Migration and Empire - Part Two

Question 1

What did Christopher Columbus do?

Answer 1

In 1492, he sailed to find a new route to the Indies, but found the Americas. He did this with the permission of the Spanish monarchy.

Question 1

What did John Cabot do?

Answer 1

In 1496, he sailed from Bristol on behalf of King Henry VII. He found no riches so sailed home.

Question 2

How did the English plunder Spanish riches?

Answer 2

Using privateers. Monarchs would grant them permission to attack foreign ships and steal from them.
Anything taken had to be shared with the monarch. Any sailors that didn’t share were known as pirates.

Question 3

Who was John Hawkins?

Answer 3

He was a respected English naval commander, merchant and privateer. He was the first English slave trader. In 1562, he captured enslaved Africans. The slave trade was lucrative and he made the English rich. He was knighted by Elizabeth I in 1588.

Question 4

What were the economic reasons for going to the Americas?

Answer 4

-It seemed lucrative after the first successful colony was established in 1607.
-There was plenty of land for new cash crops, grown on plantations.
-Crops were exported back to Britain for a great profit.

Question 5

What were the religious reasons for going to the Americas?

Answer 5

Certain groups like Puritans or Catholics wanted to escape religious persecution in Britain so left to find religious freedom.

Question 6

What were the imperialist reasons for going to the Americas?

Answer 6

-Businessmen set up plantations in North America and the West Indies.
-British investors were keen to develop trade in the Americas to encourage growth in other areas of the empire.
-Exporting and importing in the empire made further profit.

Question 7

Why did plantations replace piracy?

Answer 7

Plantations were more profitable and it didn’t risk war with another power.

Question 8

What were the problems for plantation workers?

Answer 8

There were:
-hard working conditions
-new diseases
-hot weather
-crop failure
-food shortages.

Question 9

What did plantations use to maximise profits?

Answer 9

They intially used indentured servants for labour but by 1619, plantation owners realised they could create more money by enslaving people.

Question 10

How did plantations exist in Barbados?

Answer 10

The British took control in 1625 and tobacco plantations were soon established. It was the largest British colony of enslaved people by 1655 and by the 1690s most of the island was covered in successful sugar plantations.

Question 11

Why were enslaved people used on plantations?

Answer 11

-enslaved people were a cheap source of labour
-plantations could buy slaves outright unlike indentured servants
-enslaved people had no legal rights so they worked without payment
-any children born to enslaved people became their owner’s property, further increasing the size of the workforce.
-Those who traded in enslaved people could expect an 800% return on investment.
-Slave owners profited as they forced their slaves to work arduously without payment.

Question 12

How did the slave triangle work?

Answer 12

1) Traders leave Britain for Africa, with goods
2) Traders trade with African tribesmen in return for prisoners from other tribes
3) In the Americas, the enslaved people are traded to plantation owners and farmers for goods like sugar, cotton or tobacco.

Question 13

Who was involved in the slave trade?

Answer 13

Many people, including monarchs, gave resources to help individuals.

Charles II was a partner in the Royal African Company which transported 60,000 enslaved Africans between 1680 and 1688.

Shop owners sold sugar and tobacco from the plantations.

Shipbuilders and ship owners allowed their ships to be used.

Workers turned the cotton grown on plantations into shirts.

Dockworkers unloaded ships full of cotton that slaves had grown.

Bankers lent money to the traders.

Question 14

What were the economic impacts of the slave trade on Britain?

Answer 14

Britain made lots of money from the trade.
The British slave trade industry made approximately £60 million between 1761 and 1808
Britain became one of the richest and most powerful countries in the world.

Question 15

What was the social impact of the slave trade on Britain?

Answer 15

West coast towns grew into large cities because of the money made.
Many of the fine buildings were built on the profits of slavery.
Slavery was so widespread that it led to the belief that Europeans were superior to Africans.

Question 16

How did slavery end in Britain?

Answer 16

-In 1807, the British parliament abolished the slave trade.
-In 1833, slave ownership was banned not just in Britain but throughout the Empire.

