II. The Population Explosion
- A. Factors Limiting Population Growth
- 1. Periodic crop failures caused widespread famine.
- 2. Epidemic diseases such as bubonic plague decimated Europe’s population.
- 3. Frequent wars destroyed crops and spread contagious diseases. For example, the Thirty Years’ War reduced the population of the German states by at least one-third.
- B. Factors Promoting Population Growth
- 1. The agricultural revolution produced a more abundant food supply.
- 2. The potato became a key food staple during the eighteenth century. A single acre of potatoes could feed a family for a year.
- 3. Advances in transportation reduced the impact of local crop failures.
- 4. Eighteenth-century wars were fought by professional armies with specific geographic and economic objectives. As a result, eighteenth-century wars were less destructive than the seventeenth-century religious wars.
- 5. It is important to note that medical advances did not play an important role in eighteenth-century population growth.
- C. Population Statistics
- 1. Europe’s population increased from 120 million in 1 700 to 190 million in 1800.
- 2. The population of England rose from 6 million in 1750 to more than 10 million in 1800.
- 3. The population of France increased from 18 million in 1715 to 26 million in 1789.
III. Life in the Eighteenth Century
- A. Marriage and the Family Before 1750
- 1. Most young married European couples lived in nuclear families. Large multigenerational households were not the norm.
- 2. Most couples postponed marriage until they were in their mid-to late twenties.
- 3. Couples delayed marriage in order to acquire land or learn a trade.
- 4. A combination of parental authority and strict laws exercised tight control over marriage.
- B. Patterns of Marriage and the Family After 1750
- 1. he growth of the cottage industry increased income and helped young people become financially independent.
- 2. As income rose, arranged marriages declined.
- 3. Increased mobility reduced parental and village controls.
- 4. Young peasant women increasingly left home to work as domestic servants.
- C. Child Rearing
- 1. Because of the high mortality rate among infants, parents were reluctant to become emotionally attached to their children.
- 2. Jean-Jacques Rousseau (see Chapter 11) encouraged parents to provide a warm and nurturing environment for their children.
- 3. Upper-middle-class parents began to place a greater emphasis on child rearing.
- D. Increased Life Expectancy
- 1. During the eighteenth century, the life spans of Europeans increased from 25 to 35 years.
- 2. New foods such as the potato combined with better farming techniques improved the diet of the poor.
- 3. Improved sanitation and the beginning of the science of immunology reduced death rates. Edward Jenner performed the first smallpox vaccination in 1796. The conquest of smallpox was the greatest medical triumph of the eighteenth century.
IV. The Rise and Fall of Witchcraft
- A. Witchcraft Persecutions
- 1. During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, between 100,000 and 200,000 people were officially tried for witchcraft.
- 2. Between 40,000 and 60,000 people were executed for witchcraft.
- 3. Elderly, widowed women were the most likely to be accused of witchcraft.
- B. Reasons for the Growth of European Witch Hunts
- 1. Religious reformers stressed the great powers of the Devil. The Devil’s diabolical activities reinforced the widespread belief in witchcraft.
- 2. Women were believed to be weak and thus susceptible to the Devil’s temptations.
- 3. Religious wars and economic uncertainty caused great social and economic stress. Older, widowed women usually lacked power and thus became convenient scapegoats.
- C. Reasons for the Decline of Witchcraft
- 1. Religious wars finally came to an end, thus restoring social stability.
- 2. Protestants emphasized the concept of a supreme God, thus making the Devil seem less threatening.
- 3. The Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment emphasized reason and uniform laws of nature. Support for superstition and witchcraft declined as educated Europeans turned to rational explanations of natural events.
NOTE: APEURO test writers have devoted a number of multiple-choice and free-response questions to witchcraft. It is important to remember that witchcraft trials and executions most often affected elderly widows. Make sure that you study the reasons for both the growth and the decline of witchcraft.
