Enclosure movement
Also called: Enclosure Acts, Enclosures · Topic: The Age of Industrialisation · NCERT: Class 10, Ch 4 "The Age of Industrialisation"
Meaning
Enclosure meant fencing off open fields and common lands in England and turning them into private farms. The process sped up in the 18th century, often through Acts of Parliament. Poor cottagers had used the commons to collect firewood, berries and hay, and they lost these resources. Their tiny plots could not keep the whole family busy. So they took money in advance from town merchants to spin and weave at home. This helped proto-industrialisation (early, non-factory production for world markets) to spread in the countryside.
Example
In 17th–18th-century England, a merchant clothier gave advances to cottage families. Spinners and weavers worked on the cloth at home, which let these families stay on their land and earn extra income using the whole family's labour.
Don't confuse with
- Urban guilds: guilds were town associations of craftspeople that held monopoly rights from rulers. They pushed merchants out of the towns. Enclosure pushed the rural poor towards merchant work. The two worked from opposite sides.