2. early modern (1500 - 1750)

Question 1

britain’s population from 1500 to 1750

Answer 1

2.5 mill -> almost 6 mill

Question 2

what job did most people have?

Answer 2

worked in the countryside as spinners & weavers in their homes

Question 3

what did new farming techniques in the 18th century lead to?

Answer 3

in the 16th and 17th centuries, bad harvests could still lead to famine but the new techniques in the 18th century, meant that there was usually enough food to feed everyone

Question 4

reformation

Answer 4

by 1600, england was a protestant nation

Question 5

new inventions

Answer 5

printing press and the microscope

Question 6

beliefs

Answer 6

-God
-4 humours
-miasma
-witches as a cause of disease and bad harvests, believed to get their power from the devil

Question 7

international trade

Answer 7

-in the 1600s, england established its first overseas colonies in north america
-traded slaves, metal goods, sugar and tobacco across atlantic ocean
-new spices and fabrics from india
-increased trade led to the growth of ports such as bristol

Question 8

hierarchy

Answer 8

-nobles owned lots of land, they held a lot of power
-the gentry were incredibly wealthy landowners, had smaller estates than the nobles
-merchants, lawyers and doctors earned their wealth in ways other than through owning land.
-commoner

Question 9

food for the rich

Answer 9

-ate more
-had meat (beef, pork)
-white bread
-fruit & veg
-alcohol

new foods:
-chilli, pumpkin, potato

Question 10

disease due to diet (the rich)

Answer 10

-more sugar (coffee, tea) -> rotting teeth & obesity
-unbalanced diet -> gout

Question 11

gout

Answer 11

type of arthritis that happens in people who consume a lot of fatty food and alcohol

Question 12

food for the poor

Answer 12

-bread
-veg
-pottage
-treats = eggs, cheese, meat

Question 13

what did the poor’s bad diet mean?

Answer 13

they lacked vitamins and iron

Question 14

cleanliness of the rich

Answer 14

-soap from animal fat
-servants washed their clothes
-people could pay to pipe water to their house
-could change clothes

Question 15

cleanliness of the poor

Answer 15

-bathed in the local river or pond
-one set of clothes

Question 16

drinking water

Answer 16

-countryside had wells, springs or streams

-towns had conduits or water-sellers
-some towns started to bring in water from the countryside to reservoir, this meant that people could pay for their house to be connected to water pipes

Question 17

waste

Answer 17

-household waste in a basket/tub outside house, collected 2x a week by scavengers then sold to farmers

-houses backing onto rivers had a privy over the water these would empty waste directly into the water supply)
-most houses used privies built over a cesspit (could leak into people’s cellars or their neighbour’s cellar)
-scavengers cleared the cesspits of wealthier people every year or two, poor emptied their own & dumped it in an alley

Question 18

houses in the countryside

Answer 18

-people were squashed into cellars & upper storeys
-drafty & damp

Question 19

housing in the town

Answer 19

-stone/brick houses
-tall houses with overhanging jetties
-dark streets

Question 20

air pollution

Answer 20

-coal mines began to produce more coal
-when the price of coal dropped in the 1600s, more people used it on their fires
-dust, soot and smoke caused lung diseases and problems with breathing

Question 21

problems with streets

Answer 21

-many towns had not paved their streets and marketplaces
-most were covered with animal dung, this made people’s clothes and shoes very dirty

Question 22

problems caused by houses

Answer 22

-houses in towns were often three stores tall with overhanging jetties, there was a lack of natural light and dark street
-housing was crowded and damp, this contributed to breathing problems and lung diseases like influenza & pneumonia

Question 23

how common were plague outbreaks?

Answer 23

every 20 years

Question 24

how many people with the plague survived?

Answer 24

1/5 people

Question 25

what was the most common plague in this period?

