OCR GCSE History A (Explaining the Modern World) British depth study with historic environment: The impact of empire on Britain 1688-c.1730 + Urban environments: patterns of migration June 2025 question paper J410/11

Explain why colonies in North America and the Caribbean were important for the

British economy between 1688 and c.1730.

Explain why housing was a problem in Spitalfields during the period 1800 to 1980.

Study Sources D and E.

Which of these sources is more useful to a historian studying the history of Spitalfields between

1500 and 1800?

Source D

An extract from a book about London that was written and published in 1681. The book was written by Thomas De-Laune, a writer who lived in London.

The Church of St Andrew Under the Maypole is known as a fair and beautiful church. In the past, the local people set up a maypole in the street in front of the Church. Here they celebrated May Day by dancing around this pole. The pole was so tall that it rose higher than the Church itself. However, these festivities were stopped after the ‘Evil May Day’ of 1517. On this day in 1517, apprentices took advantage of the festivities and rioted against the foreign workers who lived nearby, including in Spitalfields. A maypole has not been set up here since this day.

An apprentice is someone who is learning a trade.

Source E

An extract from ‘London and its Environs’, a book written by Robert Dodsley and published in 1761. Robert Dodsley was a successful writer and publisher.

Spitalfields used to be little more than a small number of buildings and a collection of fields, but it is now a place of very impressive size. There are a large number of streets, lanes and alleys where the weaving business is carried out to the greatest perfection by the descendants of French refugees. These people specialise in silks and the richest woven fabrics, some of which they sell at the great market in Spitalfields.