英语专业论文样稿.docx

上海外国语大学毕业论文Shanghai International Studies UniversityTransformation of Modern English Agriculture From the 17th Century to the 19th CenturyA ThesisPresented to School of English StudiesIn Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements forThe Degree of Bachelor of ArtsByLin HaomingUnder the Supervision of Professor Li ShanghongApril 2015IIAcknowledgementsIn writing this thesis, I have had the supports and encouragements of many people, and it is my great honor to acknowledge their kindness here.First and foremost, my gratitude goes to Prof. Li Shanghong, my supervisor, whose criticism and insights constantly broadened my vision and inspired me. He encouraged me to undertake the transformation of modern English agriculture, supported me in data collection, and carefully guided me during the whole writing process. I will always remember his benevolent and professional attitude as a sincere scholar.I would also convey my gratitude to Prof. Gao Jian, for his thought-provoking lectures and generous assistance in the study of English history. It is him who first inspired me to do more in-depth research on English agriculture, and continuously supports me in pursuing my interest. I have significantly benefitted from comments and suggestions he has provided for my papers. Prof. Lin Ling, Dr. Li Mei, Dr. Chen Qi, and my friends Lily Zhang, Jenny Shao and Candy Lu deserve my thanks for they have always been to me the biggest source of support, encouragement and also happiness.I will be thankful forever to the College of English Language and Literature, and the faculty and staff of this college. Four years spent in this remarkable place with these intelligent people has spurred me to become a better person in many ways. I would also like to thank all the authors whose works I have cited and quoted in my thesis.Lastly, I wish to express my heartfelt gratitude to my loving parents, whose love, support and wisdom have guided and will guide me in my whole life. Abstract Modern English agriculture experienced great transformations especially in agricultural structure from the 17th century to the 19th century. The transformation played an important role in modern agriculture of western countries. Based on the analyses of the Agrarian Revolution, Enclosure, Industrial Revolution, this thesis attempts to find the causes for English agricultural transformation, the impacts of small-peasant economy on English agriculture and the status of English agriculture in modern agriculture of western countries. From the late 15th century, English kingship expanded a great deal which benefitted peasants rights and interests. Under this circumstance, small-peasant economy developed constantly and in the 17th century, yeomen in England had absolute predominance compared with big farms. Until the mid 18th century, the big capitalist farm had a favorable turn thanks to the first Agrarian Revolution, further Enclosure and the first Industrial Revolution. This also marked the decline of small-peasant economy. In the early 19th century, the second Agrarian Revolution contributed to the boom of the big farm. In the second half of the 19th century, the middle and small peasants got an infusion of fresh blood from the second Industrial Revolution and governments policies. The English transformation was not a model for western countries but only a reference as the decline of English agriculture in the late 19th century sounded the alarm for the transformation of modern agriculture in western countries. It is not easy to fully clarify modern English agricultural structure because it is the consequence of policy, economy and culture as well as some random causes. This thesis briefly analyzes factors influencing modern English agriculture from the 17th century to the 19th century and the status of modern English agriculture in western countries instead of a comprehensive analysis on modern English agriculture.Keywords: Modern English Agriculture; Transformation; Small-peasant Economy;Yeoman; Big Farm; Family FarmII摘要十七世纪至十九世纪英国的农业发生巨大变革。特别是在农业结构方面，英国农业的改革在西方农业的地位不容小觑。基于对农业革命、圈地运动和工业革命等多方面的研究，本文将阐述英国现代农业发展的原因、小农经济对英国现代农业改革进程的影响，同时探讨英国农业发展在西方国家现代化农业发展中的作用。十五世纪末以后，随着王权扩张，农民权益不断增强。在这样的背景下，小农经济不断发展，到十七世纪，英国的自耕农迎来他们发展的顶峰，大农场的扩张受到很大阻碍。直到十八世纪中期，英国第一次农业革命为雇佣型大农场的发展带来了转机，加之圈地运动进程的深入和工业革命的影响，小农经济不断衰落。到十九世纪初期，随着第二次农业革命的开始，大型农场取得压倒性优势。在十九世纪下半叶，第二次工业革命和政府一系列举措使得中小农经济焕发出新的活力。在这一系列发展进程中，英国现代农业的改革不是整个西方现代农业发展的模板，只能说起到一定的借鉴作用，十九世纪末英国农业的衰落更是为整个西方现代农业的改革敲响了警钟。想要完全了解清楚英国农业的改革并非易事。毕竟农业的改革是政治、经济、文化等多方面共同作用的结果，同时也存在一定的偶然因素。本文只能简要地分析十七世纪到十九世纪期间影响英国现代农业改革的相关因素以及英国现代农业在西方现代农业中的地位，而不是对该时期英国现代农业进行全面分析。