Early Elizabethan England, 1558-88: Elizabethan Society and the Problem of the Poor - Worksheets, Questions and Revision

16 original exam-style questions - 4 pages of questions with a full mark scheme - free printable PDF.

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This topic is chapter 7 of GCSE History: Early Elizabethan England, 1558-88 Practice Book.

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Early Elizabethan England, 1558-88: Elizabethan Society and the Voyages of Exploration
Elizabethan Government in 1558: Court, Privy Council and the Problems Elizabeth Inherited

3.6 Early Elizabethan England, 1558-88: Elizabethan Society and the Problem of the Poor

EDEXCEL 1HI0 · about 60 minutes

Total Marks

Name: _______________________________ Date: ____ / ____ / ______

Answer ALL questions. Write in full sentences for Questions 15 and 16. You are advised to spend about 65 minutes on this pack.

Give the year of the Vagabonds Act that introduced a compulsory local poor rate and harsher punishments for vagrants.

(Total for Question 1 is 1 mark)

Give one long-term cause, dating back to the 1530s under Henry VIII, that historians link to rising poverty later in the Tudor period.

(Total for Question 2 is 1 mark)

Name the earlier Tudor Act, from 1563, that regulated wages and required able-bodied people without another trade to work in agriculture.

(Total for Question 3 is 1 mark)

State two reasons why vagrants and 'sturdy beggars' were widely feared in Elizabethan society.

(Total for Question 4 is 2 marks)

Give two consequences for a vagrant caught begging again after an earlier punishment under the 1572 Act.

(Total for Question 5 is 2 marks)

Describe two features of the government's response to poverty in the 1570s.

(Total for Question 6 is 4 marks)

Explain why the problem of poverty grew more serious in England during Elizabeth's reign.

(Total for Question 7 is 12 marks)

'The Elizabethan government's Poor Laws were mainly designed to help the poor, rather than to control and punish them.' How far do you agree with this statement? Explain your answer.

(Total for Question 8 is 16 marks)

Name the type of local government official made responsible for enforcing poor relief and vagrancy laws under Elizabeth.

(Total for Question 9 is 1 mark)

State two causes of the rise in poverty and vagrancy during Elizabeth's reign.

(Total for Question 10 is 2 marks)

Name two categories used at the time to distinguish between different types of poor people.

(Total for Question 11 is 2 marks)

Give the year of the Vagabonds Act that first introduced a compulsory local poor rate.

(Total for Question 12 is 1 mark)

Name one punishment used on a first-time vagrant under the 1572 Vagabonds Act.

(Total for Question 13 is 1 mark)

Give the year of the Poor Act that required Justices of the Peace to provide materials so that the able-bodied unemployed could be set to work.

(Total for Question 14 is 1 mark)

State two things required of local authorities under the 1576 Poor Act.

(Total for Question 15 is 2 marks)

Name the type of institution set up under the 1576 Act to punish able-bodied people who refused to work.

(Total for Question 16 is 1 mark)

Mark scheme · 3.6 Early Elizabethan England, 1558-88: Elizabethan Society and the Problem of the Poor

Question 1

B1 1572
Answer: 1572

Question 2

B1 the dissolution of the monasteries (1536-40), which had traditionally provided charity/almsgiving to the poor
Answer: The dissolution of the monasteries

Question 3

B1 the Statute of Artificers (1563)
Answer: The Statute of Artificers

Question 4

B1 they were associated in the popular imagination with crime, such as theft and fraud
B1 their movement between towns, with no fixed home or master, was seen as a threat to the social order of a society that expected everyone to have a settled place and role
Answer: Association with crime, and their unsettled, masterless way of life threatening social order.

Question 5

B1 they could be tried as a felon
B1 unless someone agreed to take them into service for a year, they could face execution
Answer: Trial as a felon, and possible execution unless taken into a year's service.

Question 6

B1 feature 1 identified, e.g. a compulsory local poor rate
B1 supporting detail for feature 1, e.g. introduced by the 1572 Vagabonds Act, requiring parishes to raise money through a tax to support the deserving poor
B1 feature 2 identified, e.g. provision of work for the able-bodied unemployed
B1 supporting detail for feature 2, e.g. the 1576 Poor Act required JPs to supply raw materials so they could be set to work, with a house of correction for those who refused
Answer: Any two features, e.g. the 1572 compulsory poor rate, and the 1576 work-provision requirement.

