Answer ALL questions. Write in full sentences for Questions 15 and 16. You are advised to spend about 65 minutes on this pack.
1
Give the year in which Francis Drake set out on the voyage that would make him the first English commander to sail around the world.
(Total for Question 1 is 1 mark)
2
Name the ship, originally called the Pelican, in which Drake completed his circumnavigation of the globe.
(Total for Question 2 is 1 mark)
3
State two motives that drove English exploration and long-distance voyages during Elizabeth's reign.
(Total for Question 3 is 2 marks)
4
Name two Spanish targets that Drake attacked or plundered during his circumnavigation of 1577-80.
(Total for Question 4 is 2 marks)
5
Give the year in which Elizabeth knighted Francis Drake aboard the Golden Hind at Deptford.
(Total for Question 5 is 1 mark)
6
Name the English seaman who led voyages in 1576-78 searching for a Northwest Passage to Asia around the north of North America.
(Total for Question 6 is 1 mark)
7
Name the area, explored by Frobisher and later named after him, where he searched for the Northwest Passage.
(Total for Question 7 is 1 mark)
8
State what happened to the 'black ore' that Frobisher brought back from his voyages, believing it contained gold.
(Total for Question 8 is 2 marks)
9
Name the courtier who organised and financed English attempts to found a colony in North America in the 1580s, naming the territory 'Virginia' after Elizabeth.
(Total for Question 9 is 1 mark)
10
Give the year in which the first English colonists were sent to settle Roanoke Island in Virginia.
(Total for Question 10 is 1 mark)
11
Name the island where Raleigh's colonists attempted to establish a settlement in Virginia.
(Total for Question 11 is 1 mark)
12
State what happened to the first group of Roanoke colonists sent out in 1585.
(Total for Question 12 is 2 marks)
13
Give two goods or crops that voyages of exploration in this period are traditionally credited with introducing to England.
(Total for Question 13 is 2 marks)
14
Describe two features of Francis Drake's circumnavigation of the globe, 1577-80.
(Total for Question 14 is 4 marks)
15
Explain why Elizabethan exploration and long-distance voyages, such as those of Drake and Raleigh, were important for England in this period.
(Total for Question 15 is 12 marks)
16
'Financial profit was the main motive behind English exploration in Elizabeth's reign.' How far do you agree with this statement? Explain your answer.
(Total for Question 16 is 16 marks)
Mark scheme · EDX.EE7 Early Elizabethan England, 1558-88: Elizabethan Society and the Voyages of Exploration
Question 1
B1 1577
Answer: 1577
Question 2
B1 the Golden Hind
Answer: The Golden Hind
Question 3
B1 the search for new trade opportunities and markets, and for a shorter sea route to Asia
B1 the chance to plunder wealth (such as Spanish treasure), and for some a religious/patriotic motive of challenging Catholic Spain and Portugal's overseas dominance
Answer: Trade and new sea routes, and plunder combined with rivalry against Catholic Spain and Portugal.
Question 4
B1 Spanish settlements/ports along the Pacific coast of South America
B1 Spanish treasure ships, e.g. a heavily laden Spanish galleon captured off the coast of present-day Ecuador
Answer: Spanish Pacific-coast settlements, and Spanish treasure ships.
Question 5
B1 1581
Answer: 1581
Question 6
B1 Sir Martin Frobisher
Answer: Sir Martin Frobisher
Question 7
B1 Frobisher Bay
Answer: Frobisher Bay
Question 8
B1 large quantities were shipped back to England at great expense
B1 it later turned out to be worthless (fool's gold/iron pyrite, not real gold ore), a costly failure for its investors
Answer: It was shipped back at great expense, but later found to be worthless fool's gold.
Question 9
B1 Sir Walter Raleigh
Answer: Sir Walter Raleigh
Question 10
B1 1585
Answer: 1585
Question 11
B1 Roanoke Island
Answer: Roanoke Island
Question 12
B1 they struggled with poor relations with local Native American peoples and food shortages
B1 they abandoned the colony and returned to England in 1586, sailing back with Francis Drake's fleet
Answer: They struggled and abandoned the colony, returning to England with Drake's fleet in 1586.
Question 13
B1 tobacco
B1 the potato (both traditionally linked to Raleigh's expeditions to the Americas, though the exact route by which either first reached England is debated by historians)
Answer: Tobacco and the potato.
Question 14
B1 feature 1 identified, e.g. it was a highly profitable voyage in terms of plunder
B1 supporting detail for feature 1, e.g. Drake seized huge quantities of Spanish treasure and goods along the way, making the voyage extremely lucrative for its investors, including Elizabeth herself
B1 feature 2 identified, e.g. it was only the second successful circumnavigation of the globe, and the first led by an Englishman
B1 supporting detail for feature 2, e.g. this achievement, and Elizabeth's decision to knight Drake for it in 1581, greatly boosted England's reputation as a maritime power while further angering Spain
Answer: Any two features, e.g. its huge profitability from plunder, and its status as the first English circumnavigation.
Question 15
Level 1 (1-3): Identifies one or two general reasons why exploration was important, 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:
Economic benefits: voyages such as Drake's circumnavigation brought back enormous quantities of plundered wealth, and expeditions opened up, or attempted to open up, new trade routes and markets, as with Frobisher's search for a Northwest Passage to Asia.
National prestige: successful voyages such as Drake's circumnavigation demonstrated England's growing skill and confidence as a maritime nation, encouraged by Elizabeth's public support, for example knighting Drake in 1581.
Early steps towards overseas colonisation: Raleigh's Roanoke expeditions laid the groundwork for later English settlement in North America, even though the Roanoke colonies themselves did not succeed in this period.
A political/diplomatic dimension: English voyages that plundered Spanish shipping and colonies, such as Drake's, deliberately provoked and weakened a powerful Catholic rival, tying exploration closely to the wider conflict with Spain.
These strands were connected in practice: a single voyage such as Drake's circumnavigation delivered plunder, prestige and provocation of Spain all at once, which is part of why Elizabeth continued to support such expeditions despite the diplomatic risk.
Overall, economic reward, national prestige and rivalry with Spain reinforced each other, so voyages such as Drake's served several of Elizabeth's purposes at the same time.
Question 16
Level 1 (1-4): Shows limited relevant knowledge of Elizabethan exploration, 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: Drake's circumnavigation was overwhelmingly justified to its backers, including Elizabeth, by the huge plunder it returned, and voyages such as Frobisher's were funded by investors expecting a direct financial return.
Against: national rivalry with Catholic Spain gave voyages such as Drake's a political as well as financial purpose, since damaging Spanish wealth and prestige mattered to Elizabeth's government regardless of direct profit.
Against: Raleigh's Roanoke voyages were driven significantly by the ambition to establish a lasting English colony and claim to territory, an aim not reducible to short-term financial gain, and one that in fact lost money for its investors when the colony failed.
Against: the search for a Northwest Passage under Frobisher reflected a genuine wish to find new, shorter trade routes to Asia, a longer-term strategic as well as financial goal.
Balanced: profit, national prestige, colonisation and rivalry with Spain were usually pursued together within the same voyages, so isolating one single motive risks oversimplifying Elizabethan exploration.
Judgement: while financial reward was often the most immediate and persuasive argument used to attract investors, the pattern of voyages across the period, especially Raleigh's costly and unprofitable colonisation attempts, suggests that national prestige and rivalry with Spain mattered at least as much to the crown itself as profit did.