Source C One peasant who lost his rights to common land after the enclosures wrote to the local lord: 'Should a poor man take one of your sheep from the common, his life would be forfeited by law. But should You take the common from a hundred poor men's sheep, the law gives no redress. The poor man is liable to be hung for taking from You what would not supply you with a meal; and You would do nothing illegal by depriving him of his subsistence;...What should be the inference of the poor...when the laws are not accessible to the injured poor and the government gives them no redress? Source: JM Neeson, Commoners: Common Rights, Enclosures and Social Change, 1700-1820 (1993). |
Source D In contrast many writers emphasized the advantages of enclosures. ‘There can be no question of the superior profit to the farmer of enclosures rather than open fields. In one case he is in chains; he can make no changes in soil or prices, he is like a horse in team, he must jog along with the rest.’ John Middleton, an 18th century writer. |
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