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The Bank of England was founded in 1694 as a government chartered joint stock company, and William of Orange used the bank as a source of credit to pursue war against the French. In subsequent decades, hundreds of new private banks were created in London and across the country to provide credit to private individuals. These innovations laid the foundations of modern banking and finance systems, a development described by historians as a "financial revolution." -
In 1717 Prussia made attendance at elementary schools compulsory for boys and girls in areas where schools existed. More Protestant German states followed suit in the eighteenth century. Inspired by the expansion of schools in rival Protestant German states, Maria Theresa issued her own compulsory education edict in 1774, imposing five hours of school, five days a week, for all children aged six to twelve. Across Europe schools became increasingly significant in the life of the child. -
In 1720 a ship from Syria and the Levant brought the plague to Marseilles. As a contemporary account described it, "The Porters employ'd in unloading the Vessel, were immediately seiz'd with violent Pains in the Head... soon after they broke out in Blotches and Buboes, and died in three Days." Plague quickly spread within and beyond Marseilles, killing up to one hundred thousand. By 1722 the epidemic had passed, and that was the last time plague fell on western and central Europe. -
One of the century's most influential works on child rearing was Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Emile, or On Education, inspired in part, by remorse for the abandonment of his own children. In Emile, Rousseau argued that boys' education should include plenty of fresh air and exercise and that boys should be taught practical craft skills in addition to book learning. Rousseau did not advocate the same for women. For him, women's "nature" destined them solely for a life of marriage and child-rearing. -
The third major player in the Atlantic economy, Spain, also saw its colonial fortunes improve during the eighteenth century. Spain gained Louisiana from France in 1763 as a result of the Treaty of Fontainebleau. Spain's influence also expanded westward all the way to northern California through the efforts of Spanish missionaries and ranchers. Its mercantilist goals were boosted by a recovery in silver production, which had dropped significantly in the seventeenth century. -
The Jesuit order played a key role in fostering the Catholic faith, providing teachers, missionaries, and agents of the papacy. However, the Jesuits elicited a broad coalition of enemies. Controversies led Louis XV to order the Jesuits out of France in 1763 and to confiscate their property. France and Spain then pressured Rome to dissolve the Jesuits completely. In 1773, a reluctant pope caved in, although the order was revived after the French Revolution. -
Adam Smith was a leading figure of the Scottish Enlightenment. Smith developed the general idea of freedom of enterprise and established the basis for modern economics in his groundbreaking work Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776). Smith criticized guilds for their stifling restrictions and instead advocated a more highly developed "division of labor" that entailed separating craft production into individual tasks to increase workers' speed and efficiency. -
While the practice of inoculation with the smallpox was refined over the century, the crucial breakthrough was made by Edward Jenner. In 1796 he performed his first vaccination on a young boy using matter taken from a milkmaid with cowpox. After performing more successful vaccinations, Jenner published his findings in 1798. The new method of treatment spread rapidly, and smallpox soon declined to the point of disappearance in Europe and then throughout the world. -
A few years back the Spanish Crown banned dragons and giants from the Corpus Christi parade. In 1797, the vibrant carnival of Venice was outlawed under Napoleon's rule. In the same period English newspapers publicly denounced boxing, gambling, blood sports and other uncouth activities. One described bullbaiting in 1791 as "a disgrace to a civilized people." -
Previously, Britain became the undisputed leader in shipping enslaved people across the Atlantic. But as details of the conditions of enslaved people became known, a campaign to abolish slavery developed in Britain. It grew into a mass movement of public opinion where people, particularly British women, stressed the cruel treatment of enslaved families. In 1807 Parliament abolished the British slave trade, although slavery continued in British colonies and the Americas for decades.