Understand the definition of the agricultural revolution. Learn about the causes and the start of the agricultural revolutions. Examine the effects of agricultural revolutions.
Updated: 11/21/2023
Agricultural Revolution Start, Causes & Effects | What was the Agricultural Revolution?
Table of Contents
- What Was the Agricultural Revolution?
- First Agricultural Revolution
- Second Agricultural Revolution
- Third Agricultural Revolution
- Lesson Summary
Frequently Asked Questions
How did the Agricultural Revolution affect people's lives?
The agricultural revolutions affected how people worked and got their food. The first caused people to grow crops and raise animals for food. The second caused people to move into cities and work in factories. The third led to an increase in human population.
What are the three agricultural revolutions?
The First Agricultural Revolution, or the Neolithic Revolution, began around 10,000 B.C. Humans shifted from being hunter-gathers to being subsistence farmers and herders.
The Second Agricultural Revolution, or the British Agricultural Revolution, began during the 18th century. Major changes to farming techniques, which included livestock breeding, crop rotation, and mechanical farm equipment, decreased the number of workers needed on farms.
The Third Agricultural Revolution, or the Green Revolution, took place during the 1940s, 50s, and 60s. Innovations in irrigation, fertilizers, pesticides, and plant breeding led to greater crop yields.
What caused the Agricultural Revolution?
Each of the Agricultural Revolutions have different causes. The first was caused by humans changing from being hunter-gatherers to farmers and herders. The second was caused by improvements to livestock breeding, farming equipment, and crop rotation. The third was caused by plant breeding and new techniques in irrigation, fertilization, and pesticides.
What are the characteristics of the agricultural revolution?
The characteristics of the agricultural revolution are the changes in how food is produced and the amount of food produced.
What is the agricultural revolution, and why is it important?
An agricultural revolution is when farming techniques drastically improve within a relatively short period of time. This leads to a greater production of food and allows humans to pursue other types of work.
What is the first agricultural revolution?
The First Agricultural Revolution is also called the Neolithic Revolution. This revolution began around 10,000 B.C. Humans made significant changes to their lifestyle from hunting and gathering their food to farming crops and herding animals.
Table of Contents
- What Was the Agricultural Revolution?
- First Agricultural Revolution
- Second Agricultural Revolution
- Third Agricultural Revolution
- Lesson Summary
An agricultural revolution definition outlines specific periods in human civilization when farming techniques drastically improved the mass cultivation of crops within a relatively short period of time. This leads to greater production of food and the transformation of societies and economies. Three agricultural revolutions have taken place in human history. The First Agricultural Revolution, also known as the Neolithic Revolution, began around 10,000 BCE. Humans shifted from being hunter-gathers to being subsistence farmers and herders. The Second Agricultural Revolution, or the British Agricultural Revolution, began around 300 years ago during the 18th century. Major changes to farming techniques included selectively breeding livestock, systematic crop rotation, and the development of chemical fertilizers. The Third Agricultural Revolution, or the Green Revolution, took place during the 1950s and 60s. Improvements in technologies for growing plants allowed for much greater crop yields, helping to increase the world population.
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The First Agricultural Revolution occurred during the Neolithic period beginning around 10,000 BCE. Until this point, humans primarily led a nomadic hunter-gather lifestyle, foraging for edible wild plants and hunting animals for food. As the Ice Age ended, the climate became milder and warmer, fostering conditions where humans could settle in one location and begin to grow crops. During this first revolution of agrarian methods, humans began planting small gardens that eventually grew into extensive farms and domesticating animals to use for food. Archeologists have found evidence of the first farms at different sites around the world.
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During this time, humans began cultivating crops of rice, barley, maize (corn), and wheat as human civilization developed methods of cooperative labor in order to produce larger amounts of food. Greater yields of food enabled population growth and the development of political and social structures, growing economies, and the advancement of culture and the arts. Sophisticated stone tools enabled new methods for crop cultivation, and reliable and stable food supplies fostered the development of cities. However, the environmental impact of farming included the manipulation of the land, the development of irrigation methods that altered the natural flow of water, and barren fields where livestock overgrazed.
The First Agricultural Revolution was believed to originate in the Mesopotamian civilization of Sumner (southern Iraq), though agrarian revolutions occurred simultaneously in other parts of the Middle East, Africa, Mesoamerica, East Asia, and Southern India.
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Where Did the Agricultural Revolution Start?
The earliest and most prominent archeological evidence of the First Agricultural Revolution can be traced to the Fertile Crescent of the Middle East, known as ''the cradle of civilization.'' Farmers in the Fertile Crescent (modern-day eastern Turkey, southwestern Iran, and Iraq) cultivated wheat, barley, flax, chickpeas, lentils, and peas. Domesticated animals such as pigs, sheep, goats, and cattle were used as food sources. Farmers also used domesticated animals to help cultivate the crops.
