Stuart Britain - Population

Question 1

Rise and Fall

Answer 1

England - 5m 1348, 1.5m 1450s, rises 1% pa to reach 4m 1600
4.8m 1625, 0.5% pa growth 1630s, high point 1650s 5.2m
Fall to 4.9m 1680, remains until 1688 then increases

Question 2

Rise and Fall: Scotland and Ireland

Answer 2

Scotland - remained at over 1m in this period
Ireland - Population doubles from 1m 1600 to 2m 1688

Question 3

Urban Growth: Overall in England

Answer 3

Number of people in towns over 10,000: 255,000 (5.8% pop) 1600, to 718,000 (13.3%) 1700

Question 4

Urban Growth: London

Answer 4

London from 200,000 1600 to 400,000 1660, to 575,000 1700 (11.5% of total pop)
London x10 bigger than next largest towns Norwich and Bristol 1600, then 1650 larger than next 50 town put together

Question 5

Urban Growth: Growth of other towns

Answer 5

1600 8 towns > 5000, 1700 30
Growing industries = pop up, Newcastle 12,000 to 16,000 1600-1700
Smaller market towns did not grow - little to offer migrants, 600-750 such towns, only 100 pop > 2000

Question 6

Urban Growth: Scotland and Ireland

Answer 6

Edinburgh 10,000 2600 to 40,000 1700 - proportion of people living in towns > 10,000 3% to 5%
Ireland = 1600 no towns over 10,000, Dublin grew to 20,000 1650 and 50,000 1700, over 5% living in towns over 10,000

Question 7

Price Revolution - Malthusian Crisis

Answer 7

If resources are avaliable, pop will grow until it exceeds the resources it has access to, when a crisis like famine or disease takes place as a reversal to growth

Question 8

Price Revolution - Inflation

Answer 8

Rapid rise in pop 15C to 1650, so higher food prices
Wages rise less quickly as large labour base
Price inflation 1600-50 4% pa, wages only 2% pa

Question 9

Price Revolution - Harvest failures and disease

Answer 9

Famine and spikes in mortality rates and margin betwen potential supply and demand was thin

Question 10

Price Revolution Ends

Answer 10

1650 pop growth and price rev ends, reversal of population growth = faster expansion in production able to meet demand - prices stagnate
Fall in labour pool, so towns compete and wages rise

Question 11

Price Revolution - Not a simple Malthusian model

Answer 11

Simple Mathusian model predict more resources results in growing population but period of fastest growth occurred when there was a fall in pop

Question 12

Mortality Rates - Overview

Answer 12

Expectancy at birth falls from 36.4 1600 to 33.9 1700
25-30% of those born did nto reach age 10, increased in late 17C

Question 13

Mortality Rates - Economic Growth

Answer 13

Trade speeds distribution of disease
New opportunities in towns results in Internal migration and so contraction of disease - net migratiion into London mid 17C 6000 a year, but city only grew 3300 a year as thee were over 2500 more deaths a year than births

Question 14

Mortality Rates - Harvest Failure and famine

Answer 14

Famines in 1596-8, 1622-4 highly significant - but later on less so due to improvement in agriculture
Social dislocation as people search for food (particularly in towns) - so contract disease
Higher food prices reduced amount spent on other goods cutting demand for employment, ie more migration etc

Question 15

Mortality Rates - Disease

Answer 15

1580-1650 Plague 15% of all deaths in London
Last major outbreak 70,000 in London Great Plague 1665
Growing impact of other diseases ie Typhus, smallpox, influenze etc - outbreaks in 1657-8, 1665-6, 1680-1

Question 16

Mortality Rates - The Poor Laws

Answer 16

Poor relief system = poorest avoid starvation, but as system developed in towns quicker, internal migration and disease

Question 17

Mortality Rates - Climate Change

Answer 17

Little Ice Age - cloder winters and more variable summers - greater diffusion of bacteria causing dysentry and typhiod

Question 18

Mortality Rates - Civil War

Answer 18

180,000 died 3.6% of pop

Question 19

Mortality Rates - Scotland and Ireland

Answer 19

Both countries more vulnerable to famine, and starvation, lower productivity, less developing trade etc.
Civil War greater impact in Scotland with 80,000/1m pop dying, Ireland 200,000/2m pop

Question 20

Fertility Rates - Nuptiality

Answer 20

Avg age of marriage rises - 1600 26 men, 24 women, 1650 28 men, 26 women
Late 16C only 5% not married by mid 40s, early 17C, 22% celibate until their mid 40s

Question 21

Fertility Rates - Economic Growth

Answer 21

Rich able to marry young as resources avaliable (3/5 of arisocratic women married as teens) - others not able to - so late marriages result in smaller households of 4.75 outside of the elites
Price Rev and decreasing wages in early 1600s lag in terms of longer time taken before indepence to marry

Question 22

Fertility Rates - Agricultural Specialisation

Answer 22

Specialisation leads to imbalance in sex ratio with men moving to SE for arable farming - reduces overal chances of marriage in both places
Real wages rise for farmers etc - look for live in servants, delaying marriages amongst young domestic workers

Question 23

Fertility Rates - Mortality Rates and Poor Relief

Answer 23

Death means younger members of family gain resources to marry - pop bounces back from decreases
Poor relief = more couples risk setting up homes with safety net if things got tough

Question 24

Fertility Rates - Scotland and Ireland

Answer 24

More diff eco situation in Scotland made it harder to have confidence in marriage
Ireland - More land available, so people married younger 22-23 - more rapid and sustained pop growth

Question 25

Migration - Immigration

Answer 25

Eco migration - Dutch weavers settle in Norwich, make up 35% of pop - Eng migrants then came to these towns to learn their trade
Religious migration - French Hugeuenots flee persecution in Eng, following Edict of Nantes 1685 particularly - 50,000 tot

Question 26

Migration - Emigration

Answer 26

500,000 left in 17C
20,000 Puritans to New Eng
180,000 to Ireland to acquire work on land, 190,000 to W Indies, 116,000 to Chesapeake Bay - some indentured servants who gained passage in return for labour
Over 6% of male pop over 15 left - 500,000 1633-99 - marriage chances down

Question 27

Migration - Scotland and Ireland

Answer 27

Scotland - Ulster most important destination with 100,000, 6000 to New World, many left for 30 Years’ War and never returned
Ireland - Scottish and English arrivals = better agric techniques, 10,000 emigrate to New World and West Indies