I. Activating Prior Knowledge
Adam Smith, a Scottish economist and moral philosopher, was the author of a book entitled, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations more commonly known as The Wealth of Nations. This book revolutionized the understanding of economics. In this book, Smith stated that the free-market economy is more productive and beneficial as it related to division of labor, span of markets for raw and manufactured goods, use of money, and valuing commodities. He stated:
"The real price of every thing," says Adam Smith,[3] "What every thing really costs to the man who wants to acquire it, is the toil and trouble of acquiring it. What every thing is really worth to the man who has acquired it, and who wants to dispose of it, or exchange it for something else, is the toil and trouble which it can save to himself, and which it can impose upon other people. That this is really the foundation of the exchangeable value of all things, excepting those which cannot be increased by human industry, is a doctrine of the utmost importance in political economy."[4]
In the excerpts that follow, we will look at how the introduction of the potato to Europe and the changes it brought about in agricultural production impacted the Industrial Revolution.
II. Setting A Purpose for Reading
According to Smith, how would the introduction and use of the potato revolutionize European crop production?
III. Reading the Text (Read, Re-read, and Read Again)
Adam Smith – The Wealth of Nations
The vegetable food of the original inhabitants of the Americas, though from their want of industry not very abundant, was not altogether so scanty. It consisted in corn, yams, potatoes, bananas, tomatoes, etc., plants which were then altogether unknown in Europe, and which have never since been very much esteemed in it, or supposed to yield a sustenance equal to what is drawn from the common sorts of grain and pulse, which have been cultivated in this part of the world time out of mind.
Stop! Can you answer these questions? If not, go back and re-read the passage. How did colonialism and the Columbian Exchange benefit Europe?
The food produced by a field of potatoes is not inferior in quantity to that produced by a field of rice, and much superior to what is produced by a field of wheat. Twelve thousand weight of potatoes from an acre of land is not a greater produce than two thousand weight of wheat. The food or solid nourishment, indeed, which can be drawn from each of those two plants, is not altogether in proportion to their weight, on account of the watery nature of potatoes. Allowing, however, half the weight of this root to go to water, a very large allowance, such an acre of potatoes will still produce six thousand weight of solid nourishment, three times the quantity produced by the acre of wheat. An acre of potatoes is cultivated with less expense than an acre of wheat; the fallow, which generally precedes the sowing of wheat, more than compensating the hoeing and other extraordinary culture which is always given to potatoes.
Stop! Can you answer these questions? If not, go back and re-read the passage. What were the benefits of growing potatoes?
Should this root ever become in any part of Europe, like rice in some rice countries, the common and favorite vegetable food of the people, so as to occupy the same proportion of the lands in tillage which wheat and other sorts of grain for human food do at present, the same quantity of cultivated land would maintain a much greater number of people, and the laborers being generally fed with potatoes, a greater surplus would remain after replacing all the stock and maintaining all the labor employed in cultivation. A greater share of this surplus, too, would belong to the landlord. Population would increase, and rents would rise much beyond what they are at present.
Source: Internet History Sourcebooks - http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1695potato.asp
Stop! Can you answer these questions? If not, go back and re-read the passage. How would the growing of potatoes benefit the people and economies of Europe?
IV. Personal Reflection - Respond to the following questions in your blog. Be sure to include quotes from the text to support your response.
Part 1 Response - Explain the following statements in terms of supply, demand, and division of labor – “A greater share of this surplus, too, would belong to the landlord. Population would increase, and rents would rise much beyond what they are at present.”
Part 2 Response – If a farmer decided to raise ONLY potatoes, what would be the advantages and disadvantage of this decision? What would happen if a disease killed the majority of the plants, similar to the Irish Potato Famine of the 1800’s? How would you and your family deal with the crisis?
V. Peer Reflection – Read three classmates’ reflections and respond to what they have written.
Adam Smith, a Scottish economist and moral philosopher, was the author of a book entitled, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations more commonly known as The Wealth of Nations. This book revolutionized the understanding of economics. In this book, Smith stated that the free-market economy is more productive and beneficial as it related to division of labor, span of markets for raw and manufactured goods, use of money, and valuing commodities. He stated:
"The real price of every thing," says Adam Smith,[3] "What every thing really costs to the man who wants to acquire it, is the toil and trouble of acquiring it. What every thing is really worth to the man who has acquired it, and who wants to dispose of it, or exchange it for something else, is the toil and trouble which it can save to himself, and which it can impose upon other people. That this is really the foundation of the exchangeable value of all things, excepting those which cannot be increased by human industry, is a doctrine of the utmost importance in political economy."[4]
In the excerpts that follow, we will look at how the introduction of the potato to Europe and the changes it brought about in agricultural production impacted the Industrial Revolution.
II. Setting A Purpose for Reading
According to Smith, how would the introduction and use of the potato revolutionize European crop production?
III. Reading the Text (Read, Re-read, and Read Again)
Adam Smith – The Wealth of Nations
The vegetable food of the original inhabitants of the Americas, though from their want of industry not very abundant, was not altogether so scanty. It consisted in corn, yams, potatoes, bananas, tomatoes, etc., plants which were then altogether unknown in Europe, and which have never since been very much esteemed in it, or supposed to yield a sustenance equal to what is drawn from the common sorts of grain and pulse, which have been cultivated in this part of the world time out of mind.
Stop! Can you answer these questions? If not, go back and re-read the passage. How did colonialism and the Columbian Exchange benefit Europe?
The food produced by a field of potatoes is not inferior in quantity to that produced by a field of rice, and much superior to what is produced by a field of wheat. Twelve thousand weight of potatoes from an acre of land is not a greater produce than two thousand weight of wheat. The food or solid nourishment, indeed, which can be drawn from each of those two plants, is not altogether in proportion to their weight, on account of the watery nature of potatoes. Allowing, however, half the weight of this root to go to water, a very large allowance, such an acre of potatoes will still produce six thousand weight of solid nourishment, three times the quantity produced by the acre of wheat. An acre of potatoes is cultivated with less expense than an acre of wheat; the fallow, which generally precedes the sowing of wheat, more than compensating the hoeing and other extraordinary culture which is always given to potatoes.
Stop! Can you answer these questions? If not, go back and re-read the passage. What were the benefits of growing potatoes?
Should this root ever become in any part of Europe, like rice in some rice countries, the common and favorite vegetable food of the people, so as to occupy the same proportion of the lands in tillage which wheat and other sorts of grain for human food do at present, the same quantity of cultivated land would maintain a much greater number of people, and the laborers being generally fed with potatoes, a greater surplus would remain after replacing all the stock and maintaining all the labor employed in cultivation. A greater share of this surplus, too, would belong to the landlord. Population would increase, and rents would rise much beyond what they are at present.
Source: Internet History Sourcebooks - http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1695potato.asp
Stop! Can you answer these questions? If not, go back and re-read the passage. How would the growing of potatoes benefit the people and economies of Europe?
IV. Personal Reflection - Respond to the following questions in your blog. Be sure to include quotes from the text to support your response.
Part 1 Response - Explain the following statements in terms of supply, demand, and division of labor – “A greater share of this surplus, too, would belong to the landlord. Population would increase, and rents would rise much beyond what they are at present.”
Part 2 Response – If a farmer decided to raise ONLY potatoes, what would be the advantages and disadvantage of this decision? What would happen if a disease killed the majority of the plants, similar to the Irish Potato Famine of the 1800’s? How would you and your family deal with the crisis?
V. Peer Reflection – Read three classmates’ reflections and respond to what they have written.
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