Of the Rise and Progress of Cities and Towns, After the Fall of the Roman Empire
- Following the fall of the Roman Empire, many people became traveling salespeople, just walking from town to town and trying to sell stuff.
- Not only that, but towns tended to become like independent states because the local kings didn't really have the power to control them. This meant that it was hard to impose taxes, and free trade became common among the towns eventually. Adam Smith likes this.
- People in the countryside, though, didn't have the same level of protection as those in the cities. The world was practically lawless, and farmers had to deal with people constantly pillaging their farms. So these people eventually learned to keep anything they saved inside the cities, and that's how you got farmers keeping their money with city banks.
- Smith mentions that the cities of Italy were probably the first in Europe to become rich because of trade. They benefited by importing great products from all over Europe.
- In Smith's mind, the development of advanced manufacturing springs out of agriculture. For him, all productive activity begins with agriculture.