Elizabethan England: Poverty Flashcards
What made you poor?
• spending more than 80% of your wages on food
- needing financial help (poor relief) or charity (alms)
Types of poor (6)
• widows or women abandoned by husbands and their family
• the sick and the elderly
• orphaned children
• people on low wages
• itinerants
• vagrants and vagabonds
How did population growth increase poverty?
• the population grew by 35% throughout the country- particularly fast in the cities
• Londons population was 150,000 (10 x bigger than England’s second-biggest city Norwich)
• increased demand in food = drove up prices
• increasing labour supply = drove down wages
• urban people didn’t grow crops = had to buy
• ordinary people could no longer provide for themselves or their family
what did people use common land for?
• collecting firewood
• graze their pigs
• forage for food
when was the cloth trade especially bad?
1563-64, 1568-73 and 1586-88
why did sheep farming become popular and also mention the land needed for sheep farming
• 81.6% of England’s export (biggest export)
• the price of wool increased as demand for wool grew
* sheep farming became profitable and landowners turned to it to make money
• sheep farmers had lots of sheep and needed land to keep them on
why was an increase in sheep farming a problem?
• took common land and land that had once been used for growing crops
• didn’t require much labour-unemployment rose
• feeding sheep over winter meant that some crops were only grown fro animals to eat which angered people when large numbers of people were going hungry and couldn’t afford bread
what was enclosure?
replacing large open fields, which were farmed by villagers, to individual fields owned by one person
Why did farmers enclose land?
• prevent livestock from wandering off - so they can control animal breeding and produce better livestock
• to stop them from trampling other crops
• enclosed fields were easier to drain and made planting and caring for larger crops easier
How did enclosure increase poverty? (4)
• led to small farms being merged and tenant farmers evicted which caused unemployment and rural depopulation
• landowners often grew rich but ordinary farm labourers, who couldn’t afford the increasing rents suffered
• more efficient techniques for growing crops and sheep farming = fewer
labourers = unemployment
• common land was enclosed: this was vital for survival as they used it for grazing pigs and subsistence farming etc.
why was subsistence farming important?
this was where people grew their crops so it was vital for their survival
How did land values and rent cause an increase in poverty?
money that could be earned from farming increased = landowners increased rents of tenant farmers: those who couldn’t pay had to make way for wealthier more successful tenants
How did bad harvests affect poverty?
(4)
• caused food prices to rise because there wasn’t enough food to go around
• food grew much more slowly than the population
• bread prices, the basis of most peoples diet rose fastest of all
• more people meant lower wages, people struggled to pay for bread
how did wages cause poverty to increase?
• wages did not rise as fast as prices
- more people wanting work = labour was cheaper because many landowners and employers cut wages to keep their cost down.
how did demand in land increase poverty?
• more demand for land meant landowners could charger higher rents for the land where people lived or farmed
• entry fees went up too, some tenant couldn’t afford to keep their land; others evicted for sheep farming
who were the impotent poor?
the old and sick
what were the two types of poor?
undeserving and deserving/impotent poor
why was the problem of the able-bodied poor more noticeable in towns?
• there were so many: very visible
- many people who lost their livelihoods in rural areas came to towns in search of work
what was poor relief?
financial help paid for by the poor rate
what was the poor-rate?
• a local tax organised by the JPs, with the proceeds spent on improving the lives of the poor. The poor were given money or things to make and sell
• poor rates were collected on a weekly basis and distributed to the impotent poor
when was the statue of artificers?
1563
what were the aims and features of the statue of artificers?
- Aim: ensure that poor relief was collected
- Features:
- refusing to pay the poor rates could result in imprisonment
- officials failing to organise poor relief could be fined up to £20
when was the vagabond act?
1572
what was the aim of the vagabond act?
to deter vagrancy as the parliament felt that vagrants posed a threat to public order
what were features of the vagabond act?
• vagrants were to be whipped and a hole drilled in each ear
• vagrants to be imprisoned 2nd time, death penalty 3rd
• established national poor rate for the 1st time which sheltered the impotent poor
• Ips had to keep a register of the poor
• towns and cities were given the responsibility to find work for able-bodied poor
When was the poor relief act?
1576
what was the aim of the poor relief act?
distinguish between able-bodied and impotent poor and help able-bodied find work
what happened in the poor relief act?
• Jps provided the able-bodied poor with wool and raw materials to enable to work by making things to sell
• these who refused to do so were sent to a special prison funded by poor rates called the house of correction
What was the impact of Elizabethan poor laws?
*independence and dignity of the poor
- poor laws help recognise that unemployment was a genuine issue: not laziness.
- By making the poor make and sell things it helped keep independence and dignity
Why did poverty continue to be a major problem throughout Elizabeth 1’s reign?
• conflict in Spain and the revolt in the Netherlands, which hit trade in England badly
• Pamphlet writers stirred up fear of vagabonds as more people appeared in towns and cities
