From the late 15th century to the early 19th century, the enclosure movement took place in England.

The British sheep industry developed rapidly from the late 13th century, and wool was mainly exported. In the 15th century, the export of woolen goods increased significantly, and the substantial development of the wool industry became the most direct factor stimulating enclosure. In the 1570s, enclosures occurred in 35 of the 40 counties in England.

The enclosure movement developed rapidly, driving thousands of farmers from their own land and homes, turning them into homeless vagrants, beggars, and wage laborers. In Marx's words, it is to separate the direct producers from the means of production.

The British government, controlled by the property owners and wealthy people, used a series of bloody legislation to suppress and exploit the deprived in order to protect social stability and the vested interests of the property owners. Marx made a profound analysis and criticism of this in "Das Kapital".

The laws of 1530 and 1536 stipulated that all vagrants capable of working should be arrested and whipped, or tied to the back of a carriage, whipped until they bleed, and then made to swear an oath to work and sent back to their hometowns. Anyone who disobeys the law for the second time will be whipped and have half of his ear cut off. The third offender shall be punished by death.

The 1547 decree stipulates that if a wanderer cannot find a job within a month, once someone reports him, he will be sentenced to be the slave of the whistleblower, and the owner has the right to force him to work with chains and whips. If such a slave escapes for more than 14 days, he will be sentenced to life-long slavery and the S mark will be branded on his forehead or back. The master has the right to sell or transfer him. A slave who escapes three times will be executed. If a homeless man did not work for three days in a row, he would be sent back to his hometown, branded with a V mark on his chest, and tied with a chain to serve.

In 1563, the British government's "Legislation Concerning Artisans, Workmen, Agricultural Servants and Apprentices of All Trades" stipulated that all the above-mentioned people, according to this legislation, must be compulsorily employed by any farmer and engage in agricultural labor for one year. Any servant who leaves without this certificate will be arrested and imprisoned or whipped.

It is said that during the reign of King Henry VIII of England alone, more than 70,000 landless peasants were executed. At that time, the total population of the UK was only around 4 million.

This is a shameful page in British history. It reflects the most ugly side of the primitive accumulation of capital in the UK. It is the same as the accumulation of British and European capitalism abroad, that is, the colonial plunder of the bourgeoisie in America, Africa, and Asia. It was a bloody storm.

The land enclosure movement, which was based on depriving farmers of their means of production, laid the foundation for the establishment of modern capitalist large-scale agriculture and large-scale animal husbandry.

The so-called large-scale capitalist agriculture and large-scale animal husbandry means that agricultural capitalists occupy land and other means of production, hire workers, and carry out large-scale, market-oriented, corporate agricultural and animal husbandry operations. It is the relationship between capitalists and wage workers, the early bourgeoisie and the proletariat.

In the sixteenth century, a large number of large farms and pastures had appeared in England. By the mid-sixteenth century, in some areas about half of the land had been transferred to farmers, equivalent to approximately all the land held by tenant farmers.

Capitalist management in agriculture has greatly liberated productive forces. It is estimated that the economic benefits of the enclosed land system are 1.5 times that of the open land system.

It has generally gone through three stages: simple collaboration of capitalism, manual workshops and machine industry.

1) Simple collaboration stage

2) Manual workshop

3) The situation of workers

The emergence and existence of a large number of capitalist farms and pastures in agriculture and animal husbandry, and capitalist manual workshops in industry are the most basic signs of the origin of capitalism in modern Western Europe.

The origin of capitalism is of epoch-making significance in human history. Compared with feudalism, capitalism replaces status relationships politically with contractual relationships between people and establishes the equality of capitalism; economically, it replaces the inefficient natural economy and regulated economy with a highly efficient market economy. Greatly liberating productivity.

However, the origin of capitalism is full of evil and is a history written in blood and fire. Marx said that capital comes to the world, from head to toe, and every pore is dripping with blood and filth.

Reasons for the earliest development of capitalism in Western Europe

An assessment of the origins of capitalism