Economic development in Elizabethan England

The pattern of trade

• The value of internal trade considerably exceeeded foreign trade - the biggest development in internal trade was the growth in the shipping of coal from the Tyne to the Thames to meet the rising demand from London. 
• A wider range of foreign luxury goods were imported, suggesting that these goods became more affordable for more people.
• The cloth trade with the Netherlands was still important but declined in relation to the economy. Since the early 1550s, the Antwerp cloth market had declined and Sir William Cecil also wanted to end dependence on one market, so instead trade was based in Amsterdam.
• There were attempts to establish new overseas markets but these were economically minor.

• John Hawkins, a privateer, used Guinea, the main centre for African trade, as a starting point for his move to the Americas. Through this, he invented the English slave trade. His three expeditions involved acquiring African slaves which he then transported and sold in South America. The first two expeditions were financially successful and for the second expedition, he was even financially backed by prominent courtiers and supported by the Queen. The first expedition went wrong as Hawkins' fleet was blockaded in a Mexican port. These expeditions further antagonised the strained relations between England and Spain.
• Main changes in English trading patterns in the 1580s: main English wool markets moved from the southern to the northern Netherlands; there was an increase in trade with the Ottoman Empire; David Palliser argues that England still remained quite backward in its exploitation of trading opportunities. 
• Several trading companies were set up to widen England's trading interests:
  • The Muscovy Company - traded with Russia and northern Europe but failed to compete with the Dutch in the long-term.
  • The Levant Company - successful in developing trade with the Ottoman Empire.
  • The East India Company - found it difficult to compete with the Dutch East India Company in the short-term.
• A significant change: all the companies were joint-stock companies, businesses owned by shareholders, that would be important in the development of future capitalism.

• At this time, the colonisation of North America was of little importance and it was only in years to come that colonies, like Virginia, assumed greater significance. 
• Exploration was mainly conducted by Sir Walter Raleigh who was so successful in his exploration voyages that he was later backed by Walsingham and the Queen. Raleigh's action have been seen by some historians as piracy as he usec to rob ships from the Spanish (Raleigh's actions created the tension between England and Spain). 
• Exploration was seen as a short-term way of making money - they didn't fully understand the long-term benefits colonisation would have e.g. by taking over lands as part of the British Empire, this would give England greater power in the world. 

Attempts to develop trade with India

• In 1591, Lancaster, one of the Queen's explorers, successfully sailed around Africa and reached the East Indes. The return journey was not a success - he had to be rescued by French ships, but when he returned to England in 1594, he could tell merchants of the trading opportunities in India. The Portuguese had already colonised Goa so Europe had already seen the opportunities of Indian trade. 
• This was a prelude to the biggest success story of the Elizabethan period: in 1600, the East India Company was created by a group of English merchants. After Elizabeth's death in 1603, they returned with fully-loaded ships. This began the development of the East India Company. 

Prosperity and land

• Landowners benefitted - this is shown in how land incomes rose in the Elizabethan period and how landowners acquired more material possessions than the grandparents' generation. 
• A reason for this: they had been able to buy cheap Church land under Henry VIII and Edward. They had bought land ridiculously cheap so by Elizabeth's reign, these lands had risen in price.
• A consequence of this: landowners built stately homes - in her reign, there was a building boom on an unprecedented scale. 
• Farm owners also benefitted from the rise in agricultural prices - there was a large improvement in the living standards of farmers in Elizabeth's reign.

Prosperity and trade

• This is more difficult to judge and there is debate amongst historians about the relationship between trade and prosperity, because there is a lack of hard evidence. 
• Some historians argue that trade was good and buoyant, whereas others are more pessimistic: they argue there was a decline in the cloth trade in England and English trade companies were less sophisticated than our European counterparts. So, it is difficult to link prosperity and trade.

Depression

• Generally, the rich got richer and the poor got poorer.
• For the average worker, real wages fell.
• Between 1594 and 1597, there were four bad harvests. These harvests coupled with poor wages were catastrophic for some working people. 
• By 1596, real wages had fallen to half what they had been nine years earlier, meaning that many lower class people suffered. 
• The north was worse off than the south - starvation was common in northern areas (e.g. there was a reported burying of 25 homeless people in Newcastle who died from starvation. The Elizabethan government had no real response to this problem.

Summary

• The economic record of the Elizabethan government was very mixed - economic policies didn't exist at the time and it's hard to make judgements when there is no statistical evidence.
• Ministers tended to react to situations as they happened as opposed to having any kind of forward planning. Their main priority wasn't to solve economic problems but mainly to keep public order.