Sheilagh Ogilvie
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780691137544
- eISBN:
- 9780691185101
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691137544.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
Guilds ruled many crafts and trades from the Middle Ages to the Industrial Revolution, and have always attracted debate and controversy. They were sometimes viewed as efficient institutions that ...
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Guilds ruled many crafts and trades from the Middle Ages to the Industrial Revolution, and have always attracted debate and controversy. They were sometimes viewed as efficient institutions that guaranteed quality and skills. But they also excluded competitors, manipulated markets, and blocked innovations. Did the benefits of guilds outweigh their costs? Analyzing thousands of guilds that dominated European economies from 1000 to 1880, this book uses vivid examples and clear economic reasoning to answer that question. The book features the voices of honourable guild masters, underpaid journeymen, exploited apprentices, shady officials, and outraged customers, and follows the stories of the “vile encroachers”—women, migrants, Jews, gypsies, bastards, and many others—desperate to work but hunted down by the guilds as illicit competitors. It investigates the benefits of guilds but also shines a light on their dark side. Guilds sometimes provided important services, but they also manipulated markets to profit their members. They regulated quality but prevented poor consumers from buying goods cheaply. They fostered work skills but denied apprenticeships to outsiders. They transmitted useful techniques but blocked innovations that posed a threat. Guilds existed widely not because they corrected market failures or served the common good, but because they benefited two powerful groups—guild members and political elites. The book shows how privileged institutions and exclusive networks shape the wider economy—for good or ill.Less
Guilds ruled many crafts and trades from the Middle Ages to the Industrial Revolution, and have always attracted debate and controversy. They were sometimes viewed as efficient institutions that guaranteed quality and skills. But they also excluded competitors, manipulated markets, and blocked innovations. Did the benefits of guilds outweigh their costs? Analyzing thousands of guilds that dominated European economies from 1000 to 1880, this book uses vivid examples and clear economic reasoning to answer that question. The book features the voices of honourable guild masters, underpaid journeymen, exploited apprentices, shady officials, and outraged customers, and follows the stories of the “vile encroachers”—women, migrants, Jews, gypsies, bastards, and many others—desperate to work but hunted down by the guilds as illicit competitors. It investigates the benefits of guilds but also shines a light on their dark side. Guilds sometimes provided important services, but they also manipulated markets to profit their members. They regulated quality but prevented poor consumers from buying goods cheaply. They fostered work skills but denied apprenticeships to outsiders. They transmitted useful techniques but blocked innovations that posed a threat. Guilds existed widely not because they corrected market failures or served the common good, but because they benefited two powerful groups—guild members and political elites. The book shows how privileged institutions and exclusive networks shape the wider economy—for good or ill.
Jane Humphries
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197263471
- eISBN:
- 9780191734786
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197263471.003.0003
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
This chapter examines the role of apprenticeship in the British Industrial Revolution. The apprenticeship system contributed in four ways. First, it provided training of necessary skills in the ...
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This chapter examines the role of apprenticeship in the British Industrial Revolution. The apprenticeship system contributed in four ways. First, it provided training of necessary skills in the expanding area of employment and newer sectors. Second, it promoted efficient training among masters and men. Third, it reduced the transaction costs involved in transferring resources from agriculture to non-agriculture and facilitated the expansion of sectors which promoted trade and commerce. Finally, apprenticeship saved poor children from social exclusion and enabled them to become more productive adults. The chapter also suggests that the apprenticeship system also created a structure of contract enforcement which ensured that both masters and trainees would derive the benefits from human capital accumulation.Less
This chapter examines the role of apprenticeship in the British Industrial Revolution. The apprenticeship system contributed in four ways. First, it provided training of necessary skills in the expanding area of employment and newer sectors. Second, it promoted efficient training among masters and men. Third, it reduced the transaction costs involved in transferring resources from agriculture to non-agriculture and facilitated the expansion of sectors which promoted trade and commerce. Finally, apprenticeship saved poor children from social exclusion and enabled them to become more productive adults. The chapter also suggests that the apprenticeship system also created a structure of contract enforcement which ensured that both masters and trainees would derive the benefits from human capital accumulation.
SHEILAGH OGILVIE
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780198205548
- eISBN:
- 9780191719219
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198205548.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, European Early Modern History
This chapter focuses on the training and work of dependent unmarried women — that is, female offspring living at home and female servants living in the household of their masters — in the ...
