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Improved food production increased population, expanding labor and consumer markets. Earlier centuries saw slower demographic growth and less market pressure. This fueled urbanization and demand. Shows change because demographic scale reshaped economic and social conditions. -
Centralized banking supported state debt and private investment, moving beyond earlier merchant and monarch lenders. It strengthened capitalist finance and national economic planning. Banks shaped wealth and policy more than before. Shows change because finance shifted toward modern institutional capitalism. -
New methods like crop rotation, enclosure, and selective breeding increased food supply and population. This shifted Europe away from medieval open-field farming used for centuries. More surplus supported urban growth and industrial labor. Shows change because farming remained important, but production methods and economic impact transformed society. -
Families continued producing textiles at home, similar to earlier centuries. Work was still manual, small-scale, and rural. However, merchant control over distribution increased commercialization. Shows continuity because labor structure stayed traditional even as markets slowly expanded. -
Laws privatized common land, accelerating a trend from earlier centuries. Wealthy landowners gained profits while peasants lost land access. This deepened class inequality and pushed migration to cities. Shows change because rural society shifted from shared land traditions toward commercialized, stratified agriculture. -
Europe continued relying on colonial forced labor for economic profit, as in earlier centuries. Trade enriched port cities and merchants, reinforcing long-standing social hierarchies tied to imperial wealth. Abolition was not yet dominant. Shows continuity because exploitation remained a core economic and social system. -
Coal power, mechanization, and early factories transformed production. Economies shifted away from pre-industrial manual systems used for centuries. Cities and labor life changed rapidly. Shows change because production scale, labor conditions, and class structure entered a new industrial era. -
Skilled labor was still regulated by guilds, a system dating to medieval Europe. Trade professions remained restricted and hierarchical, unlike Britain’s freer market trends. Prices and training stayed controlled. Shows continuity because traditional labor regulation persisted despite growing capitalist pressures. -
Argued for free-market economics, challenging mercantilism from earlier centuries that favored state-controlled trade. Influenced new views on labor, profit, and economic policy. Not immediately universal, but impactful. Shows change because economic thought shifted toward institutional capitalism. -
Merchants, bankers, and professionals gained status from rising trade and early industry. This challenged noble social dominance from earlier centuries where birth outweighed wealth. Some mobility increased, though aristocrats stayed powerful. Shows change because class influence began shifting toward wealth-based status.