Lesson 2

2 Crime and punishment in early modern England: The nature of law enforcement and punishment Quiz: Pearson Edexcel History, Unit 1

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

In partnership with Revision Ninja

Lesson 2, Crime and punishment in early modern England: The nature of law enforcement and punishment: 20 multiple choice questions for the Pearson Edexcel GCSE History (1HI0), Unit 1: Crime and punishment in Britain, c1000–present and Whitechapel, c1870-c1900: crime, policing and the inner city, written with Revision Ninja.

Host it live on the board and students join with a game code on their own devices, or revise alone with Free Play. The answers are revealed in the game.

Host this setFree Play

The 20 questions

  1. What was the primary role of town watchmen in early modern England?

    • Collecting taxes
    • Patrolling streets
    • Judging court cases
    • Conducting executions

  2. Under the Transportation Act of 1717, in which year did convicts first begin to be sent to America?

    • 1718
    • 1697
    • 1751
    • 1787

  3. Which two traditional punishments continued throughout the early modern period?

    • Community and parole
    • Fines and probation
    • Transportation and exile
    • Corporal and capital

  4. What did the Bloody Code feature?

    • Secret ballots
    • Capital offences
    • Tax reforms
    • Church tithes

  5. A convict sent to the American colonies to work in 1720 received which punishment?

    • Transportation
    • Pillory
    • Branding
    • Public whipping

  6. What was a main aim of transportation?

    • Free university
    • Military service
    • Factory labour
    • Removal of offenders

  7. What was a primary goal of corporal punishment?

    • Job training
    • Public deterrence
    • Tax collection
    • Rehabilitation

  8. A thief in 1650 is whipped in public as his punishment. Which type of punishment is this?

    • Probation
    • Corporal punishment
    • Capital punishment
    • Transportation

  9. Which punishment was used for the most serious offences in this period?

    • Community service
    • Capital punishment
    • Probation
    • Fines

  10. Why did towns rely on watchmen?

    • Military orders
    • Royal decrees
    • No national police
    • Church mandates

  11. Which new punishment was introduced alongside continued corporal punishment?

    • Electronic tagging
    • Prison sentences
    • Transportation
    • Community service

  12. Who shared responsibility for policing local communities?

    • Locals and officials
    • Private armies
    • Foreign mercenaries
    • Only the monarch

  13. Which official was responsible for local order within a parish?

    • Parish constable
    • Lord Chancellor
    • Chief Justice
    • Archbishop

  14. Which two penalties were most common for lesser crimes?

    • Exile and hanging
    • Fines and whipping
    • Prison and branding
    • Pillory and torture

  15. Which punishment of this period was not corporal?

    • Pillory
    • Branding
    • Transportation
    • Whipping

  16. A town watch fails to stop a crime. Which system failed?

    • Local policing
    • Royal navy
    • Parliamentary courts
    • National army

  17. What alternative to execution did transportation offer?

    • Life imprisonment
    • Royal pardon
    • Financial debt
    • Sending abroad

  18. Which punishment in early modern England marked an offender's body as a public warning?

    • Solitary confinement
    • Penal servitude
    • Branding
    • Transportation

  19. Which early modern sentence best shows growing state power?

    • Clergy benefit
    • Manorial fines
    • Transportation
    • Trial by ordeal

  20. What were two main aims of early modern punishment?

    • Deterrence and removal
    • Education and therapy
    • Rehab and retraining
    • Shelter and welfare

All Pearson Edexcel History quizzes