Answer 25

bubonic plague

Question 26

symptoms of the bubonic plague:

Answer 26

-hard, pus-filled swellings (also known as buboes) in the groin or armpit
-blotches under the skin
-a high temperature and severe headaches the victim usually died within days

Question 27

beliefs about the plague that continued from the medieval period:

Answer 27

-God was sending the plague as a punishment
-was spread by miasma
-movement of the planets turned the air bad, creating miasma

Question 28

beliefs about the plague that changed from medieval period:

Answer 28

-cats and dogs spread miasma on their fur
-at the end of the early modern period, people put more emphasis on the idea that the disease spread through close contact

Question 29

peoples responses to the plague

Answer 29

-infected children, servants or lodgers were thrown out of their homes
-people tried to avoid miasma by sniffing flowers and herbs.
-people prayed to God and fasted to repent of their sins, church attendance increased during this time.
-the rich would often move out to the countryside if plague hit their town
-those who could afford it visited an apothecary or plague doctor
-bloodletting to rebalance the four humours carried on as before

Question 30

plague doctors’s suit

Answer 30

-mask similar to a birds beak with spices/ dried flowers inside that they could breathe through
-inspired by a soldier’s armour

Question 31

father antone maria valavantura

Answer 31

-noticed that ppl who waxy robes didn’t get the plague (this was because fleas didn’t land on the robe, though he didn’t notice this)

Question 32

isolation

Answer 32

1518
-henry VIll introduced the policy of isolation in london
-houses with plague should be identified: straw hung from the windows of infected houses for 40 days, if anyone left the house, they had to carry a white stick so that people knew to avoid them
-mayors in other towns followed this example

Question 33

pesthouses

Answer 33

buildings outside the city walls where plague victims were placed in quarantine

Question 34

elizabeth’s plague orders

Answer 34

-elizabeth I’s 1578 plague orders were a list of 17 national orders that had to be enforced
-the new printing press was used to send the orders to all towns and counties

Question 35

1578 plague orders examples

Answer 35

-parishes had to appoint ‘viewers’ or
‘searchers’ and report on how the infection was spreading
-aldermen had to collect money to support the sick in their town
-infected houses in towns had to be completely shut up for at least six weeks, with all members of the family still inside regardless of whether they were sick or healthy, watchmen were appointed to enforce this order
-the bedding and clothing of plague victims had to be burned

Question 36

the effectiveness of the government’s response to plague:

Answer 36

ways these measures were effective:
-isolation policies would have been effective in cases of pneumonic plague
-cleaning the streets was helpful for general hygiene, it may also have helped to control the rat population, which would have been useful in controlling the spread of the plague.

limits to the effectiveness of these measures:
-nobody knew that fleas on rats were carrying the disease, so there was a limit to the effectiveness of these measures

Question 37

the gin craze

Answer 37

after 1660, many poorer people started to drink spirits, particularly gin, because it became cheaper

Question 38

why did gin become cheaper?

Answer 38

-gin could be made in england, just from corn, which was also cheap
-distillers didn’t require a licence to make gin, so they could use smaller and simpler workshops & in contrast, brewers of ale had to serve food and provide shelter for customers

Question 39

effects of the gin craze

Answer 39

-families fell into increased poverty
-babies were harmed because mothers were drinking gin while pregnant
-there was a large increase in the death rate, caused by alcohol-related deaths

Question 40

first gin act

Answer 40

1729:
-£20 license fee for sellers
-5 shilling tax per gallon for producers

Question 41

second gin act

Answer 41

1736:
-increased the license fee to £50 and the producers tax to 20 shillings

Question 42

why were the early gin acts ineffective?

Answer 42

-the government did not do much to enforce them
-the number of small gin shops was too high
-they encouraged people to make and sell gin illegally (ie without paying the licence fee)

Question 43

third gin act

Answer 43

1751:
-further restricted who was allowed to sell gin - only people who paid rent and taxes could now do so
-introduced harsh punishments for anyone caught selling gin illegally - imprisonment and whipping for a second offence and transportation for a third

Question 44

what helped the effectiveness of the 1751 gin act?

Answer 44

-the price of beer fell and the price of corn rose

Question 45

improvements in york

Answer 45

-people were no longer allowed to build privies over the river that ran through the city
-householders were ordered to clean the street outside their property twice a week
-people who made dunghills in their alleys were fined

Question 46

great fire of london (1666)

Answer 46

-around 10,000 houses were destroyed
-town authorities had an opportunity to improve houses
-brick, tile, stone and other fireproof materials were used to rebuild houses -> fewer rats in homes
-some streets were widened -> better ventilation & sunlight

Question 47

when did piped water start?

Answer 47

1750

Question 48

how were towns improved for the rich?

Answer 48

-oil-burning lamps on the streets
-footways for pedestrians
-streets paved with stone
-building large terraced housing around big open squares