Richard Barden
Ms. Odom
English II - H
4 May, 2016
Elizabethan Era Transportation (Rough)
Transportation in the Elizabethan era (1558-1603) was far different from the transportation that is used at the present time. Even though transportation in the Elizabethan era was not what people have today, it was still just as crucial to society as transportation is today. However, it was limited, basic, and sea travel was not available for citizens.
Transportation in the Elizabethan era contained many different limitations and dangers for travelers, traders, and citizens alike. First of all, only rich people, nobles, and royalty could afford the horse-drawn coaches that people see in paintings and history books today. Commoners
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were unable to afford such expensive niceties, much less hold on to them. The road systems were badly maintained, as they were often a muddy, sloppy mess that was a disaster waiting to happen when it started raining (Park 1).
The mud created the opportunity for carriages and horses to get stuck in the middle of nowhere, no less. People who got stuck could be miles and miles from help, which could create a really sticky (pun intended) situation. All of these things discouraged most people from traveling in the rain, and it became uncommon (Park 1). There were no good maps of the region at the time, which hampered the ability to navigate the highways easily and efficiently (Mortimer 210). The maps that people had were often faulty or inaccurate, leading to wrong turns and other mistakes (Mortimer 210). There was also a high risk of being robbed while traveling at the time (Park 1). Robbers took advantage of the often …show more content…
empty trails, where people tended to get lost. Eventually, people were even required to have a license to travel! This was to prevent the spread of the plague and beggars. People that traveled without one of these licenses were considered criminals (Park 1). Imagine not being able to walk down the road without a license! Although transportation was important in the Elizabethan era, it would look like Stone Age technology compared to the advancement of the technology of today. Elizabethan era transportation methods were, for the most part, very basic and simple. The most common method of transportation was getting around by foot; most people could not afford coaches. Royalty, nobles, and other people who had copious amounts of money traveled in coaches, or even a box carried by four men. Some people rode on horseback because it was the swiftest method of transportation at the time (Park 1). Messengers usually used horses, since they were required to reach their destinations as quickly as was possible. Other people took ferries, but only if their destination was along the path of, or fairly close to, a river (Mortimer 213). There was another method of travel in the Elizabethan era, but not even the rich traveled about in this way. The most advanced method of transportation in the Elizabethan era was the sailing.
The building of the ships was a complicated, tedious, time-consuming task. Although sailing in ships was the most advanced form of traveling at the time, it was only used for the transportation of soldiers and cargo (Pike 1). Neither commoners or nobles used ships to reach their destinations, apart from the colonization of new areas, which required a charter from the monarch or a deal with a proprietorship. Large ships called Carracks were a favorite because of their large carrying capacity (Pike 1). This was key for the traders who transported cargo. They needed to transport as many goods as possible in a short amount of time. If only citizens used ships for transportation, they would be able to travel longer distances much more quickly and
efficiently. Overall, transportation in the Elizabethan era carried the same importance as it does today. The transportation at that time was restrained, simple, and ships were used only for troops and trade. One might wonder, “What would such simple folks think of the transportation technology of the present?” Of course, they would probably be amazed. People like to laugh at that, but they do not really take the time to consider just how advanced the technology of the human race has become. Remembering the past makes people thankful for the advancements of the present, and transportation is one of the more drastic changes. If people think they have it bad now, one look at the transportation technology of the Elizabethan era would stop them from feeling sorry for themselves. Works Cited Park, SJ. “Travel (within London and England).” - CityComedy. Georgia Tech, 18 Sept. 2011. Web. 14 Apr. 2016. http://iron.lmc.gatech.edu/classes/jakackiwikif11/.index.php/Travel_(within_London_and_England) Pike, John. “Military” Tactics in the Age of Sail. Global Security, 22 July 2011. Web. 14 Apr. 2016. Website http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/sail-tactics.htm Mortimer, Ian. “Traveling.” The Time Traveler’s Guide to Elizabethan England. N.p.: Penguin, 2012. 213-26. Print.
The knights’ way of transportation connects to how today we have tanks and other military transportation. Horses are the most commonly used animal as a means of transportation. They were extremely important for battle grounds. Horses give people an advantage of speed and height. “No other animal has been employed so widely and continuously and was at times so comprehensively protected as the horse,” says the Met Museum.
During the Elizabethan period Europeans mainly focused on warfare. War required long range weapons to slow down the approaching enemy and short range weapons were needed for combat. This era started the usage of combustion and developed cannons and pistols. The advancements of weaponry also lead to the advancements in armor from chainmail to plate armor. Various weapons and armor’s were needed for warfare during the Elizabethan period.
Have you ever wondered what people ate in the Elizabethan Era? The Elizabethan Era had foods that are in common with foods that we ate today, but there are a few different types of foods that they ate then that we don't eat now. This paper will tell readers the things that the Elizabethan Era ate, and their different eating times.
