poverty

Question 1

who were the poor?

Answer 1

ordinary people who would work and provide for themselves and often lived in poverty

Question 2

who were paupers?

Answer 2

people who relied on charity to survive e,g begging or going to the local church for help

Question 3

what were the 7 causes of poverty?

Answer 3

-bad harvests from 1594-1598 led to food shortages, inflation and starvation

-flu killed 200,000 people in 1556 including many farm workers

-shortages of housing allowed landlords to increase rents (rack renting)

-population increased from 2.8 million to 4 million

-collapse of the cloth trade

-reformation under Henry VIII left monks and nuns homeless and no one to care for the sick

-enclosure- replacing crops with sheep means less workers are needed- unemployment

Question 4

what years were the bad food harvests?

Answer 4

1594- 1598

Question 5

how many people died of the flu?

Answer 5

200,000

Question 6

what did the population increase from?

Answer 6

2.8 million to 4 million during Liz’s reign

Question 7

what were the reactions to poverty?

Answer 7

many believed it was their duty to help those below them in society

recognised many paupers could not help their situation and were not to blame for their poverty

charities for the poor grew and almshouses were established

Question 8

what were paupers seen as?

Answer 8

undeserving, untrustworthy beggars who had no interest in honest work

Question 9

what did Thomas Haram publish?

Answer 9

a book which made people think that poor people were tricksters or criminals and others were seen as idle and lazy

Question 10

what was a counterfit crank?

Answer 10

bit soap so he frothed at the mouth hoping people would give him money out of sympathy

Question 11

what was a baretop trickster?

Answer 11

women who tricked men into following them by removing clothing. the men would then be beaten and robbed by their accomplices

Question 12

what was a clapper dudgeon?

Answer 12

cut themselves and tied dirty bandages around the wounds to gain sympathy and money

Question 13

what was a tom o’bedlam?

Answer 13

pretended to be mad and stuck chicken heads in his ears or barked like a dog

Question 14

what were previous attempts to deal with poverty?

Answer 14

York 1515- beggar licenses were issued where if beggars refused to work they would be sent to the house of correction

ipswich- opened a hospital to help the old and sick and introduced a youth training scheme to teach them a trade so they could escape poverty

norwhich: rich citizens were taxed so they could take care of the vulnerable

Question 15

when was the poor law introduced?

Answer 15

1601

Question 16

what 3 things did the poor law say?

Answer 16

-each parish had to look after it’s own poor. if anyone was found without money they had to be sent back to their own village, if they didn’t return they would be flogged

-in each parish- overseers for the poor collected a tax called the poor rate. this tax would be used to pay for tools and materials for the poor to work and children were apprenticed to learn a trade

-anybody who refused to work would be punished and usually sent to the house of correction or whipped

Question 17

what was a parish?

Answer 17

area served by a pastor or priest

Question 18

what three groups were the poor categorised?

Answer 18

1. the helpess poor (sick and old)
2. the able-bodied poor (those considered fit)
3. the idle poor

Question 19

what did they do with helpless poor?

Answer 19

they were given food and accomodation

Question 20

what did they do with able-bodied poor?

Answer 20

had to work in exchange for food

Question 21

what did they do with idle poor?

Answer 21

they were punished and sent to the house of correction

Question 22

was the poor law effective?

Answer 22

the law made a difference to some but it was not properly enforced in many areas.

begging seemed to decrease but may have been from threat of being sent to the house of corrections