m&e looking west

Question 1

why did english people migrate to the americas

Answer 1

british town overcrowded and poor - american settlers could grow in demand crops (tobacco, corn, cotton) or catch cod and make a huge profit in britain
pilgrim fathers - in early 1600s James I persecutes those who refuse to follow anglicanism

Question 2

british colonies examples

Answer 2

sir walter raleigh establishes earliest settlements - elizabeth 1 interested in colonising new world for riches and as a base to attack the spanish colonies already there. his colonies face many problems: short on supplies, struggle to grow crops, attacks from native americans, diseases like malaria
virginia company set up so settlements can have sufficient investment - wealthy investors hope to make huge profits from growing tobacco and selling it in england. poor people joined as indentured servants. they establish a settlement at jamestown in 1607 but during the first winter many died of starvation as they had not planted crops (many also died of disease) but settlers determined to stay and some natives help them by giving them food and helping them to plant crops. tobacco planting leads to jamestown being a huge success
pilgrim fathers buy land from plymouth company (virginia company) and establish new plymouth. settlers work very hard, make most of their income from offshore fishing - cod in high demand as one of the few nutritious foods in the english diet at the time. wanted peace and order so established democratic principles and a constitution to keep puritanism at the heart of colony life. their example led to many other religious groups moving to the area - more than 21,000 settlers arrive in massachusetts between 1629-1640. the religious and democratic rules created become foundation of an american identity

Question 3

impact of english migration on indigenous peoples

Answer 3

although powhatans in virginia were suspicious of european settlers they tolerated them because they benefitted from the trade they brought - the english traded metal goods for food, leading the powhatan leader to assume the english colonists were under his control and protection. some intermarriages

Question 4

significance of john hawkins

Answer 4

integral to development of english navy - helped to design ships that defeated the spanish armada - navy becomes increasingly important to empire so his legacy continues.
hawkins was knighted for his leadership in the battle against the spanish armada
england’s first major slave trader, pioneered the triangular trade system (england, africa, caribbean). in 1562 he attacked a fleet of portuguese merchant ships off coast of w.africa and captured over 300 portuguese owned slaves (then sold them illegally in the caribbean)
others heard of hawkins’ success and were encouraged to do the same - notable sir francis drake (hawkins’ cousin) - by smuggling goods into their colonies or plundering spanish settlements

Question 5

barbados case study

Answer 5

discovered 1625 by sir william courten - many indentured servants come in search of fortune growing tobacco
by 1640s main crop sugar (by 1667 80% of island planted to sugar cane) so indentured servants have no hope of farming their own land as farming sugar cane required expensive equipment and a large plot of land
in 1654 portuguese recapture their colony of brazil and force the dutch jew settlers there to flee - they were experts in sugar production so they fled to barbados, bringing with them the knowledge that using enslaved africans for labour brought in huge profits. the number of slaves in barbados jumped from 55800 in 1645 to 42,000 in 1698, and by 1710, 80% of the island’s population were slaves - more than half of the sugar exported to england from the west indies came from barbados
some of the first settlers in barbados were quakers who did not believe in slavery - due to a shortage of workers sometimes they had to use them to work their plantation but they let their slaves attend faith meetings

Question 6

impacts of slavery

Answer 6

britain made large profits - slave traders supported by investors , for example queen elizabeth and john hawkins
many britons had key roles - shipbuilders, ship owners bankers (lent traders money), dockworkers
british slave trade industry made approximately £60mill between 1761 and 1808, making britain one of the richest and most powerful nations in the world
some people thought slavery was immoral, and by late 1700s an abolition campaign had begun - slave ownership banned in 1833
many fine building built on profits from slavery
large number of MPs were slave traders e.g edward colston
bristol grew into a large city during the eighteenth century because it benefitted from the shipping trade
as slave trading was so widespread, it led many to believe that europeans were superior to africans

Question 7

causes of american war of independence

Answer 7

1763 7 years war with france ends - monetary impact on britain is enormous, national debt almost doubles to over £130mill. decisions about taxation were made in britain - MPs believed americans should start paying tax but americans did not have representation in parliament so felt this was unfair
1765 stamp act - britain tries to tax colonies for first time with a tax on printed goods. this taxation without representation led to strong anti-british sentiment in the colonies. was repealed within the year but in 1767 other taxes caused the boston massacre and the death of 5 colonists
1773 britain places high taxes on tea so americans smuggled tea. british then made their tea cheaper than smuggled tea. to stop colonists buying this cheap tea, a group of protestors threw chests of tea overboard in the boston harbour (boston tea party). britain punished the colonist with the 1774 coercive acts, which included closing port of boston for trade, affecting the livelihoods of many people living there
1775 coercive acts heighten political tension and in april a fight starts between british and colonial troops. colonists set up a congress containing representatives from each colony that sent a petition directly to king george III called the olive branch petition, but he refused to accept it