When the country was founded, the geography was a bigger obstacle than it is today. Before the Industrial Revolution, the primary way to move anything was on water. Rivers and Oceans were the original roads and the fastest and least expensive way to move goods. Most of the population "[was] located either at tidewater or along broad, navigable streams that could not be used to produce much water power" (Nye 44). These geographic features made it possible to move items to areas further away from the coast. Moving things one of the three modes of land transport, "by foot, on a horse, or in a wheeled vehicle" (Cowan 94) were too expensive and difficult with no developed roads. People began to look for ways to make this travel more affordable by creating waterways like the Eire canal to connect places. However, most were unsuccessful and the idea passed. Steam engines also made river travel more feasible. It was not difficult to take a barge full of goods down river; however, it would take months to pole the boat back upriver and usually was not even attempted.
The Elizabethan Era was a Golden Age for the English people during the late 1500s and early 1600s. This time period is referred to as the English Renaissance because new ideas were introduced to Elizabethan daily life. People enjoyed learning; they enjoyed art, culture, music, and food. The people also enjoyed celebrating many customs and festivals. These celebrations became a major part of daily life, and there were many customs to celebrate.
Both many successes and problems arose within these new industrial cities. One of these problems was that of the transportation issue. To some, the densely populated cities were difficult to navigate. Often having populations in the hundreds of thousands, these cities were only a few square miles in size. One of the first inventions created to tackle this problem was the omnibus. The omnibus was similar to a horse drawn carriage, except that it was much longer. "Putting the car on iron tracks then enabled the horses to pull more passengers at a faster clip through crowded city streets" (Henretta, 2009). An improvement over the omnibus came later in the form of the electric trolley. The trolley was a carriage th...
With the lack of canals or other means of transportation, it was almost impossible for many farmers to reach distant cities or waterways to get their goods to market.
Szostak, R. 1991. Role of transportation in the industrial revolution : A comparison of england and france. Montreal, QC, CAN: McGill-Queen's University Press.
Transportation in the North was very different than in the South. In the North, thousands of miles of roads and canals transported goods and people. There were also many Steamboats and Clipper ships that moved quickly through the water. Using these ways of transportation cut a journeys time in half. The Clipper ships were able to move 300 miles per day. Railroads...
Transportation was a large factor in the market revolution. During the years of 1815 and 1840, there were many forms of improved transportation. Roads, steamboats, canals, and railroads lowered the cost and shortened the time of travel. By making these improvements, products could be shipped into other areas for profit (Roark, 260). Steamboats set off a huge industry and by 1830, more than 700 steamboats were in operating up and down the Ohio and Mississippi River (Roark, 261). Steamboats also had some flaws, due to the fact of deforesting the paths along the rivers. Wood was needed to refuel the power to the boat. The carbon emissions from the steamboats polluted the air (Roark, 261). The building of roads was a major connecting point for states. There were some arguments of who would pay for...
Travel by land and water was both tedious and expensive. Transporting one ton of goods across states would cost around 100 dollars or 1,265 dollars in today’s money. In the 1790s, land routes connecting the east coast and the farther western regions of the United States were undeveloped. Along with this, when weather conditions were poor land routes could not support any sort of dependable shipping by wagon, or even travel by horseback. Natural waterways provided the most dependable method of transport west of Albany. Even travel by waterway in this time period was inconvenient because these water routes were unreliable due to shallow water and raging rapids.
Have you ever wondered what people in the Elizabethan Era wore? Fashion was just as important in those days as it is to some people today. What people were wearing mattered to others, and even the government. During the Elizabethan Era clothing, accessories, and cosmetics were all a part of daily life.
At the beginning of the industrial revolution in England during the mid-nineteenth century, the railroad was the most innovative mode of transportation known. The British Rail system was a forerunner in railroad technology, uses, and underground engineering. Though the rail system was extremely slow at first and prohibitively expensive to build and run, the British were not to be dissuaded in their pursuit of non-animal driven transportation. The most advanced mode of transportation prior to the introduction of the rail system was the horse drawn omnibus on a track, called a tram. This paper will examine the rail system from a cultural perspective, presenting the impact the railway had on everyday lives in Victorian London and its surrounding communities.
Communication and transportation also enhanced during this period. Three main types of transportation that developed during the Industrial Revolution were waterways, roads and railroads. The cheapest way to carry iron and coal is transported on waterways. Businessman and merchants used big ships to carry cargos, and th...
Before the industrial revolution, transportation played a huge role in daily life. The only way to make money was to trade goods, but the only method of transportation was the wagon and horse. It took ages to transport from one place to another. Improved technology brought railroads and canals. These made transportation cheaper and 100 times more efficient. This not only made more money but brought jobs when trying to build the railroads. The canals were overcrowded so the government made laws to improve them (“Industrial Revolution” 1). Overall the in...