Agricultural technology and mass production have a part in the lives of hundreds of millions of people. One only needs to drive through the Midwestern United States to see the vast amounts of land covered in luscious crops. In cities, factories run almost non-stop, inexorably rolling out neat, clean rows of plastic and metal contraptions designed to provide the creature comforts mankind yearns for. Without the Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions, few of the luxuries we take for granted would exist. Their effects have reached far and wide across the globe.
The Middle Ages in Europe were marked by plagues, a low population, and the practice of serfdom. However, as the Middle Ages ended and the population began to recover from the plagues that had swept across Europe, an increasing demand for food began to put strain on the economy. Reforms in land management were imminent. The landlords quickly discovered that serfdom was rather inefficient. This practice required that the serf be the landlord's servant, but in return, the landlord had year-round responsibility of the serf's well being. …