Recently discovered archeological sites have found evidence of independent Agricultural Revolutions in different parts of the world, including Syria, Turkey, China, and the Americas. Archeological sites at Abu Hureyra, Catalhoyuk, and elsewhere reveal evidence of growing grain, cultivating fruit trees, and domesticating animals.
- Abu Hureyra in modern Syria was an early civilization located near the Euphrates River inhabited between 11,500 to 7,000 BCE. The residents of this village were originally hunter-gatherers and became one of the earliest groups of humans to adopt agricultural methods. Archeologists have discovered large tools used for grinding grain, documenting their transition into farming initiatives.
- Catalhoyuk, located in modern Turkey, is a massive archeological site first discovered in 1958, noted by UNESCO World Heritage Convention for its outstanding universal value and well-preserved settlement from the Neolithic period. Humans lived in Catalhoyuk from 7400–5200 BCE in rows of homes with roof access built from mud bricks. Evidence shows they developed settlements from small villages to urban centers and implemented cultural practices and means of social organization as they adapted to a more stationary lifestyle. The people of this region painted murals of hunters, cattle, and goddesses on the walls of their homes and created sculptures and reliefs for artistic decoration. An estimated 8,000 residents inhabited Catalhoyuk during this time.
- Archeological sites discovered in 2007 in eastern China yield evidence of early rice paddy fields. Beginning around 6,000 BCE, humans used flood and fire control to create rice paddies. The Chinese also domesticated water buffalos and yaks to eat their meat and milk and used the hair and hide of these animals to make clothing.
- The Agricultural Revolution of Mesoamerica (Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras), which can be traced to the 7th millennium BCE, has less archeological evidence, though food production is believed to include the development of acorns, pine nuts, beans, grass seeds, corn, potatoes, and squash. Mesoamerican farmers developed methods of terracing, irrigation, and land clearing by burning fields. Agricultural farming led to the development of religious hierarchies, systems of writing, the production of crafts, and astronomy. In Mexico, humans selectively bred a wild plant called teosinte to create maize or corn; the earliest known corn cob dates from 3,500 BCE. These same humans grew squash, which would become a staple food throughout the Americas, while in the Andes Mountains of South America, humans grew potatoes.
Causes of the Agricultural Revolution
Early humans did not have a written language to record how they changed from a hunter-gatherer to an agrarian lifestyle. Historians and scientists use evidence from archeological sites to theorize the causes of the first agricultural revolution. Because this revolution began at the end of the last Ice Age 12,000–14,000 years ago, experts theorize the warmer climate drove early humans to plant crops and build homes. Some scientists hypothesize that intellectual developments in the human brain encouraged Neolithic humans to build communities and create artistic imagery, spiritual artifacts, and develop funeral rites. Archeologists have discovered cave art and figurines from this period, demonstrating the evolution of human intelligence in contrast to their Paleolithic ancestors. These advancements in human civilization encouraged humans to settle in permanent communities with like-minded people.
First Agricultural Revolution Effects
The First Agricultural Revolution had a monumental impact on human history, culture, and biology. The development of large communities and urban centers facilitated the expansion of trade and supported economic growth. The First Agricultural Revolution in the Fertile Crescent led to copper smelting around 6,000 BCE, as humans made significant advancements in the innovation of tools and objects for domestic use. Sophisticated artworks were crafted, and beginning in 4,000 BCE animals such as camels, donkeys, and oxen were used to transport goods along trade routes. Importantly, the transition from hunting to farming triggered genetic mutations. Scientists who tested the DNA of humans from this time period have found genes associated with changes in eye and skin color, height, immunity to diseases, and the ability to digest lactose, a sugar found in milk.
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The Second Agricultural Revolution, or the British Agricultural Revolution, dating from 1500–1800, occurred just prior to the First Industrial Revolution (1700s–1800s). During this time, land use was gradually privatized and controlled by a smaller number of farmers who maintained larger plots. These farmers learned to selectively breed livestock to create animals that yielded more meat, milk, wool, or hide. Farmers developed methods of crop cultivation, using four-year cycles to produce and rotate high-yield crops such as wheat, turnips, barley, oats, and clover in the field. These crops maintained a chemical balance in the soil, allowing high crop yields. After 1750, the potato was regarded as an important European crop due to its ease of farming and the crop's richness in vitamins and carbohydrates.
Though initially a slow transition, the British Agricultural Revolution gained advancements at the beginning of the 18th century, as the medium of agriculture was transformed from a means for sustenance to the development of big business. Continuing until the 19th century, the Second Agricultural Revolution facilitated improvements in scientific breeding methods for cattle, advancements in drainage systems, and experimentation with new crops. The Second Agricultural Revolution affected European society by creating healthier populations.
