As Queen of England

       On November 17 1558, I rode into London ready for my coronation. That evening, I became Queen of England and Ireland. Mary had left quite a mess to clean up. England was at war with France. This war was using the little money the country had, so there were drastic economic problems. I was 25 years old and feeling a little overwhelmed. I made my good friend William Cecil first secretary and my closest advisor. After ending the war with France, I set to fixing England. Encouraging the arts and politics was important to me. Parliament was created. England was spilt into 32 different sections. Two representatives from each section could be nominated to sit in parliament and speak for their section. I also limited nobles’ power over towns and cities, allowing the people to grow and flourish by selling charters to them. Charters were documents that stated how much a town could govern itself. The charters also stated what taxes and tolls the city would be allowed to collect. In 1580, London’s population was expanding at huge rates and bursting through the seams of the city. To help solve this problem, I put in place a law. This limit on growth directed that no new buildings could be built in the city of London unless a building was occupying the lot previously.  This worked well and soon the city had deflated to a manageable size again.  After ruling for 45 years, the longest rein of my time, I died on March 24 1603. The throne was passed peacefully on to James I. He was the son of Mary Queen of Scots. James was smart and continued the path I started for England. I am glad he was able to continue England’s prosperous era.