关键词：英国现代农业，改革，小农经济，自耕农，大农场，家庭农场IIIContentsAcknowledgements.Abstract (English).Abstract (Chinese).Introduction.1Chapter I The Prosperity of Small-peasant Economy.21.1 Social and Cultural Background.21.2 Influences on Small-peasant Economy.4Chapter II The Decline of Small-peasant Economy and the Rise of the Big Farm.62.1 Main Factors of This Big Change.62.1.1 Agrarian Revolution.62.1.2 Governments Policy.72.1.3 Social Situation.82.1.4 The Superiority of the Big Farm.92.2 Changes of Economic Structure.10 2.2.1. Status of Small-peasant Economy.10 2.2.2. Status of Capitalism.102.3 Impacts on Western Modern Agriculture.11Chapter III The Decline of the Big Farm and the Rise of the Family Farm.123.1 Reasons for the Transformation.12 3.1.1 The Second Industrial Revolution.12 3.1.2 Social Situation.13 3.1.3 Governments Intervention.153.2 Tendency of English Agricultural Development.153.3 Influences on Western Modern Agriculture.16Conclusion.18Bibliography.19IntroductionThe transformation of modern English agriculture from the 17th century to the 19th century is an essential part in the development of modern English agriculture. On the whole, it aimed to protect the rights of peasants, increase work efficiency and have more economic benefits. Over the years, much has been discussed on the importance of the decline of small-peasant economy and the rise of capitalism in the transformation of English agriculture, yet few investigations have been done on the importance of small-peasant economy and the problems of capitalism in the transformation. In this thesis, I will try to outline how the transformation began at the early 17th century, developed with Enclosure and how it further developed in the 18th century and the 19th century with the influence of the Agrarian Revolution, the Industrial Revolution and Enclosure. I will clarify the roles small-peasant economy and capitalism played in the transformation. I will also introduce how the transformation of English agriculture affected agriculture in western countries. Since I cover a broad scope of history and a wide range of regions in England, this analysis will be of necessity, sketchy. In particular, I will not be able to address adequately the particular cases in English transformation. Further, I cannot address many random factors which have contributed to the transformation. However, I hope to make it clear how the transformation of English agriculture began and developed. This thesis draws predominantly on the work of historians of agriculture and economy. In addition to the transformation itself, I am also concerned with changes of status of small-peasant economy and capitalism in the transformation. Besides, from the perspective of western history, I attach importance to the trend of English agricultural development. Chapter I The Prosperity of Small-peasant Economy1.1 Social and Cultural BackgroundDated back to the late 15th century, thanks to the establishment of the Tudors, the political position of feudal lords lowered and it was a beginning of a golden age for peasants. In the 16th century, with a growing number of people, there was a scarcity of farmland on average. Under this circumstance, the conflicts between peasants and feudal lords kept upgrading. To solve conflicts, the royal power intervened. From the mid 16th century to the 17th century, the royal power was expanding in the field of agriculture; at the beginning of the 17th century, the rights of the yeoman peaked in England. Landholding mode of the yeoman refers to the freehold, the copyhold of inheritance, the copyhold of lives and the beneficial leasehold. The freehold is a kind of traditional form of agricultural structure. From the late medieval times to the early modern times, the freehold was like ownership nowadays and it did not change a lot. The copyhold of inheritance, the copyhold of lives and the beneficial leasehold developed from tenant at will. The copyhold was the most famous in new land usage rights. The copyhold of inheritance required peasants to pay fine in a lump sum and rent every year if they wanted to be tenants at will. The right of inheritance could last for no more than three generations in the copyhold of lives. The beneficial leasehold generally rented to three generations continuously and in the mid 17th century it turned into the long-term rental. The 17th century is a period of the yeomans rise. At the beginning of the 17th century, the yeoman enjoyed many rights under the protection of royalty. In the first half of the 17th century, the following three factors mainly contributed to rise of the yeoman. Firstly, according to Enclosure and the Yeoman, English population increased quickly, price of grain went up, and the comparative advantage of animal products dropped sharply. As a result, less farmland was turned into pasture. Secondly, although Enclosure made more land into pasture, it focused more on reclaiming wasteland so this movement did not push peasants aside to a certain degree. Also, English royalty imposed strict restrictions on movements which would squeeze peasants out. In this period, common law gradually replaced feudal customary law. Only the royal court could take charge of cases relating to freehold tenure, which transformed the focus of law from both sides compulsory personal relation into the ownership of land. Because of common law, peasants had entitlement of land in fact and only few obsolete rights were reserved for feudal lord. From the second half of the 17th century to the early 18th century, the pace of Enclosure stepped up. According to Agricultural Revolution in England, in 1700, more than 75 percent of English land belonged to enclosure. The essence of Enclosure was establishing exclusive land usage right and usufruct to make better use of existing resources. However, many yeomen signed an agreement of enclosure of their own accord, or they put the land in severalty. Consequently, in spite of the high speed of Enclosure, the yeomans enthusiasm did not decrease a lot and this benefitted the development of English agriculture. Also, compared