MEP4 Tudor And Stuart Explorers

Question 1

Who asked John Cabot to explore further into the unknown world, and when?

Answer 1

Henry VII 1496

Question 2

Where did John Cabot travel to in the hope of finding new riches?

Answer 2

Canada, from Bristol. Found no riches so returned home. Marked the start of the British empire.

Question 3

Where did Christopher Columbus sail to?

Answer 3

The americas - sailed west so landed at the West Indies. Hoped to find new routes to India and china

Question 4

Why was it important for the British to establish bases on the North American east coast?

Answer 4

They could explore further and plunder Spanish ships

Question 5

What were privateers?

Answer 5

• Private sailing ships that were given permission from the monarch to attack foreign ships and steal from them
• they had to share their plunder with the monarch
• any that didn’t were called pirates

Question 6

What economic factors drove people to the americas?

Answer 6

• after the first successful colony was established in 1607 more Britons were willing to go
• plenty of land for plantations to grow cash crops
• crops were exported back to Britain for great profit

Question 7

What religious factors drove people to the americas?

Answer 7

• religious freedom - some puritans and catholics wanted to escape religious conflict in Britain

Question 8

What imperialist reasons drove people to the Americas?

Answer 8

• businessmen set up plantations
• trade in the Americas would help pay for the growth of the British empire elsewhere
• exporting and importing within the empire made further profit

Question 9

When had the business shifted from privateers and piracy to plantstions?

Answer 9

1720s - British monarchs stopped granting privateer permissions as plantations gave far larger profits.

Question 10

What were some of the problems faced by plantation workers?

Answer 10

• hard conditions
• new diseases
• hot weather
• crop failures and food shortages

Question 11

How did the British eventually solve the problems of plantations work conditions?

Answer 11

• that’s conditions meant many people didn’t want to work on plantations
• the British began using indentured servants
• but eventually by 1619, they realised they could just enslave people and force them to work

Question 12

Why was Barbados important?

Answer 12

• the British took control of the island in 1625
• by 1655 it was the largest British colony of enslaved people
• by 1690s the whole island was covered in successful sugar plantations