1. What kinds of privileges separated European aristocrats from other social groups? How did their privileges and influence affect other people living in the countryside? What was the conniption of serfs in central and Eastern Europe? The aristocracy in most European countries had political privileges - until democracy took hold in the 19th Century the governments were formed from their ranks. The also had privileges of land ownership they owned vast estates with towns, villages and farms on them, they took the rent from these. This is not the case in all of Europe, or for all of the time, but is a broad generalization. The serfs of Eastern Europe, particularly Russia, were little more than slaves, they were owned by their lords, they had no surnames, they could not move without permission and had to work for a certain number of days on his land for no reward. Serfdom lasted longer in Russia than anywhere else in Europe. !

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2. How would you define the term family economy? How did the family economy constrain the lives of women in preindustrial Europe? Constrain" is something of a judgmental word - and let's not forget, that men's lives also operated within social boundaries. Their lifestyle was completely different from what we have today. So they were "constrained" by the fact that they did not have electricity, and an arsenal of household appliances to do their work. They were also constrained by the fact that somebody had to cook food and keep house, and that there was no effective contraception, that people were encouraged to use. The fact that people died of, or were physically weakened by, stuff that antibiotics take care of today also made social mobility all the harder. !

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3. What caused the Agriculture Revolution? How did the English aristocracy contribute to the
Agricultural Revolution? Why did peasants revolt in the eightieth century? Technological innovation caused the agricultural revolution of the period. The 'Renaissance period' and the 'Enlightenment period'. These periods reestablished learning and began modern science. Education and science applied to agriculture caused the 'agricultural revolution’ through innovation. Technological innovations like the seed drill, the spinning jenny, iron plow in the first half of the century, joined by the threshing machine, steam engine, cotton gin in the 2nd half revolutionized agriculture by machines and inventions.
Education innovation in the form of the scientific method revolutionized agriculture when it was applied to it making agriculture ever more planned, purpose directed, organized and orderly. All these things then threw the peasants/ farmers off the land because....inventions, machines, efficiency, maximizing profit all meant you always needed fewer and fewer peasants/ farmers to produce the same or more crops and the pressure to always maximize 'profit' would make this a unstoppable forever trend. More profit meant fewer humans on the farm, fewer humans on the farm meant more machines, more machines meant more innovation, which took more capital which required more profit. The displaced farm workers thrown out of their ancient villages and by landlords only interested in profit/ maximum rents, 1st were angry, rioted but were surpassed and drifted to the cities to become the machine and factory workers building the very machines to put more and more humans out of the farm business while increasing farm out put 300%. !

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4. Why did Europe’s population increase in the eighteenth century? How did population growth affect consumption? The Industrial Revolution. It increased demand, creating larger markets, making economies of scale possible, which in turn leading to urbanization, thus overcoming the perimeters set in place by Thomas Malthus, who theorized that while population grows geometrically, the supply of food grows arithmetically. !

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5. What was the Industrial Revolution and what caused it? Why did Great Britain take the lead in the Industrial