Introduction

What effect did the Demographic Revolution have upon Britain?  These Ordnance Survey maps show the changes to the village of Eldon, in County Durham, in 1857 and 1897.

If you look at the top right of the 1897 map, you can see the clue as to why these changes happened – the hatchings which denote the slope of the spoil heap of the Black Boy pit, one of many coal mines in the area.

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Introduction (continued)

The Demographic Revolution and the Industrial Revolution

The rapid growth in population in Britain in the 18th-19th centuries co-incided with the period of the Industrial Revolution – but did it cause it?

For historians who believe that *demand* lay behind the growth of output, it certainly makes sense that more people = greater demand = industrial growth.  School textbooks usually follow this traditional view, and suggest ways in which a growing population would encourage economic growth.

But what if it was the other way round?  What if the Industrial Revolution caused the rise in population?  The 18th century English economist Thomas Malthus suggested (1798) that, if all that happens is a growth of population, then all that will happen is that it is stopped by famine, plague or war.  Without the Industrial (and Agricultural) Revolutions, it is argued, the growth in population would never have happened.

This argument makes sense to historians such as the Dutch historian Joel Mokyr, who calculated that the rise in population accounted for no more than a tenth of the growth of industrial output (1985); for Mokyr, it was technology which caused the Industrial Revolution, which in turn created the wealth which kept the growing population alive. 

What do you think?  Did population growth boost industry, or did industrial development allow the population to grow?  Maybe the truth – as the economic historian Phyllis Deane suggested in 1965 – is that they were interlinked ... that one nudged the other, which then prompted the one.

After you have studied this webpage, answer the question sheet by clicking on the 'Time to Work' icon at the top of the page.

Links:

The following websites will help you research further:

• Effects of the Demographic Revolution on the Industrial Revolution – textbook quotes.

• These maps of Easington (County Durham), show similarly the demographic effects of sinking a successful colliery.