SAMPLE

Preparing for your exams
Average answer
Exam tip
Vagabonds were homeless people who wandered the country. As the
population of England grew, so did the number of vagabonds. More people
needed bread and this increased prices but some people couldn’t afford
to buy enough to eat. More people needed somewhere to live. Rents also
went up, causing homelessness. People left their villages to look for work
and a better life in the towns. Towns like London had tightly packed
shacks outside the city walls where homeless people lived and this caused
crime, making things worse.
The woollen cloth trade was very important to England. So much wool was
needed that landowners decided to turn to sheep farming. Because they
didn’t need so many labourers, unemployment increased. New farming
methods and enclosure are other reasons why there weren’t lots of jobs
in the countryside and why people became vagabonds. Anyone guilty of
being a vagabond faced harsh punishments like whipping and some could
even be executed. This shows vagabondage was serious.
Some people were poor because they could not work. They were too old,
too sick or disabled. Lots of children were poor, especially if they did not
have a father. Women were paid less than men, making them very poor
if they didn’t have a husband. When there was unemployment, people
didn’t get paid at all. Unemployment happened when trade was bad and
it made vagabondage worse.
The main reason there was so much vagabondage in Elizabethan England
was because the population grew so fast.
Verdict
This is an average answer because:
Paper 2, Question 5c
Population growth was the main reason why vagabondage
increased in Elizabethan England.
How far do you agree? Explain your answer.
You may use the following in your answer:
••
sheep farming
••
rising prices
You must also use information of your own. (16 marks)
Consider points ‘For’ and ‘Against’ the
statement and make a judgement. Be
clear about your reasons for agreeing or
disagreeing.
This introduces the different
threads of this argument clearly,
and is supported by specific
information.
There needs to focus on explaining
the impact of sheep farming in
more detail: for example, using
specialist terms like ‘enclosure’
would help to strengthen the
reasoning.
A judgement is given but how it
links to population growth or other
factors is not clear.
Draft material
••
it shows some knowledge and understanding of the issue and it adds an additional point to the stimulus (so
it is not a weak answer)
••
it does not analyse factors enough or provide enough specific examples to support points
••
it does not explain criteria for judgment clearly enough to be a strong answer.
Use the feedback to rewrite this answer, making as many improvements as you can.
Strong answer
Vagabonds were poverty-stricken, homeless people who did not have anywhere
permanent to live. They wandered the country hoping to find work, begging or
stealing. Their numbers increased as the population of England was growing fast,
which led to rising prices. However, there were other changes, like new ways of
farming and enclosure, which added to the number of vagabonds.
Population growth was the underlying cause of rising vagabondage. It led to
increases in demand for food, land and jobs, which caused rising prices and
rents and falling wages. Wages fell because there were more people needing work
and so labour became cheaper. Some employers cut wages because, even if they
did, there were lots of people who would still take the jobs. When trade was bad,
unemployment made conditions worse, especially in towns. The population grew
much faster than food production. This led to higher prices for grain especially,
and as much as 80% of poor people’s income was spent on bread. The demand for
land grew with the population, too, and so rents rose. This forced people off the
land, increasing poverty and vagabondage further. As a result, more people fell
into poverty and became homeless.
Sheep farming caused rural unemployment too. Woollen cloth accounted for over
80% of England’s exports, making sheep farming highly profitable. Landowners
therefore turned arable land into pasture. Sir Thomas Smith wrote a pamphlet
in the 1560s blaming landowners for causing vagabondage. Flocks of sheep did
not need as much labour as crops did, creating more rural unemployment. With
no other work, many were forced to become vagabonds in the hope of finding
jobs elsewhere.
The Elizabethans saw unemployment as an important cause of poverty for the first
time. … [Answer exemplifies the link between relations with Spain and the English
cloth trade and points out the legislation that aimed to help the unemployed.]
All three factors are important causes for increases in poverty and vagabondage.
However, the root and most important cause was the rise in population. It caused
lower wages and rising food prices and rents. As a result, there was a rise in
vagabondage as people left the countryside, which made problems faced in towns
even worse.
Verdict
This is a strong answer because:
Preparing for your exams
Paper 2, Question 5c
Population growth was the main reason why vagabondage increased in Elizabethan England.
How far do you agree? Explain your answer. (16 marks)
The introduction explains
what vagabonds were. It
also outlines key reasons
for this. As it is linked
to other factors, its
importance is clear.
References to vagabonds,
new methods of farming
and enclosure shows a
good understanding of
the period.
Clear focus on the stated
factor. It also links it to
inflation, showing how the
two factors interacted to
increase vagabondage.
Well written and shows
good knowledge and
understanding of the
period by referring to
how unemployment and
poverty had different
causes in the countryside.
Avoiding generalisations
could strengthen it as not
all landowners turned land
into pasture.
Draft material
A strong conclusion with a
judgement using criteria
to show the increase in
vagabondage (root cause,
key to inflation, enclosure,
rural depopulation).
••
information is wide-ranging and precise
••
factors are analysed and their importance is evaluated
••
the line of reasoning is coherent and the judgement is appropriately justified with clear criteria.
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