes in the population and price of early modern England affected the employment situation and the cost of living of rural labourers directly.In this case,the number of rural labourers increased and their diet improved because of the development of enclosure,the spread of labour-intensive economic crops and the changes in corn and livestock products.At the same time,the development of rural industries provided more employment opportunities for these labourers,and the development in commerce pushed the establishment of new links between rural labourers and the market.In terms of production activities,in addition to the small-scale household production,rural labourers emphasized wage labour,which mainly included outdoor farm labour and "by-employment" production activities.When the number of their wages was rising,labourers received many different kinds of payment which had reduced the influence of economic fluctuation on these people.As time goes by,more and more rural people took part in the labour market as labourers,and their income relied heavily on outdoor labour,they got far away from the peasant economy gradually.In terms of material consumption,rural labourers' standards of living improved a lot:the wheat bread became more and more common in their diet,the variety of meat increased,and also,these labourers could drink a great amount of beer.They had more choices in dressing because the color and quality became more abundant;the number of rooms continued to increase,and the quality of household goods has been further improved.These families bought household products from local markets.With the development of domestic and foreign trade in England,these families showed greater dependence on the supply of markets after 1650,and these labourers's consumption habits changed as well.To come to a conclusion,the development of rural commercialization in early modern England laid foundation for the changes in rural labourers' life,their living standard improved apparently.Meanwhile,the changes in the production activities and consumer behaviour of these people showed that,while they were getting away from the traditional peasant economy,the capitalist economic structure was forming gradually during this period in the rural society.