19th Century Transformations: Society, Economy, and Politics
Enclosure Acts and Agricultural Revolution
Enclosure Acts: A series of laws passed by the British Parliament, enabling the privatization of communal land. This led to a concentration of land ownership.
Norfolk Four-Course Crop Rotation System: This system, based on a combination of grains and fodder crops, eliminated the need for fallow periods to restore soil fertility. Fodder crops helped fix nitrogen in the soil and increased animal feed. More livestock meant more fertilizer, more meat and milk, and ultimately, more people fed.
Capitalism and the Factory System
Capitalism: An economic system supported by economic liberalism, where the means of production (factories, machinery, etc.) are privately owned. Established by liberal British authors such as Adam Smith, its basic theory centers around a free market.
Factory System: Buildings or factories designed for production, concentrating workers to control labor and increase productivity, leading to mass production.
Division of Labor: Each worker was responsible for a different part of the production process.
Bessemer Converter: Allowed foundries to transform iron into steel in large quantities and produce a higher quality product.
Social Classes and Urban Development
Class-Based Society: Unlike the estate system where social standing was determined by birth, a class-based society determined social standing primarily by wealth and occupation. These social groups were open to social mobility, allowing individuals to change their class based on fluctuations in their wealth.
Bourgeois Capitalists: Bankers, business owners, and factory owners who obtained large profits and became the dominant social group.
Middle Class Neighborhoods: Extensions of the historical city center, built far from factories, with straight, wide avenues and public services. Homes were typically large, well-built, and comfortable.
Proletariat: Factory workers who did not own property and earned low wages.
Working Class Neighborhoods: Built in marginal areas on the city outskirts, often near factories. Streets were narrow and poorly planned, usually lacking public services. Houses were typically small, poorly built, and uncomfortable.
Worker Protests and Movements
Luddites: Factory workers who protested by destroying machinery, believing it was responsible for low wages and unemployment. The movement culminated in a rebellion between 1811 and 1816.
Chartist Movement: Named after the People’s Charter of 1838, this movement demanded reforms such as universal male suffrage and salaries for members of parliament. These petitions were rejected.
Trade Unions: Associations of workers from the same industry that offered assistance in case of injury and demanded better working conditions through negotiation or strikes. Though deemed illegal, they continued to operate.
Political Upheavals and Conflicts
Spanish Politics and the Carlist Wars
Manifesto de los Persas: A document signed by absolutist representatives in parliament, requesting the suppression of the Cadiz constitution.
Pronunciamiento: A form of military rebellion or uprising specific to Spain and the Spanish-speaking world, characteristic of the 19th century.
100,000 Sons of St. Louis: A French army sent to Spain, in agreement with the Holy Alliance, that defeated the liberals and reinstated Fernando VII as an absolute monarch.
Salic Law: A law in place since Felipe V’s reign that excluded females from the line of succession.
Pragmatic Sanction of 1830: A law ensuring that Fernando VII’s daughter, Isabel, would become Queen upon his death.
Carlism: A political movement opposing liberalism and defending the absolute power of the king, the Church’s active presence in public life, and the maintenance of the Fueros.
Fueros: Rights and privileges of the kingdoms of the Crown of Aragon and Navarra.
War of the Matiners: The second Carlist War (1846-1849), primarily confined to Catalonia.
Third Carlist War: Lasted from 1872 to 1876, primarily affecting the Basque Country, Navarra, and Catalonia’s interior. The Carlists established a parallel government in Estella (Navarra).
Latin American Independence and US Influence
Gran Colombia: Comprising present-day Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador, this nation represented Bolivar’s dream of a unified South American republic. It dissolved in 1830.
Monroe Doctrine: The US President’s warning to European powers against interfering in the Americas, leading to the gradual replacement of British influence with that of the United States.
Art and Social Thought
Francisco de Goya: Court painter during the reigns of Carlos IV, Jose I, and Fernando VII. A significant Spanish artist whose evolving style is difficult to classify, he is considered a precursor to Contemporary art.
Utopian Socialism: An ideological movement opposing capitalism and aiming to improve working conditions through education and negotiation with the middle class.
Proletarian Internationalism: In the latter half of the 19th century, leaders of European workers’ organizations formed the International, hoping to strengthen their demands by collaborating across borders to achieve social emancipation.
The First International: Officially the International Workingmen’s Association, founded in London, it included trade unionists, anarchists, and Marxists. Its objective was to coordinate worker action worldwide but dissolved due to disagreements between Marxists and anarchists.
The Second International: Established in Paris, it advocated for an eight-hour workday and declared May 1st as International Workers’ Day. Composed solely of socialist parties, it dissolved at the outbreak of World War I in 1914.
Iron and Steel Architecture: A 19th-century construction technique and architectural style arising from the availability of new materials produced during the Industrial Revolution. Building functionality became as important as aesthetics.
Realism: Social inequalities brought the idealized vision of Romanticism to an end in the latter half of the 19th century. Realist works depict everyday life, especially that of the working class, aiming to understand reality through observation and description.