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What Started the Second Agricultural Revolution?
Both the Second Agricultural Revolution and the First Industrial Revolution were motivated by a desire to increase work efficiency and maximize productivity during the production process. During this period in human civilization, trade had expanded around the globe amid the rise of capitalism, and farmers made profits by selling their crops to distant lands. Seeking new innovations and cost-effectiveness in farming, industrialization created advanced machinery and new technologies such as selective breeding and chemical fertilizers, helping to develop agriculture into a profitable business. There were several inventions that helped contribute to the Second Agricultural Revolution:
- In the early 18th century, British inventor Jethro Tull (1674–1741) perfected the horse-drawn seed drill, which allowed farmers to efficiently sew seeds in rows rather than scattering seeds by hand. In 1731 Hull published The New Horse Houghing Husbandry: Or an Essay on the Principles of Tillage and Vegetation, which helped establish modern British farming methods such as the horse-drawn hoe.
- During the same time, Charles "Turnip" Townshend (1675–1738) popularized the development of four-year crop rotation. Using the crops of wheat, turnips, oats, and clover, he planted a different crop in each of his four fields and rotated the crops every year. This rotation system prevented the depletion of nitrogen in the soil and resulted in a greater harvest.
- Arthur Young (1741–1820) studied agriculture and economics and published books on agricultural techniques as well as a political book about the causes of the French Revolution. Agricultural books written by Young include The Farmer's Letters to the People of England (1768), The Farmer's Calendar (1771), and beginning in 1784 a 45-volume publication called the Annals of Agriculture.
How Did the Agricultural Revolution Lead to the Industrial Revolution?
The Second Agricultural Revolution helped foster the scientific, technological, and cultural advancements of the Industrial Revolution. The development of advanced machinery in the Industrial Revolution provided mechanical equipment to farmers which reduced their dependency on large amounts of labor. The children of successful farmers could now leave their families to look for other employment without worrying about who would work on the farm. Other individuals desperate for employment sought greater opportunities in cities.
As a result, many people traveled to urban centers to work in factories or in the mines, helping to fuel the Industrial Revolution. Larger populations born out of increased food production enhanced the development of marketplaces and trade, expanded farming profits, and fostered engagement in new occupations. Surplus items from industrial farms were sold to city dwellers, helping to facilitate urban growth.
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The Third Agricultural Revolution, or Green Revolution, occurred during the 1950s and 60s. Massive increases in crop yields fostered by the use of concentrated nitrogen to fertilize fields contributed to this time period being known as the Green Revolution. While the Green Revolution originated in Mexico, new agricultural revolutions emerged in Africa, India, Latin America, and Asia. In Mexico, farmers sought to increase self-sufficiency for a growing population, while India was experiencing a mass famine. Improvements in synthetic fertilizers and modern irrigation methods allowed crops to grow in climates previously too dry. Agricultural scientists such as American researcher Norman Borlaug (1914–2009) bred plants that were resistant to disease, produced more grain, and responded well to fertilizers. Borlaug would go on to win the Nobel Peace Prize for his innovative research.
The Green Revolution sparked a massive increase in the global population by significantly improving crop productivity while reducing poverty and hunger. However, the Green Revolution encouraged monoculture farming, where industrial farms raised a single strain of highly productive crops. While these homogeneous crops increased yield, they reduced biological diversity, were less disease-resistant, and elevated the need for greater use of pesticides. The use of pesticides is now known to threaten pollinators such as bees. Additionally, many crops developed during the Green Revolution are water-intensitive and have increased water scarcity in the 20th and 21st centuries.
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Throughout human history, agricultural revolutions have changed the way humans work, think, and eat. Humans during the First Agricultural Revolution transitioned from hunter-gather to farmers. During this time, they invented tools to aid in their work, along with art and religion. During the Second Agricultural Revolution, humans industrialized farming to produce greater crop yields with fewer workers. This allowed larger cities to form and paved the way for the First Industrial Revolution. The Third Agricultural Revolution introduced new fertilizers and irrigation, along with specially bred plants, which greatly increased crop yields.
Early archeological sites tracing the development of the First Agricultural Revolution have been found in Abu Hureyna (modern Syria) and Catalhoyuk (modern Turkey), revealing evidence of cultivating fruit trees, growing grain, and domesticating animals. During the Second Agricultural Revolution, inventors such as Jethro Tull and Charles ''Turnip'' Townshend perfected new techniques for improving crop yields. In the Green Revolution, scientific researcher Norman Borlaug bred disease-resistant plants and produced more yields, and innovations in the Third Agricultural Revolution helped to reduce world poverty and hunger.