Question 8

events of the american war of independence

Answer 8

british sent soldiers to force colonists to be loyal - met with fierce resistance
july 1775 wash appointed leader of colonist army (went on to become first president)
july 1776 congress met and formally declared themselves independent from britain
1781 battle of yorktown a humiliating defeat for british - americans completely surrounded them and forced them to surrender. the french increase their support for the americans further.
extra french support made british victory even more difficult
war officially ended on 3rd september 1783 when treaty of paris was signed

Question 9

impacts of american war of independence

Answer 9

britain loses its american colonies but is otherwise relatively unaffected - £80mill expenses quickly overcome by rapid industrialisation
USA now republican although significant human loss (25,000)
many americans move to canada to continue living under king george (canada achieved self governship in 1867)

Question 10

impact of huguenot migration

Answer 10

1685 louis XIV revoked rights for protestants in france
between 40,000 and 50,00 huguenot migrants settled in england, largely in big cities like london
they assimilated easily into society, learning english language and following protestant worship
many huguenots were very skilled with trades in weaving, watchmaking, law and banking
many were successful in business and finance and brought their wealth with them - had well established relationships with overseas merchants, especially in the netherlands
were used to taking risks and understood the value of putting their funds into new ventures, like the bank of england. of the £1.2million pounds that was used to set up the bank, £104,00 was from newly arrived huguenots, and the first governor of the bank of england, sir james houblon, came from an old huguenot family

Question 11

causes of ulster plantations

Answer 11

through the middle ages england has faced a lot of challenges in ireland. towards the dn of the reign of elizabeth i, england fought a nine years’ war with ireland to establish english control and remove the power of the irish catholic nobles
after this war and the flight of the earls, james i made a plan to establish english control in ireland by taking the earls’ land in ulster, a region with strong ties to the rebellious gaelic clans of the scottish highlands

Question 12

events of the ulster plantations

Answer 12

most english and scottish migrants to ulster only hoped to make a better life for themselves and their family, but the irelands resented what they considered an invasion of their land
the city of derry was apart of a royal plantation that james asked the city of london to control (centre of business and economy) to support as it was very expensive. in 1613 derry was renamed londonderry to show the involvement of the london merchants - this renaming angered the irish at the time and is still controversial to this day, with protestants likely to call it londonderry whereas catholics would use derry
protestant newcomers were the landowners, which gave them power of the catholic native irish - in 1622 it was reported that there were about 1000 settlers compared to 4000 native irish in the region
migration has very long lasting consequences - ulster still part of the united kingdom today (northern ireland) as it was not granted independence with the rest of ireland in 1937. this was because the descendants of the protestant migrants wanted to remain int he union with the rest of the uk, whilst the native catholics preferred the idea of a united ireland. this has led to many problems, most notably the troubles and terrorist activities associated with the guerilla warfare between the IRA and pro-union groups such as the UDA

Question 13

causes of highland clearances

Answer 13

when queen anne died in 1714, she left england without a protestant stuart heir - english government gives role to George, the ruler of the german state of hanover. he didn’t speak english and spent as little time in england as possible
anne’s catholic brother james was determined to become king and invaded england in 1715 in the first jacobite rebellion. james gained the support of many highlanders due to his scottish roots and the fact that many of the highlanders were catholics
the jacobites were finally defeated at the battle of culloden in 1746 - uk government wants to reduce power of highlanders and their chiefs as they are loyal to the stuart family line and not the hanoverians
many of the clan chiefs see the economic benefit of changing the use of their land from subsistence farming to sheep grazing
many view old clan system, where chiefs protect their tenants, as outdated

Question 14

events of highland clearances

Answer 14

lots of the land was owned by english and rented by highlanders - english landlords prefer the idea of having large sheep farms rather than renting small strips of land to tenants. highland farmers are usually too poor to buy sheep, so chiefs and landlords began clearing away highlanders to make room for large sheep farms
from 1780s to 1820s, tens of thousands of highlanders evicted from their homes - not uncommon to see evictions of up to 2000 families in one day
highland families forced onto barren coastal land or other unworkable land and many starved to death. those who refused to leave could be killed and even the old and dying had their homes burned or were thrown out into the open to die
many chiefs were aware of what was happening (extension of sheep farming and brutal evictions) but needed the support of the english themselves and therefore allowed it to happen - many highlanders felt betrayed
due to forced evictions, many highlanders were forced to move the lowlands to look for work (Edinburgh, Dundee, Glasgow)
a number of laws passed to make life difficult for highlanders - bagpipes banned as they are ‘instruments of war’
due to forced evictions, many emigrated to growing countries within empire, such as Canada and New Zealand and the scottish diaspora contributed greatly to their countries of choice, for example with their good engineering skills