What would be a good response to this?
When I originally saw that this week's class was based upon revolutions I must admit that agriculture was not the first thing that popped into my head. Agriculture and the production of food was and still is the lifeline to any civilization. Prior to the 18th century a bad harvest meant starvation to the farmers and the community. During this period farmers to preserve soil would leave a patch of land unused every year which would reduce production by roughly 30 percent. The Dutch feeling the pressure of feeding large populations introduced new techniques which are now credited with kicking off the agricultural revolution. There are multiple factors that helped define the Agricultural Revolution, but one key factor was the allotment of more land to farming. Both the English and Dutch cultivated tens of thousands of acres of land into farmland to boost crop production.
The Agricultural Revolution was also assisted by the Scientific Revolution which took a new look at farming and allowed for experimentation. Perhaps the greatest breakthrough was discovered by the Dutch with crop rotation. By rotating different crops farmers were able to maximize output and preserve the soil instead of defaulting to the old method of leaving plots of land untouched and planting the same thing every time. The increase in crops lead to another factor of the revolution in terms of livestock. Excess crops were fed to livestock which generated multiple bonuses for the revolution. With the animals fatter they survived the winter and began to see an increase in livestock production. Fatter animals also meant that they sold for more money at market and had more meat to feed the common people.
Cornwall's interpretation of the Agricultural Revolution is one of simplicity. Cornwall points out that while no major technological improvements were made a revolution stilled occurred. The reason for that revolution was quite simply higher populations demanded that humanity adapt or die of starvation. While the initial goal was survival it turned into a revolution. Cornwall credits England with the embracing the revolution ideas to the fullest with their massive push to make enclosed agricultural land. Mark Overton also wrote about the Agricultural Revolution and credited the success to "changes in the ratio between pasture and arable, a reduction in fallows, the cultivation of fodder crops, changes in the mix of food crops, and regional specialization were all responsible" (Clark, 3). The importance of the Agricultural Revolution was that if took a basic need of survival and turned it into a profitable business. The Agricultural Revolution increased the standard of living by allowing people to live a healthy lifestyle by having food available to them.