Stuarts
Breadth Topics
1
,Index
To what extent did the British economy radically change in the years
1625-88.......................................................................................................3
How significant was migration as a development to the economy.............8
What was the most important economic development re the Empire and
Global Trade 1625-88?...............................................................................11
What was the most significant development within agriculture 1625-88..15
Most significant factor in increasing economic expansion 1625-88..........18
Most significant factor in driving the expansion of British overseas trade
1625-88?...................................................................................................21
How far do you agree that agriculture was transformed 1625-88?...........24
How accurate is it to say that English society was fundamentally
unchanged 1625-88..................................................................................28
Which social group changed the most 1625-88........................................31
Main reason for population increase..........................................................37
Main impact of population growth.............................................................39
New laws were the main cause of social change 1625-88 HFDYA.............41
What was the biggest challenge to the supremacy of the Anglican Church,
1625-88?...................................................................................................45
2
,To what extent did the British economy
radically change in the years 1625-88
Criteria: In 1688, how much of the economy had experienced
significant change compared to 1625
Agriculture:
- New Farming techniques:
o The Walpoles and Townsends pioneered using nitrogen rich
crop (cabbages, clover e.g.) which rejuvenate the soil –
allowing for a reduction in the use of fallow period and
therefore increasing production due to efficiency. People used
a 4-course system rather than the three-course system which
had a fourth year of fallow in which nothing could be farmed
o Industrial crops being planted, such as Flex and Hemp,
supported the canvas trades and boosted the New Draperies
o New Ideas: Walter Blith wrote about the use of water meadows
(300,000 horses in 1600, 630,000 in 1700 because water
meadows used to ensure year round animal feed) and Samuel
Hartlib wrote about fruit husbandry (and the three course
system) by 1700, 9 million acres being farmed with only 1.8
million being fallow (compared to 7 million and 3 million in
1420)
Literacy rates facilitated the spreading of these ideas
o These techniques needed enclosure. 47% of land was
enclosed in 1600. By 1700 71%of land was enclosed –
demonstrating a boom in the understanding of new
techniques
Farmers with more enclosed land were able to
experiment with these new techniques – as they had
more to spare.
- Capital investment into farming:
o As an addition to enclosure, there was an increase in larger
farms buying up small farms and in doing so improved things
like water courses, roads, bridges, and new crops.
Infrastructural investment allowed for the appearance of
National Markets and Specialisation. Moreover, it gave rise to
100+ acre “capital farms”
3
, o Cornelius Vermuyden pioneered drainage – investment into
large drainage schemes to turn swampland (the Fens0 into
farmable land.
o Equipment – ploughs, harrows, carts were all improved.
- Many of these crop techniques weren’t new they were just spread
more widely than before
- Many developments were only adopted in the wealthier southeast.
Therefore, there may not have been a large impact nation wide
- Most of the developments were only due to demand. Therefore, one
could say that the growth of agriculture was necessitated by the
growth of London
- Farmers lower down the social scale were reluctant to adopt these
changes as it cost too much and many were forced into tenant
farming due to the rise in enclosure and capital farms (Sherrington
in Buckinghamshire, free holders forced to sell)
London:
- Growth of London:
o Increased by 175,000 people between 1650 and 1700 due to:
Banking and insurance developments
London becoming a centre of legal systems
Its complex economy drew in both domestic migrants
and external immigrants
o It was growing faster than the population of the country
o Handled 69% of exports and 80% of re-exports
- Altered agricultural patterns:
o Market gardens developed to feed London
o Infrastructure developed to bring food to London (1663
turnpike Act)
o London prices were National Prices
o Specialisation in agriculture was developed to feed London
- Altered the trade patterns of the country:
o Supplying the city with all the goods it required
- Began a shift in the source of economic power
o Economic power used to be driven by land, but now you begin
to see people with alternative sources of economic power
(such as merchants and financiers)
- Bristol/Liverpool grew due to their increasing importance in the
slave trade/new world (and Norwich from worsted draperies)