Question 7

Level 1 (1-3): Identifies one or two general reasons for growing poverty, with little or no supporting detail or explanation.
Level 2 (4-6): Identifies and begins to explain one or two reasons, supported by some accurate detail.
Level 3 (7-9): Explains two or three reasons, each supported by accurate and relevant detail.
Level 4 (10-12): Explains three or more reasons in a well-developed, logically structured way, supported throughout by precise and accurate detail, showing how the reasons connect.
Indicative content:
- Population growth across the sixteenth century increased competition for land and work, while wages failed to keep pace with rising prices (the price revolution).
- Enclosure of farmland, particularly the conversion of arable land to sheep pasture, reduced the amount of agricultural work available in the countryside, pushing landless labourers towards towns or vagrancy.
- A series of poor harvests, including in the 1550s, drove up food prices and caused hardship among the poorest.
- The earlier dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII had removed an established source of charitable relief that the poor had previously relied on.
- The decline of some traditional local industries added regional unemployment on top of these wider national pressures.
- These causes reinforced one another, so that by the middle of Elizabeth's reign vagrancy and poverty were widely seen as a growing and interconnected crisis needing a national, not just local, response.

Question 8

Level 1 (1-4): Shows limited relevant knowledge of the Elizabethan Poor Laws, and offers only a simple, unsupported opinion on the statement.
Level 2 (5-8): Shows some relevant knowledge and identifies relevant factors, but the argument is only partly supported and lacks a developed judgement on how far the statement is accurate.
Level 3 (9-12): Shows good relevant knowledge and explains a range of factors, reaching a supported judgement on how far the statement is accurate, with some links made between factors.
Level 4 (13-16): Shows precise, well-selected knowledge and explains a range of factors in a balanced way, reaching a fully supported and sustained judgement on how far the statement is accurate, with clear analytical links between factors and consistently accurate use of specialist historical terminology.
Indicative content:
- Supporting: the 1572 compulsory poor rate raised real money specifically to support the 'deserving poor', a genuine and increasingly systematic form of relief.
- Supporting: the 1576 Act required JPs to provide materials so the unemployed could work, aiming at real relief through employment rather than simple punishment.
- Against: harsh corporal punishments for vagrants, including whipping, branding and the threat of execution for repeat offenders, show a strong concern with deterrence and public order, not compassion.
- Against: the sharp legal distinction between 'deserving' and 'undeserving' poor meant many of the poorest, judged work-shy, received punishment rather than help.
- Balanced: houses of correction combined an element of relief (providing work) with an element of punishment (compulsion and penalties for refusal), showing the two aims were not fully separate in practice.
- Judgement: the laws combined genuine, increasingly systematic relief for those judged deserving with real fear of, and harsh punishment for, those judged undeserving; the Elizabethan Poor Laws are best understood as pursuing both aims together, though the growing willingness to raise and spend real local tax money on relief suggests government concern went beyond simple social control alone.

Question 9

B1 a Justice of the Peace (JP)
Answer: A Justice of the Peace

Question 10

B1 enclosure of farmland, especially for sheep farming, reduced the amount of paid agricultural work available
B1 a rapidly growing population increased competition for work and pushed up prices faster than wages could keep pace (the 'price revolution')
Answer: Enclosure reducing farm work, and population growth outpacing wages amid rising prices.

Question 11

B1 the 'deserving poor' (people unable to work through no fault of their own, e.g. the old, sick or orphaned)
B1 the 'undeserving poor' or vagabonds/vagrants (able-bodied people thought capable of working but who did not)
Answer: The 'deserving poor' and the 'undeserving poor'/vagabonds.

Question 12

B1 1572
Answer: 1572

Question 13

B1 whipping (accept: being branded/burned through the ear)
Answer: Whipping (or branding through the ear)

Question 14

B1 1576
Answer: 1576

Question 15

B1 providing raw materials (e.g. wool or flax) so unemployed but able-bodied people could be given work
B1 setting up houses of correction for those who refused available work
Answer: Providing materials for work, and setting up houses of correction for refusers.

Question 16

B1 a house of correction
Answer: A house of correction

Early Elizabethan England, 1558-88: Elizabethan Society and the Problem of the Poor - Worksheets, Questions and Revision

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