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Video Transcript
Timeline of the Agricultural Revolution
Historians have often labeled the first Agricultural Revolution (which took place around 10,000 B.C.) as the period of transition from a hunting-and-gathering society to one based on stationary farming. During the 18th century, another Agricultural Revolution took place when European agriculture shifted from the techniques of the past.
New patterns of crop rotation and livestock utilization paved the way for better crop yields, a greater diversity of wheat and vegetables and the ability to support more livestock. These changes impacted society as the population became better nourished and healthier. The Enclosure Acts, passed in Great Britain, allowed wealthy lords to purchase public fields and push out small-scale farmers, causing a migration of men looking for wage labor in cities. These workers would provide the labor for new industries during the Industrial Revolution.
The Agricultural Revolution began in Great Britain around the turn of the 18th century. Several major events, which will be discussed in more detail later, include:
- The perfection of the horse-drawn seed press, which would make farming less labor intensive and more productive.
- The large-scale growth of new crops, such as potato and maize, by 1750.
- The passing of the Enclosure Laws, limiting the common land available to small farmers in 1760.
Contributing Factors to the Agricultural Revolution
In many ways, British agriculture advanced more rapidly than any other European nation. The increased agricultural production of the 18th century can be traced to four interrelated factors:
- The increased availability of farmland
- A favorable climate
- More livestock
- Improved crop yield
Let's look at each of these areas in more detail. The available farmland increased due to changes in landholding patterns spurred on by new methods of cultivation. Previously, the open-field system was prominent. This system was problematic because it allowed part of the land to remain unplanted at all times in order to avoid depleting the soil. Since growing crops removes nutrients from the soil, a field must be replenished in order to continue to yield food.
One solution to this situation was to continue to move crops to different land. This was not feasible in Great Britain because the country lacked a large percentage of available land. Instead, farmers began to utilize barren soil by planting different crops, such as clover or turnips.
These plants have roots rich in nitrogen, a necessity for replenishing soil. The cultivation of turnips was important because they could be left in the ground through the winter. This ultimately led to an increase in livestock because these plants were also utilized for grazing. The boost in livestock fundamentally changed the diet of much of Europe.
Not only were Europeans consuming more meat, but the livestock was producing much needed fertilizer for crops. The addition of fertilizer allowed an improved production rate per acre. By the beginning of the 18th century, the colder climate of the 'little ice age' had ended. The resulting mild summer months created ideal conditions for crop cultivation.
Important Inventors
Several innovators created tools that greatly influenced the new agriculture. For instance, a significant step forward was pioneered by Jethro Tull, an English agriculturist.
Also in the beginning of the 18th century, Tull perfected a special horse-drawn seed drill that would allow a person to plant seeds in neat rows rather than by simply scattering them on top of the soil. While Tull did not invent the seed drill, he did improve on the design, making the machine drill at low densities. This change resulted in enhanced crop production because far less seed was lost to feeding birds. Tull also maintained that one should use a hoe to break up the soil and allow air and moisture in.
Charles Townshend used the four-field system on his own land. Testing the system on his own farm, he planted wheat in the first field, clover in the second, oats in the third and turnips in the fourth. He found that he could grow more crops and have a better yield per acre with this system.
New Crops, Land Patterns and Societal Changes
During this time, new crops were becoming popular in Europe. For instance, potatoes and maize were brought from America and introduced to Europe. These crops were grown in large scale after 1750. In particular, the potato became a staple crop in places such as Ireland and Germany. Because this crop was incredibly easy to grow, was high in carbohydrates, calories and essential vitamins and could be stored successfully, it became a necessity for many of Europe's poor.
Landowners began to enclose fields that were formerly open. With the advent of new farming techniques, the old system of cooperative farming villages ended. In England, Parliament aided this process by enacting legislation legalizing the enclosure of agricultural land. This legislation forced small farmers to work for large landholders or move to cities to pursue other wage labor.
Lasting Effects of the Agricultural Revolution
The Agricultural Revolution of the 18th century paved the way for the Industrial Revolution in Britain. New farming techniques and improved livestock breeding led to amplified food production. This allowed a spike in population and increased health. The new farming techniques also led to an enclosure movement.
The British government passed several laws collectively referred to as Enclosure Acts, which removed the rights of local farmers to cultivate land and gave the land to private owners. This forced many farmers to move to urban areas in search of wage labor. Significantly, this move from the country to the city would create a useful pool of workers when industrial factories began to emerge in Britain.
Learning Outcomes
After you've completed this lesson, you should be able to:
- Summarize the timeline of the Agricultural Revolution in Great Britain
- Describe the four major factors that led to the Agricultural Revolution
- Identify two important inventors that contributed to this era
- Explain how legislation helped pave the way for the Agricultural Revolution
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Agricultural Revolution Start, Causes & Effects | What was the Agricultural Revolution?
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