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This chapter focuses on the training and work of dependent unmarried women — that is, female offspring living at home and female servants living in the household of their masters — in the pre-industrial German society under analysis in this book. It explores the nature and determinants of their education, gender-specific maturation patterns, the relative demand for dependent labour by households with different characteristics, and the numbers, wage-rates, and geographical distribution of servants. It then uses a database of work observations extracted from church-court records to analyse gender-specific patterns of work by female offspring and servants, and to compare them with those of other females (and males). It concludes with a discussion of the factors constraining the economic choices of dependent unmarried females, including the impact of ‘social capital’.Less
This chapter focuses on the training and work of dependent unmarried women — that is, female offspring living at home and female servants living in the household of their masters — in the pre-industrial German society under analysis in this book. It explores the nature and determinants of their education, gender-specific maturation patterns, the relative demand for dependent labour by households with different characteristics, and the numbers, wage-rates, and geographical distribution of servants. It then uses a database of work observations extracted from church-court records to analyse gender-specific patterns of work by female offspring and servants, and to compare them with those of other females (and males). It concludes with a discussion of the factors constraining the economic choices of dependent unmarried females, including the impact of ‘social capital’.
John Wigger
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195387803
- eISBN:
- 9780199866410
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195387803.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
At about age sixteen Asbury began to pray in public meetings and then to “exhort and preach.” He also joined a class meeting at West Bromwich and a band at Wednesbury. Classes and bands were ...
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At about age sixteen Asbury began to pray in public meetings and then to “exhort and preach.” He also joined a class meeting at West Bromwich and a band at Wednesbury. Classes and bands were Methodist small group meetings designed to encourage spiritual development. Classes were mandatory for all members, while bands were optional, intended for those most earnestly seeking sanctification. As a Methodist, Asbury embraced John Wesley’s teachings about the value of diligence and the danger of hoarding wealth. In 1766, at age twenty, Asbury apparently completed his apprenticeship and took the place of the traveling preacher assigned to the Staffordshire circuit. In August 1767 he officially joined Wesley’s connection of traveling preachers and was assigned to the Bedfordshire circuit. In 1771 Asbury volunteered to go to America, where Methodist societies had taken shape in New York, Philadelphia and Maryland.Less
At about age sixteen Asbury began to pray in public meetings and then to “exhort and preach.” He also joined a class meeting at West Bromwich and a band at Wednesbury. Classes and bands were Methodist small group meetings designed to encourage spiritual development. Classes were mandatory for all members, while bands were optional, intended for those most earnestly seeking sanctification. As a Methodist, Asbury embraced John Wesley’s teachings about the value of diligence and the danger of hoarding wealth. In 1766, at age twenty, Asbury apparently completed his apprenticeship and took the place of the traveling preacher assigned to the Staffordshire circuit. In August 1767 he officially joined Wesley’s connection of traveling preachers and was assigned to the Bedfordshire circuit. In 1771 Asbury volunteered to go to America, where Methodist societies had taken shape in New York, Philadelphia and Maryland.
Henry French and Mark Rothery
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199576692
- eISBN:
- 9780191738852
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199576692.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History, Social History
Chapter Two traces the growth of male autonomy at university and in metropolitan training: a key stage in the development of manliness and Gentry status. Sons often stretched the boundaries of ...
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Chapter Two traces the growth of male autonomy at university and in metropolitan training: a key stage in the development of manliness and Gentry status. Sons often stretched the boundaries of acceptable behaviour during these experiences. While parents feared the consequences of this new found freedom, this chapter argues that manly autonomy was the essential component in the formation of a mature gender identity. University remained both an intellectual and a social proving ground for young men. However, as university reforms proceeded in the first half of the nineteenth century, success in competitive examinations became a public indication of masculine ‘virtue’ among the English elite. The chapter also examines the pit-falls of late adolescence, particularly the enduring (but often hidden) sub-cultures of masculine violence, drunkenness and sexual licence.Less
Chapter Two traces the growth of male autonomy at university and in metropolitan training: a key stage in the development of manliness and Gentry status. Sons often stretched the boundaries of acceptable behaviour during these experiences. While parents feared the consequences of this new found freedom, this chapter argues that manly autonomy was the essential component in the formation of a mature gender identity. University remained both an intellectual and a social proving ground for young men. However, as university reforms proceeded in the first half of the nineteenth century, success in competitive examinations became a public indication of masculine ‘virtue’ among the English elite. The chapter also examines the pit-falls of late adolescence, particularly the enduring (but often hidden) sub-cultures of masculine violence, drunkenness and sexual licence.
