POWER AND THE PEOPLE

Question 1

what year was the magna carta?

Answer 1

1215

Question 2

what were the main reasons for the magna carta?

Answer 2

King John deemed unfit
lost land & wars in France
scutage - tax for his wars
argued with the church - got services banned for years

Question 3

what were the demands within the magna carta?

Answer 3

stop unfair taxation
prevent arrest without a fair trial
group of 25 barons to monitor the king

Question 4

what was the relevance of the magna carta - at the time?

relevance today?

Answer 4

at the time: did not solve problem - pope declared charter null and void
Only applied to freemen not peasants
many laws about fishing

today?
applies to more people
became a symbol of power
first step towards democracy
point in the constitutional law

Question 5

in what battle did Simon De Montfort capture King Henry III and his son Edward?

Answer 5

Battle of Lewes

Question 6

what were the reasons for the provisions of oxford?

Answer 6

Henry ruled in a very ARBITRARY (unpredictable) way.
lost major wars in France
young and inexperienced - became King aged 9

Question 7

when people thought Simon was becoming too powerful what did he do?

Answer 7

asked merchants and knights from every county to attend meeting of the Great Council - first house of Commoners

Question 8

in what battle was Simon De Montfort murdered? and by whom?

Answer 8

Battle of Evesham
by King’s men

Question 9

significance of Simon De Montfort and the Provisions of Oxford?

Answer 9

first parliament to include representatives from the whole country.
De Montfort’s death regarded as a MARTYR for freedom.
provisions became a symbol of democratic principles, realised hundreds of years later.

Question 10

causes of the Peasants’ Revolt

Answer 10

statute of labourers
poll tax
people thought church was too rich
attitude of tax collectors - raped and abused women

Question 11

significance of the Peasants’ Revolt? short term:
long term:

Answer 11

at the time: first time commoners had rebelled against royal power
short term: rebellion failed - Richard went back on his promise, the leaders were hanged

longer time:
peasants never taxed so heavily again
peasants’ wages continued to rise
more peasants became freemen and were able to buy their own freedom.

Question 12

main people in the Peasants’ Revolt?

Answer 12

Wat Tyler - leader

John Ball - priest that encouraged peasants to revolt

Simon Sudbury - Archbishop of Canterbury who was murdered by Peasants

King Edward III - introduced statute of labourers

King Richard II - introduced Poll Tax

Question 13

why did Henry dissolve the Monasteries?

Answer 13

He wanted to divorce his wife - Catholicism wouldn’t allow it

wanted the wealth and the power of the church

Question 14

what problems were caused by the dissolution of the monasteries?

Answer 14

economic - Henry still increased taxes
religious - different to Catholicism - many thought they would be punished for the changes to church
Political - many prominent nobles lost influence after the change of religion and Henry’s divorce, while other families gained

many people disliked seeing Henry as the Head of the Church (Act of Supremacy), instead of the pope.

social - the church was the centre of most people’s social lives - King took this away

Question 15

what were the consequences of the Pilgrimage of Grace?

Answer 15

no more rebellions
Henry had complete control over the church and the country
Henry continued to dissolve larger monasteries in spite
leader Robert Aske executed
nearly 300 Pilgrims murdered

Question 16

when was the Pilgrimage of grace?

Answer 16

1536

Question 17

when was the English Civil War?

Answer 17

1640-1649

Question 18

causes of the English Civil war?

Answer 18

puritans dominated England and did not like the Catholic changes of Archbishop Laud

Charles I believed in divine right
did not consult parliament for 11 years
raised taxes without Parliaments’ permission

Question 19

how did Cromwell over throw the monarchy?

Answer 19

New Model army - employed on ability and skill not status and class
soldiers were religious and believed God was on their side
- soldiers very austere, never drank etc
many MPs did not trust Charles so insisted Parliament controlled the Army.
Charles found guilty of treason and was executed on

Question 20

causes of the American revolution?

Answer 20

“no taxation without representation”
searching for freedom was an ingrained attitude to many of the citizens of the colonies.
their declaration of independence claimed all men created equal.

Question 21

events during the American revolution:

Answer 21

Boston Tea Party

Question 22

significance of the American Revolution?

Answer 22

first colony to reject rule by a European Power
the idea that ordinary people have fundamental rights spread to France - leading to the French Revolution

Question 23

what problem with their Great Petition did the chartists have?

Answer 23

they claimed it had over 5 million signatures but in fact had less than 2 million

Question 24

significance of the Great Reform act? 1832

Answer 24

gave the vote to more middle-class people
Britain’s new King was keener on reform
act redistributed MPs so that industrial towns were represented

however you still had to own property to vote
the chartists were not satisfied so came up with the Great Petition.

Question 25

give examples of the organised protest in the 19th century and what happened?
(not workers’ rights)

Answer 25

Anti-Corn law league
Robert Peel repealed the corn laws in 1846

abolitionists - slavery abolished in 1833
Anti-Slavery society led by William Wilberforce
slave rebellions such as St Dominique 1804

Question 26

give examples of the workers’ rights movements in the twentieth century

Answer 26

Grand National Consolidated Trades Union - half a million members - lead by Robert Owen

Tolpuddle Martyrs - farm workers union - punished harshly, sent to Australia for 7 years - brought home due to protests

New Model Unions - for skilled workers

New Unions - for unskilled workers

Question 27

what was the outcome of the General Strike?

Answer 27

general strike of all workers to support the miners.
Strike ended after 9 days
union membership fell dramatically, Labour Party weakened due to association with unions

Question 28

what was the outcome of the miners’ strike 1985?

Answer 28

the 70s and 80s saw frequent strikes, government usually gave in to strikers’ demands
However,
Government had stockpiled coal to keep power stations running.
miners not united so many pits kept working
striking miners returned to work after a year, Union movement has not been as strong since