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THE ECONOMY IN THE 17TH CENTURY - Coggle Diagram
THE ECONOMY IN THE 17TH CENTURY
The European economy
In the 17th century, there was an agricultural crisis. Agriculture was the main economic activity and was seriously affected by the following factors
Plagues
Farmers migrated
Wars
Agricultural techniques
Bad harvests
When agricultural production decreased, prices rose and the majority of the population did not have enough food
This situation is called a subsistence crisis, and occurred frequently in the 17th century
In the second half of the century, the situation improved
Factors enabled this recovery to occur
There were fewer wars
There was a growth in colonial trade
The textile industry grew in England and Holland
The monarchs intervened in the economy, implementing the mercantile system
The economic crisis in Spain
The Spanish monarchy became involved in more wars than the other European powers
This contributed to a worsening of the agricultural crisis, resulting in a greater demographic decline in Spain than in the rest of Europe
The agricultural crisis and the decline in the population
The expulsion of the Moriscos in 1609 meant that more than 300 000 people left the Peninsula, the majority of whom were farmers
Many farmers left the countryside due to the hard way of life
Pícaros became more predominant
The trade and craft industry crisis
While other kingdoms were creating and expanding their colonial empires, the Spanish monarchy ran out of resources from America
The mines were almost empty and their sea route to between America was constantly under threat from pirates or smugglers
Spanish manufactured products were not competitively priced in comparison to other countries.
The rest of the colonial empires established trading posts in America in order to sell their products there