Eleanor Hubbard
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199609345
- eISBN:
- 9780191739088
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199609345.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History
This chapter argues that most women in London were originally migrants from elsewhere in England, who arrived in the city around the age of eighteen to serve as maidservants. It presents quantitative ...
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This chapter argues that most women in London were originally migrants from elsewhere in England, who arrived in the city around the age of eighteen to serve as maidservants. It presents quantitative data about the geographical origins of London women and compares their origins and ages at migration to the better‐known male apprentices. It also examines where maids settled, how they found employment, how long they remained in particular households, their mobility within the city, their status within the households in which they worked and their relationships with their masters and mistresses, how much they were paid, and the kinds of work that they did. The risks and benefits of migration are discussed, the greatest risk being the high levels of disease and the occasional epidemics of plague that swept the city.Less
This chapter argues that most women in London were originally migrants from elsewhere in England, who arrived in the city around the age of eighteen to serve as maidservants. It presents quantitative data about the geographical origins of London women and compares their origins and ages at migration to the better‐known male apprentices. It also examines where maids settled, how they found employment, how long they remained in particular households, their mobility within the city, their status within the households in which they worked and their relationships with their masters and mistresses, how much they were paid, and the kinds of work that they did. The risks and benefits of migration are discussed, the greatest risk being the high levels of disease and the occasional epidemics of plague that swept the city.
LIZ RYAN COLE
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195381146
- eISBN:
- 9780199869305
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195381146.003.0022
- Subject:
- Law, Public International Law
This chapter examines the externship model of clinical legal education and argues that law students who apprentice to an experienced practitioner, while simultaneously receiving close support from ...
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This chapter examines the externship model of clinical legal education and argues that law students who apprentice to an experienced practitioner, while simultaneously receiving close support from their law school, can have the best of both worlds: the reflection and learning that is part of an internal clinic and the richness and complexity that comes from working with lawyers whose work encompasses the full varieties of practice. Drawing on examples of programs in different settings and jurisdictions, the chapter shows that students in externships around the world learn substance and skills and, in addition, appreciate the competing demands of serving clients, maintaining a practice, and advancing social justice. It also notes that lawyers who work to advance social justice, whether in government, with NGOs, or in private practice, can involve student externs in meeting the full range of client needs, thereby placing them in a unique position to develop a strong and positive sense of professional identity.Less
This chapter examines the externship model of clinical legal education and argues that law students who apprentice to an experienced practitioner, while simultaneously receiving close support from their law school, can have the best of both worlds: the reflection and learning that is part of an internal clinic and the richness and complexity that comes from working with lawyers whose work encompasses the full varieties of practice. Drawing on examples of programs in different settings and jurisdictions, the chapter shows that students in externships around the world learn substance and skills and, in addition, appreciate the competing demands of serving clients, maintaining a practice, and advancing social justice. It also notes that lawyers who work to advance social justice, whether in government, with NGOs, or in private practice, can involve student externs in meeting the full range of client needs, thereby placing them in a unique position to develop a strong and positive sense of professional identity.
Steve Hindle
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199271320
- eISBN:
- 9780191709548
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199271320.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History
This chapter explores the often neglected labour and employment schemes in the Elizabethan relief statutes. It explains the problems which led to the abandonment of experiments to set the poor on ...
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This chapter explores the often neglected labour and employment schemes in the Elizabethan relief statutes. It explains the problems which led to the abandonment of experiments to set the poor on work in rural parishes; suggests that the imperative to labour discipline enshrined in the legislation was more successfully met by apprenticing the children of the labouring poor than by setting their parents to work; and reconstructs the attitudes of children, parents, parish officers, magistrates, and employers to this often controversial project.Less
This chapter explores the often neglected labour and employment schemes in the Elizabethan relief statutes. It explains the problems which led to the abandonment of experiments to set the poor on work in rural parishes; suggests that the imperative to labour discipline enshrined in the legislation was more successfully met by apprenticing the children of the labouring poor than by setting their parents to work; and reconstructs the attitudes of children, parents, parish officers, magistrates, and employers to this often controversial project.
