Scandinavians the brightest in the 18th century
A new remarkable study shows that the Scandinavians were better at reading, writing and arithmetic than French, German, Spanish, Dutch and Italian seamen in the 18th century. The study also confirms that being bright does pay off.
According to a new study, Scandinavian seamen came out on top in the 18th century when it came to using their brains:
“Ordinary seamen from northern Europe had higher levels of proficiency than their southern European counterparts. And when it came to Scandinavians, the difference was even more pronounced. This was something we had not expected to find,” says Bo Poulsen, Associate Professor at Roskilde University, Denmark, who has completed a new, extensive research project together with Dr Jelle van Lottum of the University of Cambridge.
A thousand maritime enquiries
The study is based on the researchers’ analysis of 966 maritime enquiry documents kept in the National Archives in London. During the 18th century, England was at war with practically all other nations in Europe. As a result, thousands of foreign vessels were seized and the crews brought before a military tribunal and subjected to a maritime enquiry which was concluded with a written statement. Nearly 20,000 of these statements have been preserved, and these are the documents that have been systematically analysed by the researchers and now serve as documentation of the level of proficiency among seamen:
“We examined the documents, comparing the ability of the different nationalities to remember their age and sign their name on the legal document instead of just writing an X,” Bo Poulsen explains.
Being bright does pay off
The purpose of the study was to provide qualified input to the scientific debate on the significance of intellectual ability – or human capital as it is also called – in the economic development of a society. In modern societies such as Norway, Sweden and Denmark, intellectual ability is highly valued, but there is currently not much scientific evidence of the historical development of human capital across national borders,” Bo Poulsen explains, and he adds:
“We chose to examine the first globalised labour market: the maritime market. Was it to your advantage in any way to possess special skills in the 18th century? Was there anything to be gained by being bright? Our study showed that yes, there was.”
The legal documents showed that the captains, who received the highest wages, also had the highest levels of proficiency. The lowest ranks on the vessels, on the other hand, had the most difficulty in terms of literacy and numeracy. At the same time, it was clear that proficiency levels were higher in northern Europe than in southern Europe.
“This serves to underline that having a well-educated labour force has been highly regarded for centuries, and that it is no coincidence that exactly the very same societies of north-western Europe developed into leading global states in the aftermath of the industrial revolution and to some extent have maintained their leading positions,” Bo Poulsen says.
Contact information:
Bo Poulsen, Associate Professor, Department of Culture and Identity & Department of Environmental, Social and Spatial Change, Roskilde University, e-mail: bopo@ruc.dk, tel.: +45 2058 2859