Socio-Political+Structure

 I will be focusing on what the socio-political structure was like for England. This is because all other colonies were built upon England's base.

**Religion** [4] 
 * mainly consisted of Protestant Christians (underwent a Protestant reformation to kick out the Catholic Church)
 * Catholics were beheaded in England for their opposition
 * they lacked the right to own property and to participate in politics (and voting) [[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/Perelachaise-croixCeltique-p1000394.jpg width="96" height="132" align="right" caption="Celtic Cross - This was a major symbol in English Religion" link="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/Perelachaise-croixCeltique-p1000394.jpg"]]
 * Scotland (majority of Catholics) later followed England's role into a Protestant reformation
 * Protestantism created friends (northern Germany + Holland) and enemies (Spain + Italy + France)
 * Church of England ("Anglicanism") was created; thus all the money went to England instead of the Vatican

**Differences among the rich and poor** [2] 
 * 30% of the population lived in poverty during the early years of the rise [4]
 * only rich families could afford to send their children to school [4]
 * schools were fairly strict and Latin was a major subject
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; color: rgb(28, 146, 28);">making schools compulsory came in the Education Act of 1496
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; color: rgb(28, 146, 28);">rich lived in the countryside with large mansions
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; color: rgb(28, 146, 28);">in the countryside, only landowners (basically the rich) could vote
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; color: rgb(28, 146, 28);">poorer families usually were farmers and blacksmiths
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; color: rgb(28, 146, 28);">richer families were bankers, priests, government officials, scientists and etc
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; color: rgb(28, 146, 28);">very common for rich to have slaves
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; color: rgb(28, 146, 28);">upper-most class consisted was based on nobility [4]

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; color: rgb(255, 12, 0);">**Government** [3]
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; color: rgb(28, 146, 28);">Before the 16th century, the Monarch basically controlled the entire nation
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; color: rgb(28, 146, 28);">Government base was formed by the Church in the 16th century [1]
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; color: rgb(28, 146, 28);">Monarchs and the parliament went into conflict as to //who should have supreme power//
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; color: rgb(28, 146, 28);">In 1649, monarchy was abolished - constitutional monarchy took its place in 1688 [1]
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; color: rgb(28, 146, 28);">The Bill of Rights (passed in 1689) stated: no Catholic could ever become King or Queen / No King or Queen could marry a Catholic
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; color: rgb(28, 146, 28);">In the 1700's and onwards, the parliament had superior control over England

1 -** [|Parliament]" __History World__. 2008. //Historyworld.net.// 10 May. 2009 <<span class="wiki_link_ext"><span class="wiki_link_ext"> [|Historyworld.net]>. <span class="wiki_link_ext">
 * References
 * 2 -** "Customs of England" Microsoft® Student 2009 [DVD]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation, 2008.
 * 3 -** "United Kingdom [Government of the United Kingdom]" Microsoft® Student 2009 [DVD]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation, 2008.
 * 4 -** "United Kingdom [Social Structure: Historical Background]" Microsoft® Student 2009 [DVD]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation, 2008.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 200%; text-align: center; display: block; color: rgb(188, 21, 21);"><span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; color: rgb(28, 146, 28); text-align: left; display: block; font-size: 50%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 72, 255); text-align: center; display: block;"><span style="color: rgb(65, 230, 86);">Rise of The British Empire | Home<span style="color: rgb(16, 157, 33);"> <span style="color: rgb(65, 230, 86);">