The Causes Of Poverty In The Elizabethan England Era

The historical definitions of worthy and unworthy poor come from the early 1600’s for dealing with the poor. Family was expected to take care of other poor family members (Hansan, 2011). The worthy poor are to be considered true victims of poverty. They were pregnant women, people who are truly unwell and unable to work or someone over the age of sixty. These were the people that were allowed to beg on the street since the government deemed them worthy (Martin, 2014, p.21). The unworthy poor were the legally defined drifter, or beggars. If people were able to work but they were without a job, they were whipped, marched through the streets, returned to where they came from, or thrown in jail. Repeat offenders of begging often had ears cut off or were killed (Martin, 2014, p.21).

By the 17th Century, the attitudes and measures taken towards the poor changed again. While some wealth merchants and

As time progressed new ideas came into society. Instead of giving freely to the poor, they should be made to work for their money, as Emperor Charles V expressed in his imperial decree for Netherlands. (d-4) “Experience shows that begging for alms . . . errors and abused will result . . .” therefore, he proposed that only the sick and those unable to work should receive aid. An English doctor noted that beggars, who came to his house, expressed a desire to live a sick but easy life rather than to get well and have to work hard to earn a

Crime and Punishment in the Elizabethan era was very unusual and cruel when we look at it from today’s standards. Punishment was very harsh and most things they did back then was completely normal for them but by today it’s insane what they used to do to criminals. Speaking of which whom they counted as “criminals” was insane as well as their definition of a criminal. The crimes committed directly affected the type of punishment someone one would receive for committing such an act. Crimes and punishments to us now seem completely wrong and just plain strange.

The town council of Dijon, France proposed to care for the poor using their own utilities of shelter during the 15th century (doc. 2). The poorhouses of Suffolk County, England required harsh treatment of the poor (doc. 7). Being of England during the height of poverty, the poorhouses of Suffolk County complied with the English Poor Laws, legislation that supported harsher treatment of the poor for their impotence and begging. Jean Maillefer stated that the poor of the seventeenth century have grown independent from higher classes, begging less for the charity of others (doc. 11). Having listened to the poor, Maillefer concluded that their simple life does not need assistance from wealthy merchants such as himself. As the amount of poverty in Europe rose, the care for their well-being dwindled from the volunteered charity of the 15th century humanists, to the institutionalized subsidizing of the 16th century resulted from the growing poverty, to the lack of aid in the 17th century resulted from the independence of the poor away from the care of the upper

In the Elizabethan era, doing a crime was the worst mistake of all, depending on how big your crime was, people had to know that their lives were at risk. Every crime was big before, even “crimes of treason and offenses against the state were treated with that murder and rape today.”(Elizabethan Crime and Punishment) “Offenses such as manslaughter, robbery, rape, piracy and capital crimes entitled one to hanging, usually in the town square.” (Elizabethan crime and Punishment) During Queen Elizabeth’s time, the punishments were designed to fit the crime committed. A person may complain about the consequences of crimes one commits, but looking back at the Elizabethan times, punishments are far less brutal now than how they were then.

By 1600, England’s feudal system was nearing extinction, as a new family (Tudor’s) came to power and wanted support from the middleclass and the establishment of new liberties for Englishman (i.e. trial by jury and no arrest without a warrant), which resulted in a large amount of local and self initiative to prosper in the community: yet many beggars now existed, culminating in an increased need for colonial expansion both for personal prosperity and more space for the existing population.

Britain had a society from 1600 to 1650. Britain's populations in 1600 was four million, one hundred and ten thousand people. In 1650, Britain’s population increased by 29 percent which, made the population 5 million, 3 hundred and ten thousand people. From 1600 to 1650 most people Britain were very poor because they were paid too little for their jobs. They also were forced to loan the king some money and if they don’t they were punished. Most people had jobs during that time. People had a hard life in Britain from 1600 to 1650. There were also crimes back then and theft was the most common crime in british history from 1600 to 1650.

To begin, the Elizabethan Age had many extremely different crimes that could be committed. Most of the people who had committed these crimes were the unemployed and the poor. The first crime that could be committed was treason. There are two different types of

Children were taught to always respect and obey their parents. The wealthy children, both boys and girls would be punished for any sort of bad behavior (“Elizabethan Family Life”). Whenever children misbehaved there was immediate discipline. The parents’ discipline was usually physical which included spanking (Stewart 28). This is unusual today because parents don’t physically punish their kids, it more of taking away privileges. “Elizabethan Family Life” points out that “the children were almost considered servants to the adults in the family.” According to many historians, children were treated as small adults instead of children (Stewart 28). The children were mature at a younger age than they are nowadays. Stewart adds that “Children were expected to be well behaved, especially in dealing with parents and other adults. Parents taught their children the proper forms of address such as ‘sir’ and ‘madam’ for person of a higher rank” (28). Stewart analyzes, “Most couples wanted children, if not for sentimental reasons then for economic ones. Even though it certainly cost more to expand the household, children could help out a great deal as they got older” (28). With a high death rate, an average woman was pregnant at least six times during her lifetime (Stewart 27). The love for children almost wasn’t shown like it is today; they were almost taken care of as property. When babies

Prior to the Poor Law Amendment Act there was the Elizabethan Poor Law 1601 which was more generous towards the poor. It was becoming impossible for the government to sustain this law due to the growing costs. Statistics show that in 1802 the expenditure on poor relief was costing the government £4,078,000, this figure continued to

Social classes play a major role in society and shape the roles of the people. Since the Elizabethan period began, the social classes were well structured with many influences, such as prestige or wealth. Many citizens found ways to elevate their status and become more successful citizens in the public. The social class structure in the Elizabethan Era was thought to be strict and very well organized, yet still had many opportunities and flaws which lead to changes in citizens’ lives.

The Poor Law was introduced because it was too much money to pay to look after the poor, so in hopes to take the poor off the streets and to stop money going to the poor the government introduced the law in 1834. The law was also put in place to embolden the poor to get back into work and support themselves, There was a law before 1834 called the "Old Poor Law" this was found to be insufficient because there was nothing in place to help the poor because even though they set up workhouses for the poor they didn't offer accommodation for the poor. There was an act passed in 1795 called "The Speenhamland System" which allowed employers to pay their workers exceptionally low wages during these years the middle and the upper classes were getting more angry because they were the ones paying for the poor who would avoid not going to or do any work.

During the Middle Ages, towns were extremely unsanitary until physicians and people living in the towns began to discover the relationship between dirty towns and the spread of disease. Towns had become covered in human and animal waste, garbage, butchers’ scraps, and manure. Bacteria was constantly being spread because people bathed in, went to the bathroom in, and drank from the same water source. Even if towns had outhouses, they were sometimes built too close to the town’s water supply, causing the human waste to seep through the dirt into the water source. Monasteries were also very filthy places because they took care of sick people who were covered in dirt, fleas, lice, and wore dirty, unwashed clothes. Eventually, there became a basic understanding that cleanliness helped people maintain good health, even though there was no actual scientific proof.

Poverty in Britain When the Liberal government came to power in 1906 they had no stated intention of government intervention of social policy. Between the years 1906 and 1914, the Liberals took steps to improve the health, living and working conditions of the groups of individuals their policies were designed for. The victory for the Liberals was a surprising landslide which left the Liberals with 401 seats and Labour with 53 seats.