with open-field, yield of enclosure had advantages. On the basis of Enclosure and the Yeoman, take yield of wheat for example, enclosure surpassed open-field by 8.4 percent. It increased agricultural productivity and was beneficial to the improvement of agricultural technology especially in the era when production technology changed quickly. Despite the fact that open-field system did not have relatively advantages, itself experienced a big transformation in this period which conduced to the development of English Agriculture during this period. Open-field system was a traditional form of agricultural structure, but from the mid 17th century, many peasants signed agreements to use their land independently. Through this measure, farmers could adjust their variety of grain and domestic animals as well as their acreage of plantation according to market requirement. This measure enabled open-field system to transform tremendously. Also, for the reason that open-field system required more labor force compared with enclosure, more peasants could have chance to work in farmland without losing jobs. 1.2 Influences on Small-peasant Economy Data in Enclosure and the Yeoman shows that in 1688, about two-thirds of land was in the form of small-peasant economy. Until the early 18th century, English agricultural structure was still based on small-peasant economy rather than capitalism. So from the 17th century to the early 18th century, transformation of English agriculture had great influences on small-peasant economy. In the first place, the new agricultural structure such as the copyhold and the beneficial leasehold prohibited expansion of the big farm. In the new structure, peasants should pay a pretty penny as fine to feudal lords. After that, peasants only needed to pay low rent to feudal lords once a year. In this tenancy system, peasants could use land at their will and make more profits without interference from feudal lords. If feudal lords wanted to have working capital, they had no other choice but rent land to peasants because interest rate of credit and loan was high and guarantee may be easily auctioned. This tenancy system and social environment were beneficial to the development of small-peasant economy. Secondly, during the period from the 17th century to the early 18th century, productivity was generally low. At the same time, people had not enough ability to resist natural disasters and other random risks; open-field system had the advantage of decentralizing risks. Furthermore, as has been mentioned before, peasants paved a new way for the transformation of open-field system. The trend of commercialization was gradually obvious in the countryside. Peasants adapted to this mode and could have more freedom in using land and getting more profits. So during this period many peasants preferred to open-field system. Form this aspect, open-field system consolidated small-peasant economy. During the process of Enclosure, one thing should not be ignored, that is, justice. Although royalty protected peasants rights through court and regulations, it could not guarantee absolute justice and influential people had a comparatively preponderance. No matter in which times, the balance of justice leans to the more powerful side; the only difference is the degree of injustice. With the addition of non-agricultural department appearing on the horizon and a growing population, a larger amount of rural people left the land. Therefore, from the perspective of historical development, Enclosure accelerated the decline of small-peasant economy.Although English agriculture in the 17th century and the early 18th century based on small-peasant economy seemed traditional for the absence of capitalism, the modernization of English agriculture sprouted because of the transformation of property in land and the new forms of agricultural structure. In general, from the 17th century to the early 18th century, small-economy was prosperous as a whole. Although Enclosure hindered the development of small-peasant economy, agricultural structure and a series of actions peasants took enabled small-peasant economy to get an upper hand. Chapter IIThe Decline of Small-peasant Economy and the Rise of the Big Farm2.1 Main Factors of This Big Change2.1.1 Agrarian RevolutionHistorians have different views on the time of Agrarian Revolution. The basic consensus is that one important Agrarian Revolution started around the mid 18th century and it ended around the mid 19th century. In the 18th century, English economy was still based on agriculture. From the early 18th century to the mid 18th century, the number of Enclosure Acts the parliament passed was about 100. But in the second half of the 18th century, the parliament passes a mass of Enclosure Acts. Just from the 1760s to the 1770s, the parliament passed about 900 Enclosure Acts. Because of large-scale enclosure by acts, the ownership of land and management mode experienced a great change. According to “Members of Parliament and The Proceedings upon Enclosure Bills”, from the early 18th century to the late 18th century, the percentage of large land rose from about 18 to 23. Under normal conditions, squires had large land from 300 acres to 2000 acres which accounted for half of the whole land in the 18th England. In contrast, freeholders usually had less than 4