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Gillette World History AP 15 January 2011 The Values of European Society in the Early Modern Period Society, a structured community of people bound together by similar traditions, institutions, or nationality. This was something that became exceptionally important and complex in the 17th and 18th century Europe. With more and more social and economic burden being weighted on the poor class caused mainly by the government and the upper classs policies, Jonathan Swift satirically proposed plans that might be able to nullify increasing social gap between the wealthy and the poor by suggesting that poor Irish children would make an extraordinary food commodity for the wealthy gentry and privileged nobles. In Early Modern Europe, the sovereign (King/Queen) stood on the top of the social hierarchy. Most European kings like Louis the Sun King of France ruled with absolute power according to the Divine Right given by God. Any disobedience against an absolute monarch was considered disobedience against God as well and deserved punishment. Other monarchs such as the ones in England ruled along side with the parliament, where the monarch had to share power with representatives elected by the common people. The monarch had the power to appoint nobles, often his or her allies and usually relied on their support to rule over the kingdom. Mankind, Dr. Johnson observed, are happier in a state of inequality and subordination. (Dr. Johnson 48). As the poor continued to suffer, the upper class such as continued to enjoy their lavish life from the prosperity of the nation. Peerage was a system of British nobility ranks with its members given distinct individual title(s). There were four descending ranks of peerage: Dukes, Marquises, Earls, Viscounts, and Barons. The members of this social class mostly

Lim 2 inherited from his or her ancestors and were among the most privileged people in the country. This resulted in a very different lifestyle between nobles children and the lower class children whereas the wealthy children had a more luxurious lifestyle and better education provided to them. Those nobles were great landlords with titles were massive landowners throughout Europe and they lived in regal mansions that spanned up to at least one hundred rooms. Thus the squire will learn to be a good landlord, and grow popular among his tenants, the mother will have eight shillings neat profit, and be fit for work till she produces another child (Jonathan Swift). This sarcastic excerpt by Jonathan Swift shows a big different of lifestyle between the nobles and the working class people and how the nobles were able to make gargantuan amount of profit just from doing almost nothing. Because of their easy wealth, Swift suggested that the nobles should buy children as food from the poor mother so she can finally earn some money, giving a satirical solution to poverty and unemployment for some poor mothers who were not able to work and feed her children. Right below the peerage are the gentry baronets, knights, esquires, and gentlemen. They enjoyed the position of honor and most were able to made living from rental payments. Like the peerage, they enjoyed privileges given to them that are not available to the lower class. They were distinguished from the lower class population by their education, landowning, and consumptions. Even though the peerage and gentry only accounted three percent of the population in England and yet, they amounted fifteen percent of the domestic income. The gentry were also considered landlords by Swift in his Modest Proposal. Same goes to the gentry, they were a lot richer than the lower class and were able to earn profit without having to do physical labor or even work at all.

Lim 3 Business moguls and merchants became increasingly wealthy and powerful in the 17th century due to industrialization and colonization process that brought enormous wealth to the country. With landownership as the main symbol of wealth, these people owned massive estates and many were almost if not, richer than the aristocrats. These so called Bourgeoisie, by the French, frequently charged very high rents on the poor farmers that they were not able to pay, further deepen their burden when they were already impoverished. Jonathan Swift proposed that Irish children as food will be somewhat dear, and therefore very proper for landlords, who, as they have already devoured most of the parents, seem to have the best title to the children (Jonathan Swift). When referring as landlords, he probably referred mostly on the business people more than any other wealthy groups due to their massive landownership and rent that put heavy economic pressure on their renters. By buying Irish children to eat as food from their parents, Swift cynically said this proposition should be able to solve the economic condition of the people and they could actually make a living out of this. The people who were truly the workers were freeholders, tenant farmers, and farm laborers. Freeholders or yeomen, were landowners except that they managed and farm the land by themselves, meaning they had to do physical work and did not own land as large as the landed gentry. The tenants worked on most of the farms in the country. These tenants economic condition varied, some were affluent, while the others struggled. They generally leased on a peerages or gentrys land. Landlords usually rented to the person who was willing to pay the most for rent. Swift did not mention much about the freeholders due to its nature of being in between the rich and the wealthy. Since there was a huge economic and social gap between the wealthy and poor in Early Modern Europe, this so called middle class was almost nonexistent and it was slowly dying out. However, he did proposed that by selling children as food to the

Lim 4 gentlemen, the poorer tenants will have something valuable of their own, which by law may be made liable to a distress, and help to pay their landlord's rent, their corn and cattle being already seized, and money a thing unknown (Jonathan Swift). Many tenants life was very difficult when the renter levied a huge rent on them, depriving their income. The working class was between the yeomen and the laboring poor, these working people were mostly skilled laborers, composed of artisans, shopkeepers, tradesmen, and professional people. At first they were not well-respected people in the society due to the people perception of them being too greedy for fortune. However by the end of the 17th century, their image and reputation became more highly regarded as they were making more profit due to toe rise of industrialization. As the yeomen class slowly died by the 18th century, this called came to emerge as the new middle class in Europe. Below that we had the rural and urban laborers, they were known as the laboring poor, comprised of around twenty-five percent of the English population. Many of the poor lived in urban towns while they others worked in the rural area. They were composed of vagrants, beggars, criminals, soldiers, sailors, and unskilled male and female workers. Many of these people relied collecting charity from other people to make a living. Since they were barely able to support themselves and not their children, Swift again, proposed that selling children is

Another great advantage in my scheme, that it will prevent those voluntary abortions, and that horrid practice of women murdering their bastard children, alas! too frequent among us, sacrificing the poor innocent babes, I doubt, more to avoid the expence than the shame, which would move tears and pity in the most savage and inhuman breast (Jonathan Swift).

Lim 5 The condition of the laboring poor was the main reason why Jonathan Swift wrote Modest Proposal. It was meant to show the condition that the poor were in. Early Modern Europe was in the state of social imbalance since very small percentage owned most of the things while the majority suffered. Swift satirical proposed his plans but at the end, he did challenge the wealthy to come with better ideas to combat this problem that was widespread throughout Early Modern Europe. Swifts Modest Proposal was meant to shock and disgust the wealthy by telling them that they can help the country out by babies from poor families and serve them as a food commodity. It was meant to catch their attention to open their eyes and see what the rest of the society is like while they are enjoying their wealth. His article was good intention for the the publick good of my country (Jonathan Swift), and mainly to encourage people to act and help the widespread out before things worsen. Works Cited Heyck, Thomas W. THE PEOPLES OF THE BRITISH ISLES A New History. vols.2 UK: Northwestern University, 2008. Landau, Norman. Law, Crime and English Society 1660 - 1830. London, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1984. French, Henry, and Jonathan Barry. Identity and Agency in England, 15001800. New York, N.Y. 10010: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004.