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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.

16th Century

18th Century

14th Century

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:

  • Created vacancies

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

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