Question 17

What war caused people to leave Britain for North America?

Answer 17

The English Civil War, which resulted in increased tensions between religious groups.

Question 18

What economic factors lead to people leaving Britain to go to North America?

Answer 18

-High levels of unemployment in Britain
-Low wages for farm hands and labourers
-Failed harvests, causing starvation
-Plantations growing crops lime tobacco, corn, sugar and cotton gave the people a chance to make lots of money
-North American seas were stocked with profitable cod

Question 19

What religious factors caused people to leave Britain to go to North America?

Answer 19

-Christian groups had suffered persecution in Britain
-Failure to attend Anglican services was punishable by death
-In North America, different religious groups could join colonies
-Some religious groups wanted to migrate to convert the indigenous people to Christianity.

Question 20

What was the Jamestown colony?

Answer 20

Founded in 1607, it was initially started by businessmen who were given permission by James I to find gold and grow crops. There was some conflict between the early settlers and the indigenous Americans. Settlers had to rely on them to help find and grow food. They began to farm the land successfully with commodities like tobacco making it a success.

Question 21

What was the New Plymouth colony?

Answer 21

Founded in 1620, Puritans, arriving on the Mayflower, would become known as the Pilgrim Fathers. They set up their own religious colony with the aims of fishing and trading with other colonies. They worked hard and farmed offshore cod. They established democratic principles and a constitution to keep their Puritan beliefs. This would form the basis of the USA.

Question 22

Who was Sir Walter Raleigh (1554-1618)?

Answer 22

-He was a sea captain for Elizabeth I and James I.
-In 1584, he was sent to set up colonies in Virginia. He established Roanoake.
-Roanoake faced many problems with crops and supplies and came into conflict with Indigenous Americans and caught diseases like Malaria.
-Despite the colony being a failure, Raleigh is considered the ‘Father of American Colonies’.

Question 23

What was the impact of British colonies on indigenous Americans?

Answer 23

-Good relations existed at first, but the British did not treat them with respect.
-Many tribes were wiped out by diseases that the settlers brought over.
-British settlers attacked their crops and villages.
-In 1500, there were approximately 560,000 indigenous Americans in ‘British’ territory, this dropped to fewer than 280,000 by 1700.
-Many indigenous American tribes moved inland to avoid settlers.
-Their nomadic way of life was wiped out and many started to live like Europeans.
-Today, only 0.7% of the USA were indigenous.

Question 24

What were the long term causes of tension between the American colonists and the British?

Answer 24

-Many successful colonists were ‘self-made’, seeing the British class system as outdated. Although most had made their fortunes from plantations, many believed anyone could make a success of themselves, no matter their background.
-America had a strong and independent economy. The colonies traded commodities. There was a large feeling that colonists could exist separately from Britain.

Question 25

What were the navigation acts?

Answer 25

These laws meant only British goods could be imported into America. They couldn’t trade with other countries.
This monopoly of trade with just the British greatly restricted the type and amount of goods that could be brought to America. This meant competition was rare and prices were high.

Question 26

What were the medium term causes of tension between American colonists and the British?

Answer 26

-The Americans were ruled directly from Britain yet they had no representatives in parliament. They were unhappy at paying taxes withput having a say.
-Colonists were also made to pay taxes to fund the British wars against the French that the colonists felt had little to do with them.

Question 27

What was the Stamp Act?

Answer 27

This was a tax on the paper used for all official documents, this angered those in America.

Question 28

What were the short term causes of tension between the colonists and the British?

Answer 28

-The Boston Tea Party, 16 December 1773, colonists poured British tea into the harbour in protest at the tax on tea imposed by the British responded by closing Boston port, causing more anger.
-In 1774, 56 representatives from the colonies met at the ‘First Congress’ in Philadelphia. A decision was made to fight the British.

Question 29

What happened during the American War of Independence?

