Why did the population boom of the eighteenth century have the effect of improving people's lives instead of putting more economic pressure on them?

Question

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Answer 1

Unlike the population growth in the sixteenth century, the population growth in the eighteenth century created prosperity. Several factors were responsible for this, but predominantly it resulted from the economic growth caused by the development of overseas colonies and the growth of mercantilism. Also pivotal to this change is the time period: coming after the Scientific Revolution, there were more technical advancements as well as revisions of technique in agriculture and manufacturing. This is best seen in the advancement of the Agricultural Revolution, which started in Germany and later spread to the Netherlands and England. Switching away from the three-field system, to include a field that could grow new crops like turnips that in turn could be fed to livestock, gave farmers the possibility of alternating income between livestock and crops. There was greater participation of the rural household economy in earning cash through the putting-out system of home industry. Because there was more demand in the eighteenth century for manufactured consumer goods, people had greater opportunities for employment. With the cheaper production of goods, the price of goods dropped and more people could afford them. Finally, the general health of people improved because the plague disappeared, people began to pay more attention to hygiene and bathing, and urban governments planned more effectively how to remove waste.