Mary O'Sullivan
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199244867
- eISBN:
- 9780191596735
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199244863.003.0008
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Microeconomics
Like its US counterpart, the characteristic features of the post‐war system of corporate governance in the former West Germany have deep roots in the region's history. Section 7.2 of this chapter ...
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Like its US counterpart, the characteristic features of the post‐war system of corporate governance in the former West Germany have deep roots in the region's history. Section 7.2 of this chapter analyses the evolution of managerial control in pre‐war Germany and identifies its central institutional foundations as inter‐company shareholding and bank–industry relations. Section 7.3 describes how these institutions persisted in the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) after the war, although through the institution of co‐determination, the post‐war system of corporate governance was transformed beyond its narrow pre‐war confines into a contested form of organizational control; in shaping control over corporate resource allocation, these social conditions were complemented by institutions––especially the dual system of apprenticeship––that supported the organizational integration of resources in German business enterprises. Section 7.3 further discusses how, on the basis of the system of governance that supported organizational control, German companies achieved considerable success in industrial sectors in which high quality was more important than low cost as a basis for competitive advantage; it also analyses how the type of organizational control that emerged in the post‐war period influenced the distribution of wealth in the economy. The last main section, Sect. 7.4, discusses corporate governance in relation to performance.Less
Like its US counterpart, the characteristic features of the post‐war system of corporate governance in the former West Germany have deep roots in the region's history. Section 7.2 of this chapter analyses the evolution of managerial control in pre‐war Germany and identifies its central institutional foundations as inter‐company shareholding and bank–industry relations. Section 7.3 describes how these institutions persisted in the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) after the war, although through the institution of co‐determination, the post‐war system of corporate governance was transformed beyond its narrow pre‐war confines into a contested form of organizational control; in shaping control over corporate resource allocation, these social conditions were complemented by institutions––especially the dual system of apprenticeship––that supported the organizational integration of resources in German business enterprises. Section 7.3 further discusses how, on the basis of the system of governance that supported organizational control, German companies achieved considerable success in industrial sectors in which high quality was more important than low cost as a basis for competitive advantage; it also analyses how the type of organizational control that emerged in the post‐war period influenced the distribution of wealth in the economy. The last main section, Sect. 7.4, discusses corporate governance in relation to performance.
Alice H. Amsden
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195076035
- eISBN:
- 9780199870691
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195076036.003.0009
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental, South and East Asia
One reason why Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea appear to have industrialized rapidly is that they have invested relatively heavily in education. A well‐educated work force, both white‐ and ...
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One reason why Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea appear to have industrialized rapidly is that they have invested relatively heavily in education. A well‐educated work force, both white‐ and blue‐collar, is a general property of late industrialization, distinguishing it from earlier industrial change, and premised on the learning of production processes and procedures that are characteristic of more advanced economies. Thus, formal education of the workforce and the apprenticeship of firms to foreign technical assistants (rather than the apprenticeship of workers in particular crafts) lie at the heart of late industrial expansion. This chapter, therefore, is devoted to both formal education and foreign technical assistance, and ends with a firm‐level illustration of interaction between the two. Learning is explored in the second manufacturing affiliate of the Samsung Group, the Cheil Wood Company, founded in 1954.Less
One reason why Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea appear to have industrialized rapidly is that they have invested relatively heavily in education. A well‐educated work force, both white‐ and blue‐collar, is a general property of late industrialization, distinguishing it from earlier industrial change, and premised on the learning of production processes and procedures that are characteristic of more advanced economies. Thus, formal education of the workforce and the apprenticeship of firms to foreign technical assistants (rather than the apprenticeship of workers in particular crafts) lie at the heart of late industrial expansion. This chapter, therefore, is devoted to both formal education and foreign technical assistance, and ends with a firm‐level illustration of interaction between the two. Learning is explored in the second manufacturing affiliate of the Samsung Group, the Cheil Wood Company, founded in 1954.
Sheilagh Ogilvie
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780691137544
- eISBN:
- 9780691185101
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691137544.003.0008
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
This chapter addresses how guilds dealt with technological innovation. Innovation is a final sphere in which market failures are widespread in premodern economies, as in modern ones. On the one hand, ...
