AQA GCSE History · AB

Britain: Power and the people: c1170 to the present day

50 exam-style questions with answers for AB Britain: Power and the people: c1170 to the present day in AQA GCSE History (spec 8145). Practise with flashcards, a topic quiz, a random quiz across the course, 5 crosswords, or read every question and answer below. Not official AQA material.

All 50 questions and answers

Question 1 · Spec 3.3.1 AB, Part one
State two reasons why the barons were dissatisfied with King John. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: heavy taxes, eg scutage, to fund wars (1); the loss of Normandy in 1204 (1); arbitrary treatment and fines on barons (1); his quarrel with the Pope (1).
Question 2 · Spec 3.3.1 AB, Part one
When and where was Magna Carta sealed? [1 mark]
Answer:
1215, at Runnymede.
Question 3 · Spec 3.3.1 AB, Part one
State two terms of Magna Carta. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: no free man to be imprisoned without lawful judgement (1); no new taxes without the agreement of the barons (1); the Church to be free (1); a council of 25 barons to enforce it (1).
Question 4 · Spec 3.3.1 AB, Part one
Explain the short-term impact of Magna Carta. [2 marks]
Answer:
John got the Pope to annul it within months (1); this led to civil war (the First Barons’ War) (1).
Question 5 · Spec 3.3.1 AB, Part one
Explain the long-term significance of Magna Carta. [2 marks]
Answer:
It established that the king was not above the law (1); later reformers used it as a symbol of rights, eg trial by jury (1).
Question 6 · Spec 3.3.1 AB, Part one
Who was Simon de Montfort? [1 mark]
Answer:
A baron who led opposition to Henry III and called the Parliament of 1265.
Question 7 · Spec 3.3.1 AB, Part one
What were the Provisions of Oxford (1258)? [2 marks]
Answer:
A council of 15 barons would advise the king (1); Parliament would meet three times a year (1).
Question 8 · Spec 3.3.1 AB, Part one
Why was the Parliament of 1265 significant? [2 marks]
Answer:
It included knights from the shires and burgesses from towns as well as barons (1); it is seen as an early step towards the House of Commons (1).
Question 9 · Spec 3.3.1 AB, Part one
State two causes of the Peasants’ Revolt (1381). [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: the Statute of Labourers (1351) capped wages (1); the poll tax of 1380 (1); resentment of villeinage after the Black Death (1); the preaching of John Ball (1).
Question 10 · Spec 3.3.1 AB, Part one
How did Richard II end the Peasants’ Revolt? [2 marks]
Answer:
He met the rebels at Smithfield, where Wat Tyler was killed (1); he promised reforms, then broke his promises and executed leaders (1).
Question 11 · Spec 3.3.1 AB, Part one
Explain the long-term impact of the Peasants’ Revolt. [2 marks]
Answer:
The poll tax was not attempted again in that period (1); villeinage declined over the following decades (1).
Question 12 · Spec 3.3.1 AB, Part two
State two causes of the Pilgrimage of Grace (1536). [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: the dissolution of the monasteries (1); religious changes (1); taxes (1); dislike of Thomas Cromwell (1).
Question 13 · Spec 3.3.1 AB, Part two
How did Henry VIII respond to the Pilgrimage of Grace? [2 marks]
Answer:
He promised a pardon and a Parliament in York to end the rising (1); after further revolts in 1537 he executed around 200 people, including Aske (1).
Question 14 · Spec 3.3.1 AB, Part two
Define the term ‘Divine Right of Kings’. [1 mark]
Answer:
The belief that kings were chosen by God and answerable only to God.
Question 15 · Spec 3.3.1 AB, Part two
State two causes of the English Civil War. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: Charles I’s belief in Divine Right (1); Personal Rule, 1629–1640 (1); taxes such as Ship Money (1); religious tensions, including Laud’s reforms (1); the attempted arrest of five MPs (1642) (1).
Question 16 · Spec 3.3.1 AB, Part two
What was the New Model Army? [1 mark]
Answer:
Parliament’s professional army, formed in 1645, with promotion by ability.
Question 17 · Spec 3.3.1 AB, Part two
Who were the Levellers? [2 marks]
Answer:
A radical group, many in the New Model Army (1); they wanted votes for all men and equality before the law (1).
Question 18 · Spec 3.3.1 AB, Part two
Why was the execution of Charles I in 1649 significant? [2 marks]
Answer:
It showed a king could be tried and killed by his subjects (1); the monarchy was abolished and a republic set up (1).
Question 19 · Spec 3.3.1 AB, Part two
What was the Commonwealth? [1 mark]
Answer:
The republic that ruled Britain from 1649 to 1660, with Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector from 1653.
Question 20 · Spec 3.3.1 AB, Part two
Explain the long-term impact of the English Revolution. [2 marks]
Answer:
Kings could no longer rule without Parliament (1); this led to the Bill of Rights (1689) and constitutional monarchy (1).
Question 21 · Spec 3.3.1 AB, Part two
State two causes of the American Revolution. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: taxes such as the Stamp Act (1765) (1); ‘no taxation without representation’ (1); the Boston Tea Party (1773) (1); British troops in the colonies (1).
Question 22 · Spec 3.3.1 AB, Part two
State two impacts of the American Revolution on Britain. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: Britain lost its American colonies (1); it encouraged radical ideas about rights and representation (1); it influenced the French Revolution (1).
Question 23 · Spec 3.3.1 AB, Part three
What happened at Peterloo (1819)? [2 marks]
Answer:
Cavalry charged a peaceful crowd calling for reform at St Peter’s Field, Manchester (1); around 15 people were killed and hundreds injured (1).
Question 24 · Spec 3.3.1 AB, Part three
State two causes of the Great Reform Act (1832). [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: rotten and pocket boroughs (1); new industrial towns had no MPs (1); riots, eg Bristol 1831 (1); pressure from the middle class (1); the Whigs came to power (1).
Question 25 · Spec 3.3.1 AB, Part three
State two effects of the Great Reform Act. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: rotten boroughs abolished (1); seats given to new towns (1); the middle class gained the vote (1); still only about 1 in 7 men could vote (1).
Question 26 · Spec 3.3.1 AB, Part three
State three demands of the People’s Charter (1838). [3 marks]
Answer:
Any three from: votes for all men over 21 (1); secret ballot (1); no property qualification for MPs (1); payment for MPs (1); equal constituencies (1); annual parliaments (1).
Question 27 · Spec 3.3.1 AB, Part three
Define the terms ‘moral force’ and ‘physical force’ Chartism. [2 marks]
Answer:
Moral force used peaceful persuasion, eg petitions (1); physical force was willing to use violence, eg the Newport Rising (1839) (1).
Question 28 · Spec 3.3.1 AB, Part three
Explain why Chartism failed in the short term. [2 marks]
Answer:
Parliament rejected all three petitions (1); the movement was divided, and the government arrested leaders (1).
Question 29 · Spec 3.3.1 AB, Part three
Who led the Anti-Slavery movement in Parliament? [1 mark]
Answer:
William Wilberforce.
Question 30 · Spec 3.3.1 AB, Part three
When were the slave trade and slavery abolished in the British Empire? [2 marks]
Answer:
The slave trade in 1807 (1); slavery in 1833 (1).
Question 31 · Spec 3.3.1 AB, Part three
What were the Corn Laws and why were they opposed? [2 marks]
Answer:
Tariffs on imported grain from 1815 that kept bread prices high (1); the Anti-Corn Law League argued they hurt workers and industry (1).
Question 32 · Spec 3.3.1 AB, Part three
How did the Anti-Corn Law League campaign? [2 marks]
Answer:
It used the new penny post, railways and newspapers to spread its message (1); it had MPs such as Cobden and Bright, and the Corn Laws were repealed in 1846 (1).
Question 33 · Spec 3.3.1 AB, Part three
Name a factory reformer and one achievement. [2 marks]
Answer:
