| World
population growth continued through the nineteenth century at a high rate,
spurred by a general economic expansion, and increased food production
as new lands were opened up. Around 1830, human numbers reached one billion
for the first time.
The Industrial Revolution generated a tremendous economic boom, as machine power made mass manufacturing possible. Steam-powered transportation systems allowed people and goods to move easily from one place to another, while mechanization made it possible for fewer farmers to work more land. And the possibility of working for cash wages opened up opportunities to accumulate capital and to move it easily, whether for investment or migration. Improved living conditions and an optimistic view of the future also contributed to increased birth rates in many areas. People in the past had sometimes limited family size due to re–source constraints (often through abortion or infanticide), but they now began to have more children. Just as birthrates in the US dropped during the Great Depression and rose after World War II (the "baby boom"), they peaked in Europe during times of peace and prosperity in the nineteenth century. French birth rates peaked after the Peace of Amiens in 1802. Russian birth rates peaked after the freeing of the Serfs in 1861. And German birth rates peaked after the formation of the Empire in 1871.Despite a subsequent drop in birth rates in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries - as more people moved to cities and larger families were no longer needed to work the land - population growth continued. Advances in medicine and sanitation lowered mortality and increased life expectancy. During the Civil War, health care workers demonstrated that steps as simple as doctors washing their hands between operations and sterilizing instruments dramatically reduced infection. Development of safe water sources, sewer systems, and food preservation technologies also improved health.
The work of Koch, Lister and Pasteur provided increased understanding of infectious agents, while the development of general anesthetics, X–rays, and corrective surgery saved countless lives. The invention of antibiotics, such as sulfonamides and penicillin in the 1930’s, allowed treatment of many previously fatal infections, and vaccinations protected people against diseases such as smallpox, typhoid, and measles. |
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