Abstract
Scotland was becoming a new sort of society in 1800. Its population was increasing rapidly and continued to do so right up to 1914 (see Table 1.1). Constant expansion like this, even when offset by emigration (which was particularly heavy in the 1850s, 1880s and 1900s) put great strain on the country’s institutions and customary attitudes. At the same time it was also becoming an increasingly urbanised society (Table 1.2). These were relatively recent developments. England at this time was experiencing even higher rates of population growth, but it had had longer to adjust to the economic and social forces which were causing such changes. The impact was more sudden in Scotland which, in a list of 16 urbanised societies in Europe (measured by the proportion of their population in towns of 10 000 and above), had advanced from seventh place in 1750 to fourth in 1800, and lay second only to England and Wales by 1850.1
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Notes and References
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For a comparative view, see J. Prest, Liberty and Locality. Parliament, Permissive Legislation and Ratepayers’ Democracies (Oxford, 1990).
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© 1998 John F. McCaffrey
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McCaffrey, J.F. (1998). A Society in Transition: 1800–32. In: Scotland in the Nineteenth Century. British History in Perspective. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-26828-3_1
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