R2317th

Population pressure (1650 onwards) – Although the population explosion took place after 1700, by 1600 the pressure of population on resources was severe, and poverty was inevitably widespread. Population growth slowed at this point because of this immense pressure. The death rate for babies was high, causing slow growth. The main factors attributing to the slow growth were famine, epidemic disease, and war. The 30 years war spread disease, and the military used up food supplies and ruined the agricultural cycles. Famine was the result of poor farming methods and crop failures, as this was before the agricultural revolution, and advances had not been made. McKay, John P. __History of Western Society 7th Edition__. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2003.