The Problem of the Poor Flashcards
Describe the Poor in Elizabethan England
-For ordinary Elizabethans, not being able to work meant a life of poverty.
-Unemployment and illness could lead to starvation as people did not have enough money to feed themselves and their families.
-Elizabethan society was concerned with those who were poor enough to need financial help (poor relief) or charity (alms) or who begged or who were homeless.
-They were also concerned with ‘itinerants’- people who had moved from their home parish looking for work.
Describe the 1570 Norwich Poor Survey
-A survey of the poor was undertaken in Norwich in 1570. It aimed to find anyone who was receiving or might in future need poor relief.
-The city’s mayor wanted to investigate how many itinerants were renting rooms, how long they had been living there, where they had come from and their circumstances.
Describe the Results of the 1570 Norwich Poor Survey
-The survey showed that 40% of the poor counted were under 16.
-Families headed by women (often widows) also tended to be very poor, as women were paid a lot less if they had to work.
-Even families where there was an adult male in work could be so poor that 80% of their income simply went on buying enough food not to starve.
-Of all adults included, two thirds were women and over a quarter were over the age of 60. In many cases, these women had been abandoned or were widows.
Describe how Population Growth Led to an Increase in Poverty in Elizabethan England
-The population of England increased dramatically (as much as 35%) during Elizabeth I’s reign. This was due to a number of reasons including the relative peace and stability in the country.
-Many people felt more able to raise larger families as there was little threat of war or rebellion. This meant that the poor now needed more food to feed their larger families.
-The population growth was spread throughout the country but towns and cities in particular grew especially fast.
-London became the fastest growing city in England: it had a population of 150,000 by the end of Elizabeth I’s reign in 1603, ten times the size of England’s second largest city, Norwich.
-As the population rose and the supply of labour increased, wages decreased.
Describe how Food Shortages Led to an Increase in Poverty in Elizabethan England
-Everyone depended on the food grown by farmers but a series of poor harvests, beginning the year before Elizabeth became queen, left a food shortage. This led to higher prices.
-Food production grew slower than the population. Even those who had work struggled to feed their families. Bread was the basis of most peoples diets yet grain prices rose fastest of all.
-Furthermore, although the urban population of the growing towns and cities needed food, they didn’t grow any themselves.
-Food was grown in the countryside and brought into urban areas for sale. However, because of the increased population, there was more people to feed and in turn, the price of food in towns rose.
Describe how Inflation Led to an Increase in Poverty in Elizabethan England
-Poverty also increased because wages did not rise as fast as prices.
-Wages did not increase and this inflation meant that the poorest simply could not afford what they needed to survive.
-Rising prices across Europe made life difficult for everyone.
-With more people wanting work, labour was cheap. Many landowners and employers cut wages to keep their costs down.
Describe how the Collapse of the Cloth Trade Led to an Increase in Poverty in Elizabethan England
-The European cloth trade’s collapse in the late 1550s had a far reaching impact.
-Many people in England relied on the trade by working as spinners and weavers, as well as many sheep farmers.
-Since the skills many people had were not relevant to other jobs, many ended up with no work at all.
Describe how Rack Renting Led to an Increase in Poverty in Elizabethan England
-As the population grew, so did the demand for land. This meant that landowners could charge much higher rents for land where people lived or farmed. The tenant farmers simply could not afford these prices.
-This process (rack renting) led to many tenant farmers leaving their farms and seeking work in the towns. Others were evicted to make way for sheep farming.
-As the money that could potentially be earned from farming increased, landowners put up the rent of tenant farmers.
-Those who could not afford to pay were forced off the land, often to make way for wealthier, more successful tenants. Sometimes the land they vacated was enclosed instead.
Describe how Sheep Farming Led to an Increase in Poverty in Elizabethan England
-Wool made up 81.6% of England’s exports. The price of wool increased as demand for woollen cloth grew. This meant farming sheep and many landowners turned it as a way to make money.
-Sheep farming took land that had once been used for growing crops or as common land.
-Farming sheep did not require as much labour as growing crops so rural unemployment rose.
-Feeding sheep over winter meant that some crops were only grown for animals to eat. This angered many people who were going hungry or could not afford bread.
Explain why Farmers Enclosed the Land in Elizabethan England
-Farmers began to control animal breeding to produce better livestock. Therefore, they kept them in enclosed fields to stop them breeding. It also prevented livestock trampling other crops.
-New farming techniques such as improving land drainage and using fertiliser produced more crops. Enclosed fields were easier to drain and made caring for larger crops easier.
-Land was used for crops one year and for livestock the next. The livestock fertilised the land so that when crops were planted, the following year, the soil produced more.
-For this to be effective animals needed to be in enclosed fields so their manure was left in the right space. Before enclosure, one field would be left to fallow which was not a good use of land.
Describe how Enclosure Led to an Increase in Poverty in Elizabethan England
-Despite leading to many landowners growing rich, enclosure caused ordinary labourers or those who could not afford the rent to suffer.
-Common land was sometimes enclosed. However, this was vital for survival for those who were subsistence farming. This therefore caused a great deal of anger and resentment.
-Enclosing the land to keep sheep in rather than letting them roam freely required far fewer farm workers to look after them but also meant that less land was available for growing crops.
-This led to people losing their jobs and rural depopulation. Enclosure also often led to small farms being merged and tenant farmers evicted.
Explain the Extent of the Problems Caused by Enclosure
-A pamphlet by Sir Thomas Smith, written in the 1560s blamed gentry and yeomen for preferring sheep to crops because of better prices for wool.
-This led to hostility towards those who owned sheep farms, especially where they took common land and enclosed it for their sheep. It was felt growing food for people should take priority.
-Only 2-3% of land in England was enclosed by the end of the 16th century. Where it took place however, it had a great impact and many people. like Smith, wrote against it.
-Combined with rising food prices and increasing numbers of vagabonds adding to unemployment in towns and cities, enclosure provided a simple explanation for these problems and a scapegoat for the blame.
Explain why the Government was so Worried About Poverty in Elizabethan England
-Puritans saw laziness as a sin, or even the work of the devil. They felt that it was their duty to correct people’s behaviour.
-People who lived in might join a rebellion. There was no permanent army so revolt posed a major risk.
-The rise in crime was concerning. Wealthy people were worried about being robbed in the street.
-It was believed that vagabonds and travelling beggars spread diseases like the plague.
-Large numbers of travelling beggars broke the social order. They did not seem to follow rules and might encourage other to challenge traditional society too.
Describe Attitudes Towards Vagabondage in Elizabethan Society
-Vagabondage was something that greatly concerned Elizabethans, especially the government and nobility.
-Elizabethan society had a strict hierarchy in which everyone had a place. However, vagabonds lived outside this hierarchy as they had no place where they belonged.
-Therefore, Elizabethan society feared vagabonds as they threatened law and order.
Describe the Urban Poor in Elizabethan England
-Rural depopulation made the problem of the vagabondage worse. Many people left their villages to look for work in towns and cities.
-However, city life could be hard, especially when there was an economic recession. For example when poor relations between England and Spain led to trade embargos with the Netherlands.
-This resulted in many people who had left their villages becoming beggars or turning to a life of crime. Outside London’s city walls, the poor built shacks tightly packed together.
-As they were outside the city, they were outside the authority of government officials. Crime and disorder were rife. All towns faced similar problems. The number of urban poor grew very fast.
