The 17th century was a time of political and social upheaval in England, particularly the period from about 1640 to 1660. Certain forms of pronunciation or vocabulary may have lost or gained prestige, as parts of the upper echelons of society were replaced by people from lower classes. The increase in trade around the world meant that the English port towns (and their forms of speech) would have gained in influence over the old county towns. England experienced a new period of internal peace and relative stability, encouraging the arts including literature, from around the 1690s on onwards. Another important episode in the development of the English language started around 1600: THE BRITISH SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA.
