SOSC 1340 Chapter Notes -Bourgeoisie
17 Nov 2013
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Reading(s): slater, t. (2008) the rise and spread of capitalism. About 500 years ago, feudalism ruled the european economy. The feudal society was controlled by a handful of landowners who owned most of the land. They ruled over the large mass of poor peasants. The villages were self sufficient, as the peasants were free to use the land for their own economic activities the landlord would simply take a cut of everything. The transition from feudalism to capitalism was speeded up by the extreme after effect of the black death which wiped nearly half of the european population. The feudal elite depended on large mass of peasants to bring in revenue and maintain their power, so a shortage of peasants slowly caused them to lose control which sped up the disintegration of feudalism. Capitalism came a long, although not yet very different from feudalism, it gave the working class the freedom of choice.
