Western Civilization II / Unit 3 WC2 0211 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Serfdom by Law, 1649: Too Much Land, Too Few Peasants
Captions available
The idea
In sixteen forty-nine serfdom was instituted across Russia, the anchor's date. Peasants had fled to Siberia and the borderlands; in a land-rich, labor-poor country the state bound them to the soil and to conscription, legally little better than slaves.
In practice
Land abundant, hands scarce, so the hands were chained.
Where people slip
Prussia fixed serfdom by law four years later.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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