The Law That Created Capitalism
Discover the dark origin story of modern capitalism — how the theft of common land from English peasants fueled the Industrial Revolution. Between 1760 and 1830, over 4,000 Enclosure Acts transferred 2.8 million hectares of common land into private hands. Agricultural productivity tripled — but smallholders and tenant farmers lost everything, flooding into cities as cheap factory labor. Rural population plummeted from 70% to 20% by 1850. Discover how enclosure made the Industrial Revolution possible — by creating a dispossessed workforce with nowhere to go but the factory floor. Is modern prosperity built on stolen land?