Britain: Migration, empires and the people: c790 to the present day
What's covered
Key facts
1950s–60s affluence brought mass television ownership, car culture, and "teenagers" emerging as a distinct consumer group with disposable income.
Alfred the Great, King of Wessex, united English resistance against the Vikings in the 870s.
Abolition was delayed for decades by the wealth and Parliamentary influence of the West India lobby and by the trade's profitability.
Tobacco (Virginia), sugar (Caribbean) and enslaved Africans were the key trades of England's early Atlantic empire.
In the 1960s Britain granted independence to Nigeria (1960), Tanganyika (1961), Uganda (1962), Kenya (1963), Malawi and Zambia (1964) among others.
The Danelaw was the area of England under Viking law and rule, fixed by the treaty between Alfred and Guthrum.
The British abolition movement was led by William Wilberforce in Parliament and Thomas Clarkson gathering evidence, supported by Quakers and free Black campaigners such as Olaudah Equiano.
The East India Company was the chartered company that traded with India from 1600.
In the summer of 1940 the RAF defeated the Luftwaffe's attempt to gain air superiority over Britain, using radar and Spitfire/Hurricane fighters; Hitler postponed Operation Sea Lion.
The Norman Conquest of 1066 replaced most Anglo-Saxon landholders with Normans, transforming the ruling class.
Sample questions
A taste of the 71 questions in this topic — answers marked. Sign up to practise the full set with spaced repetition.
Why did the spread of the contraceptive pill from 1961 transform British society?
- •It cured most sexually transmitted infections and was sold over the counter only to people over the age of thirty.
- ✓It gave women reliable control over fertility, supported their entry into work and education, and fuelled the wider sexual revolution.
- •It replaced all earlier forms of contraception by law after 1961 and was made compulsory for women aged twenty to forty.
- •It was prescribed only to married men, making it the first form of state-funded male contraception available on the new NHS.
What was the Danelaw?
- ✓Area of England under Viking law and rule
- •Norman tax raised after 1066
- •Pope's law for English bishops
- •Saxon legal code from Alfred
What was the 'White Man's Burden' ideology and how did it justify the British Empire?
- ✓A racist belief that white Europeans had a duty to 'civilise' non-white peoples
- •It referred to the military burden of defending empire — white soldiers bore the cost
- •The 'White Man's Burden' was a tax system — white settlers paid higher taxes
- •The ideology was universally rejected in Britain — most Victorians opposed racial hierarchy
What were the main reasons for the growth of the British Empire from the 16th century onwards?
- •Religious conversion was the sole driver — the Empire was purely a mission for Christianity
- •The Empire grew by accident — Britain never had an official policy of expansion
- •The Empire grew mainly because native peoples invited Britain to govern them
- ✓Trade, colonisation, competition with Spain and France, and industrial demand for raw materials
How did pop music help reshape British cultural identity during the 1960s?
- •British pop music had little international reach in the 1960s and was confined to small clubs in Liverpool and Manchester only.
- •Classical music dominated British radio in the 1960s and pop only became important after the start of commercial radio in 1973.
- •Pop music was banned by the BBC throughout the 1960s, which limited its impact on British identity until the 1970s arrived.
- ✓The Beatles and Rolling Stones turned Britain into a global cultural exporter, gave teenagers a distinct identity, and challenged class deference.
Which king united Wessex against the Vikings in the 870s?
- •Æthelred the Unready
- ✓Alfred the Great
- •Edgar the Peaceful
- •Edward the Elder
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