miércoles, mayo 07, 2008

No me digan que no es interesante, Acosta


Al que creyó Interesante, Acosta, lo de Irlanda y la epidemia de la papa, espere ver lo que pasó en la misma época en Inglaterra.
Véase como a principios del siglo 18 subió la natalidad y, mientras también subía la mortandad, decae abruptamente en el segundo tercio del siglo y tras recuperar el nivel anterior, baja todavía más a niveles nunca alcanzados. Nada es porque sí; la página explica las causas:
CAUSES OF POPULATION GROWTH

1. the death rate began to fall rapidly (most of the time) while the birth rate remained constant. In 1831 the first cholera epidemic struck Britain; there was a subsequent epidemic in 1847-8. Cholera caused the deaths of tens of thousands of people but the dreadful living conditions in the towns and the poor working conditions had a more far-reaching effect on the death rates.
2. there was an increase in the number of marriages per 1,000 population. The average age of marriage fell and since this meant that couples had more child-bearing years, the birth rate increased.
3. until about 1870, children were an economic asset. Opportunities for child employment increased and children could work from an early age. It has been said that couples had large families so that they could send the children out to work and thus supplement the family income. Child employment was gradually restricted by factory and mines legislation, starting in 1833 with the first effective Factory Act but culminating with the 1870 Education Act.

DEATH RATES FELL because:

1. medical knowledge improved, especially in the use of anaesthetics and antiseptics, although many of these discoveries came later.
2. the 1848 Public Health Act enabled town corporations to implement much needed "clean-up" schemes. Although much of the Public Health Act was based on the miasmic theory (that bad smells caused disease) it did have the right effect, even if for the wrong reasons. Towns were cleaned to remove the bad smells; in so doing, the causes of disease (germs) were also removed.
3. Factory and Mines legislation prohibited the use of child labour and reduced working hours, particularly for young persons (those aged between 13 and 18) and adult females; elementary safety codes were made compulsory which reduced accidents to some extent.
4. cheap, fresh food became more readily available after the building of the railways and the introduction of free trade.

Population growth may have been slowed down by a number of factors

1. The emigration of young, single males is believed to have slowed down the rate of population growth because in 1824 the laws prohibiting emigration of workmen were repealed, so the labour force was free to emigrate.
2. The 1843 Budget encouraged the export of machinery and technology and many men went to work abroad in trades where they could make money by using British know-how.
3. 1845 Irish potato famine had a disastrous effect on the population of Ireland
4. cyclical and structural unemployment resulted from increased industrialisation. This had an adverse effect on the diet and quality of life of the working population, which in turn affected fertility rates.
5. there was a growing awareness of opportunities overseas and emigration of families increased. This was aided by better land and sea transport.
¡La rebaja de aranceles redundó en un aumento de la población!

1 comentario:

hugo dijo...

ya habíamos hablado en otro post marcos smith sobre la gran influencia de las "corn law" -por las que se abarataron los cereales-en el desarrollo posterior de inglaterra, al mejorar la alimentación de la población.

esto fue obra de los liberales (de verdad)y fue posible debido a la previa reforma electoral liberal que dio una mejor representación parlamentaria al país, favoreciendo a las grandes ciudades (liberales) contra los "burgos podridos", pequeñas localidades (conservadoras) que representaban al lobby rural, contrario a la libre importación de granos obviamente.

al: "los liberales lo hicieron", nobleza obliga, corresponde agregar, pero los conservadores no lo derogaron cuando volvieron al gobierno. este es uno de los puntos más destacables, creo, de la civilizada política británica del siglo XIX, que le dio cohesión a su sosiedad política y le permitió a inglaterra por ese motivo ser la potencia dominante, al no estar sometida como francia a grandes convulsiones internas como en 1830,1848 o durante la efímera comuna de parís .

and the last but no least: en la disminución de la tasa de mortalidad tambien tuvo que ver la relativa paz que tuvo el país, y europa en general, luego de las guerras napoleónicas, ya que salvo crimea, no hubieron en europa desde waterloo otras guerras continentales, hasta 1914.

el congreso de viena no lo hizo tan mal en este aspecto ¿no?