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This chapter addresses how guilds dealt with technological innovation. Innovation is a final sphere in which market failures are widespread in premodern economies, as in modern ones. On the one hand, contemporaries frequently complained that guilds blocked new techniques and practices. On the other hand, guilds were in a position to generate cartel rents, and this might have encouraged their members to incur the costs of invention. Guilds might also have encouraged diffusion of technological knowledge through compulsory apprenticeship, mandatory travelling by journeymen, or the spatial clustering of practitioners. Guilds could also affect innovation unintentionally by things they did for other reasons. Guilds thus provide a rich context for investigating the role of different institutional mechanisms in encouraging the invention and diffusion of innovations.Less
This chapter addresses how guilds dealt with technological innovation. Innovation is a final sphere in which market failures are widespread in premodern economies, as in modern ones. On the one hand, contemporaries frequently complained that guilds blocked new techniques and practices. On the other hand, guilds were in a position to generate cartel rents, and this might have encouraged their members to incur the costs of invention. Guilds might also have encouraged diffusion of technological knowledge through compulsory apprenticeship, mandatory travelling by journeymen, or the spatial clustering of practitioners. Guilds could also affect innovation unintentionally by things they did for other reasons. Guilds thus provide a rich context for investigating the role of different institutional mechanisms in encouraging the invention and diffusion of innovations.
Woody Register
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195167320
- eISBN:
- 9780199849710
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195167320.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
Thompson was born on Halloween in 1873. He was not born to a world of leisure or play; in fact the opposite. He came of age in steel towns from western Pennsylvania to St. Louis, and the expectation ...
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Thompson was born on Halloween in 1873. He was not born to a world of leisure or play; in fact the opposite. He came of age in steel towns from western Pennsylvania to St. Louis, and the expectation was that he, like his father, would find his calling in the promise of the industrial nation. But even as he served his apprenticeship in factories and internalized that culture's myths and promises, he never fully accepted the terms of Gilded Age industry. The keenest insight he acquired over the course of his apprenticeship, which ranged from steel mills to the gaudy midways of the fin de siècle world's fairs, was that he was not alone in his discontents. Other men shared the desire to have more fun. Instead of censuring or repressing this wish, Thompson ultimately exploited it by applying his industrial patrimony to produce a marketable and fantastic form of rebellion against the diminishing rewards of work in an industrializing corporate society.Less
Thompson was born on Halloween in 1873. He was not born to a world of leisure or play; in fact the opposite. He came of age in steel towns from western Pennsylvania to St. Louis, and the expectation was that he, like his father, would find his calling in the promise of the industrial nation. But even as he served his apprenticeship in factories and internalized that culture's myths and promises, he never fully accepted the terms of Gilded Age industry. The keenest insight he acquired over the course of his apprenticeship, which ranged from steel mills to the gaudy midways of the fin de siècle world's fairs, was that he was not alone in his discontents. Other men shared the desire to have more fun. Instead of censuring or repressing this wish, Thompson ultimately exploited it by applying his industrial patrimony to produce a marketable and fantastic form of rebellion against the diminishing rewards of work in an industrializing corporate society.
Brenda E. Stevenson
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195118032
- eISBN:
- 9780199853793
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195118032.003.0011
- Subject:
- History, American History: 19th Century
The origins of the free colored community in Loudoun can be traced to the early 18th century settlers of the region. Later on, offspring of impoverished free men and women earned their freedom after ...
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The origins of the free colored community in Loudoun can be traced to the early 18th century settlers of the region. Later on, offspring of impoverished free men and women earned their freedom after a long “apprenticeship”, which was similar to servitude in terms of the physical and sexual abuse usually incurred. Upon emancipation, these ex-servants faced a challenging life of financial uncertainty and social discrimination. Still, these people enjoyed some basic rights, such as the freedom to earn a living and acquire property, the ability to purchase slaves—usually kin—and apply for the latter's manumission, and the freedom to travel. To escape the harsh life in the antebellum Southern town of Loudoun, some free men and women of color chose to move back to their homelands. However, success stories were few and far between and this has prevented significant repatriation. Most emancipated colored people chose eventually to settle in more hospitable communities in other states.Less
The origins of the free colored community in Loudoun can be traced to the early 18th century settlers of the region. Later on, offspring of impoverished free men and women earned their freedom after a long “apprenticeship”, which was similar to servitude in terms of the physical and sexual abuse usually incurred. Upon emancipation, these ex-servants faced a challenging life of financial uncertainty and social discrimination. Still, these people enjoyed some basic rights, such as the freedom to earn a living and acquire property, the ability to purchase slaves—usually kin—and apply for the latter's manumission, and the freedom to travel. To escape the harsh life in the antebellum Southern town of Loudoun, some free men and women of color chose to move back to their homelands. However, success stories were few and far between and this has prevented significant repatriation. Most emancipated colored people chose eventually to settle in more hospitable communities in other states.
