The Post-Malthusian Moment: Some Responses to Population Explosion in Britain c. 1840

We deal with the "Post-Malthusian" stage of falling mortality and sustained fertility, from a history of ideas perspective. We argue that minor writings provide an insight into the various shades of contemporary responses to population explosion that paved the way for a subtler understanding of demographic trends. Population literature was not all either pro- or anti-Malthusian: one publication by physician Charles Loudon exemplifies a non-Malthusian panacea meant to contain population growth. While the British government's response boiled down to pauper management, Loudon and others suggested that fostering the well-being of the masses might help control population growth.