Examiner’s Specific Advice

This question is testing several skills and also your knowledge of the topic. Because the question is about a major theme, you are expected to know the main details, in this case the circumstances surrounding Parliament’s decision to repeal the Corn Laws. You are also being required to provide a historical explanation and make a substantiated judgement.

As always with an essay-type question, relevance is the key – your answer can be reasonably concise as long as you address the precise question. Relevance is more important than elegance of style. A short, well-focused introduction will help to give direction to your answer and you will need to round off with a conclusion which summarises your main line of argument and offers a judgement in relation to the question.

The key thing is not to narrate and describe, but to keep the precise question in mind. Clearly your answer should evaluate the extent to which the ACLL’s campaign was responsible for the eventual repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846. However, in assessing ‘How important?’ you will need to evaluate any other factors which contributed to the repeal before reaching a final judgement.

Most importantly, whatever the approach, do make a judgement and back it up with evidence, either with a concluding paragraph, or throughout the essay.

For an essay-type answer of this sort you should have a plan, since you will probably be writing several paragraphs.

Exemplar Question

2 (04) How important was the campaign of the Anti-Corn Law League in persuading Parliament to repeal the Corn Laws in 1846?  [24 marks]

Plan

• Introduction – outline of historical debate
• The ACLL’s campaign and its effectiveness
• Other factors leading to repeal – Peel and the Irish famine
• Conclusion

View Exemplar Answer 1

View Exemplar Answer 2