3 ms·

> But even the first agricultural revolution had a lot of people moving out of the country and to the cities because they could no longer work on the land. The

> But even the first agricultural revolution had a lot of people moving out of the country and to the cities because they could no longer work on the land. The first agricultural revolution would have been one guy planting seeds with the expectation that edible crops would grow. That led to a huge population boom, but not to cities. The industrial revolution didn't have the mechanics you're imagining. People left the country for cities because work was available in cities, not because it wasn't available at home. Peasants were always in a constant state of having more labor available than the land they worked required, but that push factor never meant the surplus labor could leave. You can't leave without somewhere to go to.

defrost 3mo ago
> Peasants were always in a constant state of having more labor available than the land they worked required With the significant exception of post plague periods during which some big changes occurred wrt landholder / serf relations, expected pay rates, part ownership, etc. eg: (unvetted source) Worker Power: How the black death revolutionised workers rights - https://historyguild.org/worker-power-how-the-black-death-revolutionised-workers-rights/ https://historyguild.org/worker-power-how-the-black-death-re...
- thaumasiotes 3mo ago
  Once again, that isn't a case of the peasants experiencing a labor shortage; it's a case of everything else experiencing a labor shortage, giving opportunities to the peasants. The period after the Black Death was characterized by serfs abandoning their family farms for more lucrative options elsewhere. If the family farms needed them, that wouldn't have happened.
  - defrost 3mo ago
    > Once again, that isn't a case of the peasants experiencing a labor shortage It's your assertion that * no peasants died during the Black Death, * peasants owned "family farms" * no peasant owned family farms suffered a labour shortage despite being "abandoned for more lucrative options elsewhere" ? Okay. Sure.
    - thaumasiotes 2mo ago
      [dead]

defrost 3mo ago

> Peasants were always in a constant state of having more labor available than the land they worked required With the significant exception of post plague periods during which some big changes occurred wrt landholder / serf relations, expected pay rates, part ownership, etc. eg: (unvetted source) Worker Power: How the black death revolutionised workers rights - https://historyguild.org/worker-power-how-the-black-death-revolutionised-workers-rights/ https://historyguild.org/worker-power-how-the-black-death-re...

thaumasiotes 3mo ago
Once again, that isn't a case of the peasants experiencing a labor shortage; it's a case of everything else experiencing a labor shortage, giving opportunities to the peasants. The period after the Black Death was characterized by serfs abandoning their family farms for more lucrative options elsewhere. If the family farms needed them, that wouldn't have happened.
- defrost 3mo ago
  > Once again, that isn't a case of the peasants experiencing a labor shortage It's your assertion that * no peasants died during the Black Death, * peasants owned "family farms" * no peasant owned family farms suffered a labour shortage despite being "abandoned for more lucrative options elsewhere" ? Okay. Sure.
  - thaumasiotes 2mo ago
    [dead]