Bernard Capp
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198203759
- eISBN:
- 9780191675959
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198203759.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History
John Taylor was born on 24 August 1578 in the parish of St. Ewen's, Gloucester. He learned to read and write at elementary school. When his schooldays were over, he moved south to London where he was ...
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John Taylor was born on 24 August 1578 in the parish of St. Ewen's, Gloucester. He learned to read and write at elementary school. When his schooldays were over, he moved south to London where he was apprenticed to a waterman. The waterman's trade, though lowly, suited Taylor's temperament. It offered him independence and an outdoor life, and guaranteed an endless supply of new faces and stories. For half a century, Taylor's life was bound up with the fortunes of the Thames watermen. Their numbers had grown up dramatically in the later years of Elizabeth's reign. Losing his post as a bottleman proved to be a blessing in disguise, for he became free to embark on the travels that were to make him famous.Less
John Taylor was born on 24 August 1578 in the parish of St. Ewen's, Gloucester. He learned to read and write at elementary school. When his schooldays were over, he moved south to London where he was apprenticed to a waterman. The waterman's trade, though lowly, suited Taylor's temperament. It offered him independence and an outdoor life, and guaranteed an endless supply of new faces and stories. For half a century, Taylor's life was bound up with the fortunes of the Thames watermen. Their numbers had grown up dramatically in the later years of Elizabeth's reign. Losing his post as a bottleman proved to be a blessing in disguise, for he became free to embark on the travels that were to make him famous.
William A. Green
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198202783
- eISBN:
- 9780191675515
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198202783.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History
This chapter focuses on the practice of apprenticeship, which in theory was a strategic move to the advancement of European society. Theoretically, apprenticeship during British rule was designed to ...
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This chapter focuses on the practice of apprenticeship, which in theory was a strategic move to the advancement of European society. Theoretically, apprenticeship during British rule was designed to mould the thinking of the apprentices to encourage the habit of industry, to build churches, and to establish social patterns that would encourage freedmen to stay in settled estate villages when the system ended. It also allowed the orderly preparation of a legal system that would replace the discarded slavery codes. Apprenticeship also allowed time for the establishment of colonial banking, which would meet the demands of a free plantation economy as well, as it allowed the Treasury to correct monetary problems and supply the colonists with coinage for the wages of the free labourers. In addition, the practice also allowed the planters to introduce and try new equipment, as well as new methods of labour management, before the awarding of full freedom. In practice, however, only a few of the strategic advances offered by the apprenticeship were realized. The much-needed reconciliation and compromise did not take place. The slaves wanted complete freedom, not apprenticeship, while the planters resented the loss of arbitrary power and the threat of the disintegration of the system that afforded them the highest rank and authority. Spurred by the discontent of both parties, the system of apprenticeship dissolved even before the British law reached its maturity. While gathering the examples presented by the labour system and apprenticeship in Jamaica, the core focus of this chapter is on the major West Indian colonies of Barbados, British Guiana, and Trinidad.Less
This chapter focuses on the practice of apprenticeship, which in theory was a strategic move to the advancement of European society. Theoretically, apprenticeship during British rule was designed to mould the thinking of the apprentices to encourage the habit of industry, to build churches, and to establish social patterns that would encourage freedmen to stay in settled estate villages when the system ended. It also allowed the orderly preparation of a legal system that would replace the discarded slavery codes. Apprenticeship also allowed time for the establishment of colonial banking, which would meet the demands of a free plantation economy as well, as it allowed the Treasury to correct monetary problems and supply the colonists with coinage for the wages of the free labourers. In addition, the practice also allowed the planters to introduce and try new equipment, as well as new methods of labour management, before the awarding of full freedom. In practice, however, only a few of the strategic advances offered by the apprenticeship were realized. The much-needed reconciliation and compromise did not take place. The slaves wanted complete freedom, not apprenticeship, while the planters resented the loss of arbitrary power and the threat of the disintegration of the system that afforded them the highest rank and authority. Spurred by the discontent of both parties, the system of apprenticeship dissolved even before the British law reached its maturity. While gathering the examples presented by the labour system and apprenticeship in Jamaica, the core focus of this chapter is on the major West Indian colonies of Barbados, British Guiana, and Trinidad.