4
Breadth Topics
1
,Index
To what extent did the British economy radically change in the years
1625-88.......................................................................................................3
How significant was migration as a development to the economy.............8
What was the most important economic development re the Empire and
Global Trade 1625-88?...............................................................................11
What was the most significant development within agriculture 1625-88..15
Most significant factor in increasing economic expansion 1625-88..........18
Most significant factor in driving the expansion of British overseas trade
1625-88?...................................................................................................21
How far do you agree that agriculture was transformed 1625-88?...........24
How accurate is it to say that English society was fundamentally
unchanged 1625-88..................................................................................28
Which social group changed the most 1625-88........................................31
Main reason for population increase..........................................................37
Main impact of population growth.............................................................39
New laws were the main cause of social change 1625-88 HFDYA.............41
What was the biggest challenge to the supremacy of the Anglican Church,
1625-88?...................................................................................................45
2
,To what extent did the British economy
radically change in the years 1625-88
Criteria: In 1688, how much of the economy had experienced
significant change compared to 1625
Agriculture:
- New Farming techniques:
o The Walpoles and Townsends pioneered using nitrogen rich
crop (cabbages, clover e.g.) which rejuvenate the soil –
allowing for a reduction in the use of fallow period and
therefore increasing production due to efficiency. People used
a 4-course system rather than the three-course system which
had a fourth year of fallow in which nothing could be farmed
o Industrial crops being planted, such as Flex and Hemp,
supported the canvas trades and boosted the New Draperies
o New Ideas: Walter Blith wrote about the use of water meadows
(300,000 horses in 1600, 630,000 in 1700 because water
meadows used to ensure year round animal feed) and Samuel
Hartlib wrote about fruit husbandry (and the three course
system) by 1700, 9 million acres being farmed with only 1.8
million being fallow (compared to 7 million and 3 million in
1420)
Literacy rates facilitated the spreading of these ideas
o These techniques needed enclosure. 47% of land was
enclosed in 1600. By 1700 71%of land was enclosed –
demonstrating a boom in the understanding of new
techniques
Farmers with more enclosed land were able to
experiment with these new techniques – as they had
more to spare.
- Capital investment into farming:
o As an addition to enclosure, there was an increase in larger
farms buying up small farms and in doing so improved things
like water courses, roads, bridges, and new crops.
Infrastructural investment allowed for the appearance of
National Markets and Specialisation. Moreover, it gave rise to
100+ acre “capital farms”
3
, o Cornelius Vermuyden pioneered drainage – investment into
large drainage schemes to turn swampland (the Fens0 into
farmable land.
o Equipment – ploughs, harrows, carts were all improved.
- Many of these crop techniques weren’t new they were just spread
more widely than before
- Many developments were only adopted in the wealthier southeast.
Therefore, there may not have been a large impact nation wide
- Most of the developments were only due to demand. Therefore, one
could say that the growth of agriculture was necessitated by the
growth of London
- Farmers lower down the social scale were reluctant to adopt these
changes as it cost too much and many were forced into tenant
farming due to the rise in enclosure and capital farms (Sherrington
in Buckinghamshire, free holders forced to sell)
London:
- Growth of London:
o Increased by 175,000 people between 1650 and 1700 due to:
Banking and insurance developments
London becoming a centre of legal systems
Its complex economy drew in both domestic migrants
and external immigrants
o It was growing faster than the population of the country
o Handled 69% of exports and 80% of re-exports
- Altered agricultural patterns:
o Market gardens developed to feed London
o Infrastructure developed to bring food to London (1663
turnpike Act)
o London prices were National Prices
o Specialisation in agriculture was developed to feed London
- Altered the trade patterns of the country:
o Supplying the city with all the goods it required
- Began a shift in the source of economic power
o Economic power used to be driven by land, but now you begin
to see people with alternative sources of economic power
(such as merchants and financiers)
- Bristol/Liverpool grew due to their increasing importance in the
slave trade/new world (and Norwich from worsted draperies)
4
