It was customary that land was held in commons—public or belonging to the community. Until the government enacted law that allowed enclosures, which effectively made the land private. This was good for several reasons. Landowners could now yield more crops and livestock at a, “scale of production and a level of control…[which]…radically improved the efficiency of agricultural production”(Bookstaber). The privatization of land promoted competition between farmers, which led to the consolidation of smaller farms into the stronger larger farms. The farmers that couldn’t compete drifted to the industrial sphere, which added more people to the industrial working class. In turn, the remaining farms saw a substantial increase in food production. The surplus, made it easier to feed more people at low prices, giving the average working-class person buying power. The lower class no longer had to spend most of their wages on food and could instead buy more manufactured
It was customary that land was held in commons—public or belonging to the community. Until the government enacted law that allowed enclosures, which effectively made the land private. This was good for several reasons. Landowners could now yield more crops and livestock at a, “scale of production and a level of control…[which]…radically improved the efficiency of agricultural production”(Bookstaber). The privatization of land promoted competition between farmers, which led to the consolidation of smaller farms into the stronger larger farms. The farmers that couldn’t compete drifted to the industrial sphere, which added more people to the industrial working class. In turn, the remaining farms saw a substantial increase in food production. The surplus, made it easier to feed more people at low prices, giving the average working-class person buying power. The lower class no longer had to spend most of their wages on food and could instead buy more manufactured