Fact Book: Britain in the 1700s

Britain changed a lot in the 1700s. By 1745 Britain was one of the richest and most powerful countries in the world! In 1707 England and Scotland had joined together to make Great Britain! As if this wasn't enough Britain had a series of new royal families – twice!

• Britain had a huge empire and controlled large parts of America and Canada
• Trading cloth, spices, tobaccos, and food had made Britain rich
• Britain had the biggest navy and the best battleships in the world
• Britain had a Prime Minister and political parties like we have today
• The Parliament changed the rules about who could rule Britain. Roman Catholics were not allowed to rule... this meant James VII and his son James Francis could not be kings. In stead their closest Protestant relatives were allowed
• First the Protestant nephew of James VII, William of Orange became King, and later a relative of Queen Anne, the German George of Hanover, took the throne

But for ordinary people life was still very hard. If you couldn't work you did not get paid and went hungry. If you were ill and couldn't pay a doctor you would die!