Unit 1C - Britain, 1625-1701: conflict, revolution and settlement
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A* essay for History A-level on the extent to which the British economy was transformed in the years 1625-85
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Unit 1C - Britain, 1625-1701: conflict, revolution and settlement
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This Level 5 answer (as certified by an official examiner) breaks down the transformation in agricultural techniques, the banking and insurance sectors and national and global trade.
Unit 1C - Britain, 1625-1701: conflict, revolution and settlement
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How far do you agree that the British economy was transformed in the years 1625-85?
The years 1625-85 were among the most transformation in British economic history; the
development of the banking and insurance industries, the progress of agriculture, the
increasing urbanisation and growing national and global trade were all key to this
transformation. When considering the extent to which the British economy was
transformed, it is worth evaluating the scale of changes in these four factors based on the
extent to which they changed the role of people or distribution of revenue between the
sectors themselves. Since people are the primary driving force of the economy, it is
absolutely vital to focus on how transformation the period was for their economic
circumstances. Hence, the booming growth of London shows a significant transformation as
workers became increasingly industrial, rather than agricultural. Additionally, the
distribution of revenue shows the extent to which these areas of the economy grew during
the period. While rapid growth of all areas of the economy might not be considered a
transformation, rather a period of economic success, the rapid development of the banking
and insurance industries, which support all other sectors of the economy, represents a real
transformation.
The principles of banking and insurance being to fund and protect ambitious projects,
growth in these sectors shows the transformation of the period. By 1685, marine insurance
was commonplace, with prices dropping by 75% over the course of the century. The
lowering of prices shows the increasing understanding and prevalence of the industry during
the period. This change was significant in helping the growth of agriculture as farmers who
had previously been discouraged from investing heavily into producing a surplus could be
secured by insurance. This helped many farmers to break away from the model of
subsistence farming which had previously made the growth of cities unsustainable. Hence,
the increasingly commonplace nature of insurance allowed agriculture to progress beyond
subsistence farming, supporting the growth of London, which was a major economic
transformation, from an agricultural to industrial economy. Secondly, marine insurance
critically supported the growth of national and global trade, which saw the sevenfold growth
of the British East India company between 1640 and 1700. This major growth was the
beginning of a significant transformation from a largely insular economy to Britain’s future
as a global superpower. Finally, the decrease in the minimum legal interest rate from 10% in
1571 to 6% in 1651 shows increasing trust in the role of banking in the economy. While this
change alone was not transformation, the concept of banking contributed to the
transformation of Britain’s economy as merchants were able to embark on projects of a
greater scale, expanding the overseas territories of Britain, the continuation of which
marked a transformational change.
Changes in agricultural technique contributed to an economic transformation as they
allowed for an increase in the urban population. The growth of the proportion of
agricultural land which was part of acres over 100 acres in the midlands from 32.2% in 1600
to 53.6% in 1700 shows a significant change in the life of farmers, as well as the pressures
on agriculture and the methods which could be used. For small landowners, the pressure of
wealthy landowners who sought to buy great portions of land to capitalise on gains made,
such as the increasing use of crop rotation and water meadows, was so significant that it
became more profitable to be a tenant farmer. When rents increased, these tenants were
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