Beginning around 1600, an agricultural revolution reached England. Crop rotation, enclosure of common land, larger farms, better equipment, and abundant labour increased yields. By 1800, both yields and population were nearly doubled; according to a graph based on population changes and net wheat yields in England, meant for students to understand how both agriculture and population growth go hand in hand (document 1). …show more content…
The changes in the job market was due to a rapid increase in inflation, - as shown in Index of Real Wages in England, 1550 - 1800 (document 2) - detrimentally lowering wages in 17th century England; this inflation caused by influx of gold and other precious metals into the country, driving prices down. The lower wages, and the utter disparity of the average worker, made it easy for owners of large farms to have cheap labour. Whereas some found work, others did not; leaving them in un-repayable debts. The English Parliament, as most MPs were rather wealthy landowners, passed An Act for the Better Relief of the Poor of this Kingdom. This law effectively allowed debtors to be sent to workhouses or an English plantation and treated as servants to work off their