The Rise of the Mercantile Class (England)
Encouragement for the middleman
Doctrines & Companies
Industrialists...
King Edwards III
- The industrial revolution of the mid-late 18th century marked the end of mercantilism
- A group of economic theorists led by Adam Smith challenged core mercantile standards and pushed for reforms
- The industrialist became more valued than the merchant
Doctrines introduced by Thomas Mun, Josiah Child & Gerard De Malynes articulated the Elizabethan system which included:
- Building overseas colonies (for raw material extraction and production)
- Restricting domestic consumption (in some areas) for trade purposes
Their efforts also involved the development of chartered trading companies which aimed to monopolize the trade industry
- The culmination of these factors led to the development of a clearly defined middle class (being the merchants) in England.
- Mercantilism was not only an economic theory, but an economic practice
- Trade-oriented practices (despite being mostly domestic in these stages) allowed for the middle class to receive a steady stream of income
- Stabilized economic growth after tragic events
For mercantilism to remain dominant, new policies and practices had to be introduced. The people of the middle class were now in jeopardy...again.
Reign: 25 January 1327 - 21 June 1377
- Contributed to the vital development of legislation and government structures- which in later years, promoted the rise of the merchants and mercantile practices.
- Such policies included;
- Right to tax breaks
- Right to self governance
- Ability to enact guilds (and abide by guild law)
- Promoting the ownership of private property amongst farmers
- Military prowess bred alliances. These alliances secured trade flows in the early beginnings of mercantile-oriented trade.
Crisis of the Late Middle Ages
The end approaches
Elizabethan Era
Reign: 17 November 1558 - 24 March 1603
- England began their large-scale and integrative approaches to mercantilism during this era (this was dubbed the Elizabethan system)
- Queen Elizabeth and her political/economic advisers wished to bolster economic growth through the trade-oriented structure that was mercantilism
- Introduced heavy tariffs on trades
- Introduced legislation to protect English exports
- Subsidized areas that showed great trade promise- i.e. wool industry, textiles, manufacturing etc.
- This outlook boded well for the middle class as merchants continued as the backbone for England's economic growth
The Great Famine (1315-17) & the Black Plague (1348) had played an important role in the development of mercantilism as a feasible economic structure and thus allowing the emergence of the middle-merchant class.
Black Plague:
Great Famine:
- Soil exhaustion + extended periods of unfavourable weather conditions + agricultural production reaching its technological limits
The decline in food production in conjunction with the newly freed agricultural land due to the Black Plague;
- It was no longer about self-sufficiency; agricultural production had to increase and this free land allowed for it.
- The emergence of many guilds worked well as competitive pressure began to build
- Tax breaks eased production
- Farmers, artisans etc. began to accumulate more wealth, thereby beginning their ascension to the middle-class