Answer 29

-The British sent soldiers to force American rebels to stay loyal but they were met by fierce resistance.
-July 1775: George Washington was appointed as the leader of the American army.
-July 1776: Congress met again and formally declared independence from Britain.
-Britain only conceded it had lost on 3rd September 1783.

Question 30

What were the impacts of the War of Independence?

Answer 30

-10,000 soldiers and 20,000 sailors died during the war.
-The war cost Britain £80 million, increasing debt. But due to its rapid industrialisation, it was still very wealthy.
-Britain was soon trading with America again.
-By 1813, Britain had the largest navy which helped defend against existing colonies and found new ones.
-Britain was able to focus its wealth and resources in expanding and developing into places like Canada, the Caribbean, parts of Africa and India.
-Britain used Australia and New Zealand as the new destination for criminals and as a market for British goods.

Question 31

What happened in France in the 1560s and 1590s?

Answer 31

A series of religious civil wars between Catholics and Protestants.

Question 32

What happened in August 1572 in France?

Answer 32

St Bartholomew’s Day Massacre - 10,000s of French Protestants are killed, many move to England.

Question 33

What happened between 1572-98?

Answer 33

Queen Elizabeth I, makes England a welcome place for Huguenot craftsmen to work in England and teach British apprentices.

Question 34

What happened in France in 1598?

Answer 34

French King Henri VI issues a bill of rights for the Huguenots called the Edict of Nantes which grants them freedom to practise their religion without fear.

Question 35

What did King Louis XIV do in 1685?

Answer 35

He tore up the Edict of Nantes. Protestant ministers are given the choice of converting to Catholicism or leaving France. The Huguenots face persecution again and 50,000 escape to England.

Question 36

What impact did the Huguenots have on Britain?

Answer 36

They:
-Established businesses in communities all over England
-Transformed existing British industries
-Started up new industries like papermaking. By the 1710s, Huguenot expertise meant that Britain had 200 paper mills, supplying nearly 70% of its paper market.

Question 37

How did the British react to the Huguenots?

Answer 37

Most welcomed them, but some held anti-French views. Due to religious similarity most got along well.

Question 38

What did James I do in Ireland in the early 1600s?

Answer 38

He sent English and Scottish Protestants to settle in Ulster, the Northern out of the four regions of Ireland, creating the Ulster Plantations.

Question 39

How did the Irish react to the Ulster Plantations?

Answer 39

-Most Irish resented the settlers migrating, seeing it as an invasion.
-The population grew rapidly as thousands of settlers arrived, bringing their own customs and religion.
-Irish Catholics were at odds with British Protestants, this tension continued until even the modern day.

Question 40

What was Scotland’s population and its distribution like in the early 1700s?

Answer 40

Over half the people lived in the Highlands. Many spoke Gaelic and lived on small farms called crofts. In the lowlands, towns and cities were growing and manufacturing and merchants were becoming wealthy. These highlanders were largely Catholics and Jacobites.

Question 41

What did the Highlanders participate in during 1715 and 1745?

Answer 41

The Jacobite Rebellions.

Question 42

Where were the Highlander Jacobites defeated?

Answer 42

At the Battle of Culloden in 1746.

Question 43

Why did George I start the Highland Clearances?

Answer 43

He felt the threat that the Catholic Highlanders posed was too great and another rebellion needed to be prevented.

Question 44

Describe what happened during the Highland Clearances?

Answer 44

The English began the brutal policy of removing potential opposition by getting rid of Scottish chiefs and clans that didn’t support George I.

In an attempt to make more money from the land, English landlords moved tenant farmers off the land and set up large scale sheep farming.

Question 45

What happened to the Highlanders between the 1780s and 1820s?

Answer 45

Tens of thousands of Highlanders were evicted from their homes. Some were forced onto barren coastal lands, or on unworkable land where they starved to death.

Question 46

How did the Highland Clearances cause migration?

Answer 46

Many Highlanders were forced to move to towns and cities in the lowlands to look for work, but many more migrated to England and to countries like Canada and America.

Those that left Scotland became known as the Scottish diaspora and contributed to the growth of the British Empire.