Please enable JavaScript.

Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.

THE XVIIIth Century (THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT (EUROPEAN WARS (The War of the…

- - - - Evolution of Parliament
        
        Development of a constitutional monarchy: the Parliament had more power than the monarch but was less representative
        
        Two-party political system
        
        Tories
        
        Supported by
        old aristocracy and church
        
        Whigs
        
        Supported by the emerging
        middle class
        
        They held a majority for 60 years
        
        1 more item...
  - - - The Triangular Trade
        
        was a trade between
        
        Britain
        
        carried cotton cloth, metal goods, arms to
        
        Africa
        
        Britain ships bought slaves and travelled to
        
        1 more item...
        
        The slave trade ended in the British dominions with the law of 1811
  - - - King Charles died in 1701 with no heirs and his possessions went to
        
        France
        
        England entered the war in 1702 to prevent it to gain too much power
        
        the war ended with
        
        The Treaty of Utreicht (1713)
        
        Britain gained important commercial and colonial advantages such as
        
        3 more items...
    - - which saw Britain and Prussia allied against France, Austria, Russia and Spain
        
        There were two fundamental figures in this war
        
        William Pitt
        
        he tried to destroy the French trade
        
        obtained control of Canada, West Africa and West Indies
        
        Britain was the European champion of commercial expansion
        
        Robert Clive
        
        repeatedly defeated French troops in India
  - - - Boston Tea Party (1773)
        
        In 1776 Thomas Jefferson and other American leaders wrote the Declaration of Independence
        
        the colonists led by George Washington defeated the British at Yorktown in 1781
        
        Britain officially recognized the 13 colonies as an indipendent nation called
        
        The United States of America
- - - - the XVIIIth century saw a massive demographic growth
        
        the demand for wool increased exponentially
        
        LAND ENCLOSURES
        
        to produce more raw materials
        
        as the production of wool was greater than ever, Britain needed
        
        new technologies
        
        1 more item...
        
        efficient labour organisation
        
        1 more item...
    - - THE MIDDLE CLASS
        
        formed by
        
        the wealthy merchants
        
        owned the mines and manufacturing factories
        
        the artisans and craftsmen
  - - - Hospitals were built in most new towns
        
        life expectancy increased
      - a new tax called "rates" was introduced
        
        to improve living conditions
        
        to develop a sense of civic pride among the inhabitants.
      - new ways of communication were built
        
        travelling became easier
        
        through a network of canals the transport of goods became more efficient
  - - - Many went to work in the cities and found employment BUT
        
        they also found subhuman living and working conditions
        
        children were employed along with women and men
        
        they were treated like their parents
    - - this led to the spread of diseases like smallpox, scurvy and typhus
        
        there was an high mortality rate, especially between children
    - - Gin
        
        many drank to escape from the terrible working day
        
        heavy drinking led to irresponsibility and fights between drunken mobs
      - Coffee
        
        the first coffee house was opened in London in 1652
        
        they served as meeting places for the most important
        companies
        
        artistic people began to attend them
        
        public opinion and journalism began to evolve
  - - - men had just two instruments to cope with life and world
        
        REASON AND COMMON SENSE
      - the 18th century was the age of individualism
        
        UTILITARIANISM
        
        mainly represented by
        
        Jeremy Bentham
        
        an action is right as long as it has happiness as a consequence
        
        if an individual action is correctly addressed, it causes benefits for the community
        
        John Stuart Mill
        
        legislation should help men to develop their natural talents and personalities
        
        as an individual you have peculiar characteristics, talents and unique ideas
        
        Adam Smith
        
        The Wealth of Nations (1766)
        
        government shouldn't interfere in economy as it concerns only businessmen
        
        Invisible hand
        
        the free trade and market system automatically channels the egoistic search for individual satisfaction towards the wealth of the whole society