William A. Green
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198202783
- eISBN:
- 9780191675515
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198202783.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History
This chapter discusses the abolition of apprenticeship and the introduction of measures that would limit the authority of colonial oligarchs and initiate the uprooting of slavery codes. Faced by the ...
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This chapter discusses the abolition of apprenticeship and the introduction of measures that would limit the authority of colonial oligarchs and initiate the uprooting of slavery codes. Faced by the crisis and humiliation due to the early abolishment of the apprenticeship system, including the failure of the government to overhaul the legal machinery of the colonies, the government exasperatedly rushed in, forming new laws and new constitutions that would allow the slaves freedom. Upon the abolition of the apprenticeship, the West Indian legislatures dismantled the slavery codes and introduced new legislation for every aspect of colonial life. The acts of vagrancy and contract laws by the colonial oligarchs were given boundaries and restraints, the freedmen were allowed to purchase lands, free villages emerged, and the liberty of the freedmen was finally given priority.Less
This chapter discusses the abolition of apprenticeship and the introduction of measures that would limit the authority of colonial oligarchs and initiate the uprooting of slavery codes. Faced by the crisis and humiliation due to the early abolishment of the apprenticeship system, including the failure of the government to overhaul the legal machinery of the colonies, the government exasperatedly rushed in, forming new laws and new constitutions that would allow the slaves freedom. Upon the abolition of the apprenticeship, the West Indian legislatures dismantled the slavery codes and introduced new legislation for every aspect of colonial life. The acts of vagrancy and contract laws by the colonial oligarchs were given boundaries and restraints, the freedmen were allowed to purchase lands, free villages emerged, and the liberty of the freedmen was finally given priority.
Gad Heuman
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198205654
- eISBN:
- 9780191676734
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198205654.003.0021
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History, British and Irish Modern History
The British West Indies in 1815 consisted of a large number of islands and territories acquired over two centuries. The economies of the British West Indies in the nineteenth century have been the ...
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The British West Indies in 1815 consisted of a large number of islands and territories acquired over two centuries. The economies of the British West Indies in the nineteenth century have been the source of considerable debate. Although different in their economies and their political structures, all British West Indian colonies were slave societies. The abolitionists decided to establish a new organization and a new policy to deal with the problem of colonial slavery. By ending the apprenticeship system early, planters in the British West Indies believed they would no longer be subject to further Imperial legislation. Crown Colony government brought certain advantages and problems.Less
The British West Indies in 1815 consisted of a large number of islands and territories acquired over two centuries. The economies of the British West Indies in the nineteenth century have been the source of considerable debate. Although different in their economies and their political structures, all British West Indian colonies were slave societies. The abolitionists decided to establish a new organization and a new policy to deal with the problem of colonial slavery. By ending the apprenticeship system early, planters in the British West Indies believed they would no longer be subject to further Imperial legislation. Crown Colony government brought certain advantages and problems.
Christopher B. Bean
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780823268757
- eISBN:
- 9780823271771
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823268757.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, American History: Civil War
In its brief seven-year existence, the Freedmen’s Bureau became the epicenter of the debate about Reconstruction. Cognizant of its responsibilities, partisans fiercely debated its necessity. ...
