Y311: the Origins and Growth of the British Empire 1558-1783 | OCR A-Level History A (H505)

Y311: the Origins and Growth of the British Empire 1558-1783

139 questions
12 subtopics
Thematic study and historical interpretations, one of twenty-one
Y301 to Y321

The Origins and Growth of the British Empire 1558–1783 is unit Y311 of OCR History A, one of the twenty-one options in unit group 3, the thematic study and historical interpretations; a student sits one of them.

Its four key topics and three depth studies are Drivers of imperial expansion, the nature of colonial rule, the impact of Empire on Britain and its emerging colonies, the British Empire and European Relations, Elizabethan Privateers 1558–1603, Britain and its American colonies 1660–1713, Clive and the East India Company: India c.1730–1773. 139 recall questions across 12 subtopics.

Sample questions from Y311: the Origins and Growth of the British Empire 1558-1783

Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.

Drivers of imperial expansion: the Crown, the adventurers and the search for trade

How did Walter Raleigh attempt to turn Elizabethan enthusiasm into permanent settlement?

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He organised the Roanoke colonies of 1585 and 1587 in the territory he named Virginia, both of which failed for lack of supply and support.
Drivers of imperial expansion: contribution of domestic developments to empire, successes and failures

Give one clear success and one clear failure in achieving British imperial aims across the period.

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The Treaty of Paris of 1763, which brought Canada, Florida and dominance in India, was the outstanding success; the loss of the thirteen American colonies in 1783 was the outstanding failure.
The impact of Empire on Britain and its emerging colonies: For Britain

What was the South Sea Bubble, and what did it reveal?

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It was the speculative collapse of 1720 in the shares of a company built on trade rights with Spanish America, and it showed how far imperial expectation had outrun imperial reality.
The impact of Empire on Britain and its emerging colonies: for colonies

Describe Tacky's Revolt.

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It was a major rising of enslaved people in Jamaica in 1760 which was crushed with great brutality and led to harsher slave laws across the island.
Depth study: Elizabethan Privateers 1558–1603 — Nature and extent of privateering, motives

What did Drake achieve at Nombre de Dios and on the Panama isthmus in 1572 and 1573?

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Allied with escaped enslaved Africans, he ambushed a Spanish silver train and returned to England rich, proving that the treasure route could be attacked on land.
Depth study: Elizabethan Privateers 1558–1603 — attitudes, consequences and interpretations

How did privateering affect relations with Spain?

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It was a standing provocation that helped push the two states into open war in 1585, sustained the conflict by making it profitable, and left a legacy of hostility until the peace of 1604.
Depth study: Britain and its American colonies 1660–1713 — colonial rebellions, wars and assemblies

What was Culpeper's Rebellion?

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It was a rising in the Albemarle region of Carolina in 1677 in which settlers seized control and imprisoned officials rather than pay the customs duties imposed under the Navigation Acts.
Depth study: Clive and the East India Company: India c.1730–1773 — the Carnatic Wars and Plassey

What provoked the crisis in Bengal in 1756?

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Siraj-ud-Daula objected to the Company's unauthorised fortification of Calcutta and its abuse of trading privileges, and captured the settlement, an episode remembered in Britain through the Black Hole.

The 12 subtopics

One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.

Subtopic	What it covers	Questions
Drivers of imperial expansion: the Crown, the adventurers and the search for trade	Recall questions on royal charters and private investment, Drake, Raleigh and Clive, the North West and North East Passages, the spice trade and the importance of the West Indies.	9
Drivers of imperial expansion: contribution of domestic developments to empire, successes and failures	Recall questions on contribution of domestic developments to empire including religious developments, successes and failures in achieving imperial aims.	10
The nature of colonial rule: mercantilism, companies, plantations and colonial government	Recall questions on mercantilism and letters of marque, chartered companies, plantations and labour, the Navigation and Staple Acts, the slave code and Royal African Company, religion, bases, Mughal grants, colonial taxation and law-making.	20
The impact of Empire on Britain and its emerging colonies: For Britain	Recall questions on for Britain: political, socio-cultural and economic effects, including banking, speculation, population change, scientific and geographical knowledge, resources, products such as spices, sugar and tobacco, Royal Navy, personal and political prestige.	10
The impact of Empire on Britain and its emerging colonies: for colonies	Recall questions on for colonies: taxation, trade, economic developments, population change, political structures and internal power relationships, Native Americans, slavery, development of opposition and reasons for it e.g. American colonies, Jamaican Maroons, Mughals in India.	10
The British Empire and European Relations: consequences of European alliances and rivalries	Recall questions on the consequences of European alliances and rivalries on imperial developments and the impact of imperial developments on these alliances and rivalries.	20
Depth study: Elizabethan Privateers 1558–1603 — Nature and extent of privateering, motives	Recall questions on nature and extent of privateering in the Elizabethan era and relationship between privateering and imperial development, motives, methods, extent of success and impact of key individuals, including Drake and Raleigh.	11
Depth study: Elizabethan Privateers 1558–1603 — attitudes, consequences and interpretations	Recall questions on Elizabeth’s and the Court’s attitudes, the economic and military consequences of privateering, personal fortunes, the last Drake and Hawkins voyage, relations with Spain and the debates over empire and imperial vision.	9
Depth study: Britain and its American colonies 1660–1713 — Restoration policy and the Dominion of New England	Recall questions on the Restoration approach to America, new colonies, enumerated goods and the Plantation Duties Act, the annulled Massachusetts charter, the Dominion of New England and the Glorious Revolution in the colonies.	9
Depth study: Britain and its American colonies 1660–1713 — colonial rebellions, wars and assemblies	Recall questions on the 1691 Massachusetts charter, Bacon’s and Culpeper’s rebellions, the wars of 1689 to 1713 in North America, Utrecht, forms of colonial government, the rise of assemblies and interpretations of the period.	11
Depth study: Clive and the East India Company: India c.1730–1773 — the Carnatic Wars and Plassey	Recall questions on the Company’s position around 1730, Mughal decline, the Carnatic Wars and Dupleix, Clive’s early reputation, the Bengal crisis of 1756, and Plassey and its immediate gains.	8
Depth study: Clive and the East India Company: India c.1730–1773 — Buxar, the diwani and the Regulating Act	Recall questions on Buxar, the Treaty of Allahabad and dual government, Clive’s reforms, the Bengal famine, the Regulating Act and Clive’s treatment by Parliament, the Dutch, British aims and interpretations of Clive and Company rule.	12

Y311: the Origins and Growth of the British Empire 1558-1783 is 139 of the 6,240 questions in the guide.Get the guide, £8

How the guide is worked

Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.

Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.

Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.