Debate # 3: Enclosure Movement

Post date: Oct 22, 2013 10:50:59 PM

This one has a potential to be a bit dry but I believe that it can be a great debate if you bring out the controversy. Historians STILL argue about this today! There's a sharp divide here--most of the opposition to the Enclosure Movement tends to be liberal whereas the conservatives tend to like it. As with all issues, there are varying degrees of how hardcore they feel about it and how important/terrible they feel it was. Proceed with caution and evaluate your sources; not all sources are good sources!

First, you need to understand the Enclosure movement so you don't sound like you don't know what you're talking about. These links may help:

http://www.celdf.org/article.php?id=638

http://myweb.rollins.edu/jsiry/enclosureprob.htm

http://www2.needham.k12.ma.us/nhs/cur/Baker_00/baker_1800_soc/baker_cm_p1/enclosure_movemnet,_christ.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhZ7UruxRBs (video made by a student in Canada; simple but good)

Sources to Help the "Enclosure is a Good Thing" Side:

http://www.thelandmagazine.org.uk/articles/short-history-enclosure-britain

http://fff.org/explore-freedom/article/enclosure-acts-industrial-revolution/

http://www.tomwoods.com/blog/anti-capitalist-propaganda-meet-modern-research/

Arthur Young on Enclosures - This one downloads as a Word Document but it's actually a primary source by a man from the 18th Century.

Sources to Help the "Enclosure is a Bad Thing" Side:

http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2010/may/31/poem-week-goldsmith-deserted-village

http://praxeology.net/SEK3-AQ-3.htm (Start with AQ3.6)

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/janusg/landls.htm

http://books.google.com/books?id=zq5-jjbwSDQC&pg=PA58&lpg=PA58&dq=enclosure+movement+bad+for+peasants&source=bl&ots=R2BaddbGpT&sig=kGuqCqHvBm9-SO6L4dqFH-Rs8ew&hl=en&sa=X&ei=PvtmUu-6GYmEjAKxtYG4Bw&ved=0CFEQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=enclosure%20movement%20bad%20for%20peasants&f=false