Lord Shaftesbury (1); the Ten Hours Act (1847) limited working hours (1).
Question 34 · Spec 3.3.1 AB, Part three
Who were the Tolpuddle Martyrs? [2 marks]
Answer:
Six Dorset farm labourers who formed a union in 1834 (1); they were transported to Australia, but public protest won their release (1).
Question 35 · Spec 3.3.1 AB, Part three
What was the GNCTU? [1 mark]
Answer:
The Grand National Consolidated Trades Union (1834), an attempt to unite all workers in one union, which soon collapsed.
Question 36 · Spec 3.3.1 AB, Part three
What were New Model Unions? [2 marks]
Answer:
Unions of skilled workers from the 1850s, eg the Amalgamated Society of Engineers (1); they had high subscriptions and avoided strikes (1).
Question 37 · Spec 3.3.1 AB, Part three
What happened in the match girls’ strike (1888)? [2 marks]
Answer:
Women at Bryant and May struck over poor conditions, including ‘phossy jaw’ (1); helped by Annie Besant, they won better conditions (1).
Question 38 · Spec 3.3.1 AB, Part three
Explain why the dockers’ strike (1889) was significant. [2 marks]
Answer:
Unskilled dockers won the ‘dockers’ tanner’ (6d an hour) (1); it encouraged ‘new unionism’ among unskilled workers (1).
Question 39 · Spec 3.3.1 AB, Part four
Distinguish between suffragists and suffragettes. [2 marks]
Answer:
Suffragists (NUWSS, led by Millicent Fawcett) used peaceful methods (1); suffragettes (WSPU, led by the Pankhursts) used militant methods (1).
Question 40 · Spec 3.3.1 AB, Part four
State two methods used by the suffragettes. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: window smashing (1); arson (1); chaining themselves to railings (1); hunger strikes (1).
Question 41 · Spec 3.3.1 AB, Part four
Why were some women given the vote in 1918? [2 marks]
Answer:
Women’s war work changed attitudes (1); the franchise was being reformed anyway to give votes to soldiers (1).
Question 42 · Spec 3.3.1 AB, Part four
Which women could vote after 1918 and after 1928? [2 marks]
Answer:
In 1918, women over 30 who met a property qualification (1); in 1928, all women over 21 (1).
Question 43 · Spec 3.3.1 AB, Part four
State two laws that advanced women’s equality after 1945. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: Equal Pay Act (1970) (1); Sex Discrimination Act (1975) (1); Abortion Act (1967) (1).
Question 44 · Spec 3.3.1 AB, Part four
Why did the General Strike (1926) begin? [2 marks]
Answer:
Mine owners wanted to cut miners’ wages and increase hours (1); the TUC called a general strike to support the miners (1).
Question 45 · Spec 3.3.1 AB, Part four
Why did the General Strike fail? [2 marks]
Answer:
The government had prepared, using volunteers and troops to keep services running (1); the TUC called it off after nine days (1).
Question 46 · Spec 3.3.1 AB, Part four
Explain why trade union power was reduced in the 1980s. [2 marks]
Answer:
Thatcher’s laws required secret ballots before strikes and limited picketing (1); the defeat of the miners’ strike (1984–1985) weakened unions (1).
Question 47 · Spec 3.3.1 AB, Part four
What was the Empire Windrush? [1 mark]
Answer:
A ship that brought about 500 Caribbean migrants to Britain in 1948.
Question 48 · Spec 3.3.1 AB, Part four
What did the Race Relations Act of 1965 do? [1 mark]
Answer:
It banned racial discrimination in public places.
Question 49 · Spec 3.3.1 AB, Part four
State two causes of the Brixton Riots (1981). [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: high unemployment (1); poor housing (1); stop and search (‘sus’) laws (1); tension between the police and the Black community (1).
Question 50 · Spec 3.3.1 AB, Part four
What did the Scarman Report (1981) conclude? [2 marks]
Answer:
There was ‘racial disadvantage’ and some police officers were prejudiced (1); it called for more ethnic minority officers and better community relations (1).

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Britain: Power and the people: c1170 to the present day

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