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In its brief seven-year existence, the Freedmen’s Bureau became the epicenter of the debate about Reconstruction. Cognizant of its responsibilities, partisans fiercely debated its necessity. Historians continued that debate about the agency’s policies and necessity. But historians have only recently begun to focus on the Bureau’s personnel in Texas, the individual agents termed the “hearts of Reconstruction.” Not ignoring individual experiences and attitudes, this work focuses on them at a more personal level. Where were they from? Were they wealthy? Were they married or single? Did the agency prefer the young? Did agents have military experience or were they civilians? What occupations did the Bureau draw from? The answers illuminate the type of man Bureau officials believed qualified—or not—to oversee the freedpeople’s transition to freedom. Officials in Texas desired those able to meet emancipation’s challenges. That meant northern-born, mature, white men from the middle and upper-middle class, and generally with military experience. Dispelling the idea of a uniform Bureau policy, this work shows that each agent, moved by his sense of fairness and ideas of citizenship, gender, and labor, represented the agency’s policy in his subdistrict. They protected freedpeople’s labor and established their right to set up a household (and protected within in it). They worked to recognize their marriages, and, despite the practice of apprenticeship, they tried to establish their rights as parents to their children. These men further ensured the former slaves’ right to an education and right of mobility, something they never had while in bondage.Less
In its brief seven-year existence, the Freedmen’s Bureau became the epicenter of the debate about Reconstruction. Cognizant of its responsibilities, partisans fiercely debated its necessity. Historians continued that debate about the agency’s policies and necessity. But historians have only recently begun to focus on the Bureau’s personnel in Texas, the individual agents termed the “hearts of Reconstruction.” Not ignoring individual experiences and attitudes, this work focuses on them at a more personal level. Where were they from? Were they wealthy? Were they married or single? Did the agency prefer the young? Did agents have military experience or were they civilians? What occupations did the Bureau draw from? The answers illuminate the type of man Bureau officials believed qualified—or not—to oversee the freedpeople’s transition to freedom. Officials in Texas desired those able to meet emancipation’s challenges. That meant northern-born, mature, white men from the middle and upper-middle class, and generally with military experience. Dispelling the idea of a uniform Bureau policy, this work shows that each agent, moved by his sense of fairness and ideas of citizenship, gender, and labor, represented the agency’s policy in his subdistrict. They protected freedpeople’s labor and established their right to set up a household (and protected within in it). They worked to recognize their marriages, and, despite the practice of apprenticeship, they tried to establish their rights as parents to their children. These men further ensured the former slaves’ right to an education and right of mobility, something they never had while in bondage.
E. A. Smith
- Published in print:
- 1990
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198201632
- eISBN:
- 9780191674969
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198201632.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History, Political History
This chapter provides a brief account of Charles Grey's early life, education, and his political apprenticeship. Charles was educated at Eton and later at Trinity in Cambridge. Soon after his twenty ...
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This chapter provides a brief account of Charles Grey's early life, education, and his political apprenticeship. Charles was educated at Eton and later at Trinity in Cambridge. Soon after his twenty second birthday, his uncle, Sir Henry, secured his nomination in Parliament when an unexpected vacancy occurred for the representation of Northumberland. In 1786, he was elected to the House of Commons. In the beginnings of his career, he was quickly drawn to the Whig tradition and its principles. He later became a leading member of the brilliant circle of Whig politicians in the House of Commons.Less
This chapter provides a brief account of Charles Grey's early life, education, and his political apprenticeship. Charles was educated at Eton and later at Trinity in Cambridge. Soon after his twenty second birthday, his uncle, Sir Henry, secured his nomination in Parliament when an unexpected vacancy occurred for the representation of Northumberland. In 1786, he was elected to the House of Commons. In the beginnings of his career, he was quickly drawn to the Whig tradition and its principles. He later became a leading member of the brilliant circle of Whig politicians in the House of Commons.
Harry Hendrick
- Published in print:
- 1990
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198217824
- eISBN:
- 9780191678295
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198217824.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History, Social History
This chapter examines the economic problems related to the adolescent male labour issue in Great Britain during the 1800s. It highlights the haphazard transition from school to full-time employment, ...
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This chapter examines the economic problems related to the adolescent male labour issue in Great Britain during the 1800s. It highlights the haphazard transition from school to full-time employment, the excessive occupational mobility of the young workers, and the so-called blind-alley labour or the type of employment that often leads nowhere because when young workers reach adulthood they are dismissed. This chapter also discusses the negative impact of the decline in apprenticeship on young workers and the urban dimensions of the boy labour problem and its economic and social consequences including its effects on individual standard of living and exacerbation of ill health.Less
This chapter examines the economic problems related to the adolescent male labour issue in Great Britain during the 1800s. It highlights the haphazard transition from school to full-time employment, the excessive occupational mobility of the young workers, and the so-called blind-alley labour or the type of employment that often leads nowhere because when young workers reach adulthood they are dismissed. This chapter also discusses the negative impact of the decline in apprenticeship on young workers and the urban dimensions of the boy labour problem and its economic and social consequences including its effects on individual standard of living and exacerbation of ill health.
