1750-1900

Question 1

Why did Industrialisation?

Answer 1

Many new factories were built which meant there were more goods to steal.

Question 2

Why did Urbanisation

Answer 2

The population of Britain massively grew. 1750 there were around 6 million people but by 1850 there were 21 million and 37 million by 1900. This led to falling wages, by 1/3 between 1815-1822 and the price of bread rising. This led to many being unable to feed their children.

Question 3

Why did Class divisions cause crime?

Answer 3

There was a massive divide between the rich and poor. In the 19th century the upper and middle classes moved of industrial cities and they built large villas in the countryside. Working class people lived in overcrowded conditions.

Question 4

Why did Poverty cause crime?

Answer 4

Urban poverty: Life for the labouring poor was hard. Lodging houses were where people would stay when they had newly arrived in the city. They were full of strangers living together in crowded and dirty conditions.

Rural poverty: many were poor. George Mitchell, grew up in a labouring family in Somerset and was often so hungry he ate turnips from the field and collected snails to roast for tea. In the 1870s and 1880s agriculture slumped and it was a time of hardship.

In 1815 many returned from the Napoleonic wars and there was no work for them

Question 5

Why did railways cause crime?

Answer 5

1830 the first railway opened from Liverpool to Manchester. 1830s-1840s railways were built across Britain.

Question 6

Why did Alcohol cause crime?

Answer 6

Pubs played a major role in the lives of many labouring people. The pub provided a warm, well-lit and pleasant escape from the slums. Some poorer people became addicted to alcohol and drank too much. There was even a ‘gin craze’ in 1751. Drunkenness led to violence. It became such an issue that the temperance movement was formed to persuade people to stop drinking.

Question 7

Why did The growth of democracy change crime?

Answer 7

Until 1832, only 5% of the population voted. People protested and in 1832 the Reform act gave the vote to middle class men and allowed the larger towns to have 2 MPs. In 1867 and 1884 the vote was extended to working class men. The government became more involved in changing society.

Question 8

Why did Changes in belief change crime?

Answer 8

The period of enlightenment was a period of change (the age of reasoning). Jeremy Bentham proposed many legal and social changes.

Question 9

Why did Growing literacy change crime?

Answer 9

Charities and churches began to provide schools for poorer children. In 1870 an education act provided schools for all children under 10. This meant more people could read and write and more people wanted to read newspapers. Daily and weekly newspapers played a part in people’s lives. In 1864 the police news was published containing sensational stories of murder and hangings.

Question 10

Why did The British empire change crime?

Answer 10

The empire was growing. At the end of the 18th century Britain had control of India and James Cook in 1770 travelled to the East coast of Australia. 13 years later the government put forward a proposal to establish a settlement in New South Wales (Australia).

Question 11

What was conservative thinking?

Answer 11

Conservative thinkers blamed the spread of crime on the bad ‘moral habits’ of the poor, the worst of these being drunkenness. These people thought that alcohol was the main reason for the increase in crime rates. This led to the temperance movement that tried to ban drinking

Question 12

What was radical thinking?

Answer 12

They argued that the poor environment in which many working class children grew up in was, in fact, the main cause of crime. They placed an emphasis on the lack of education, religion and useful work.

Question 13

What was extreme thinking?

Answer 13

People with this ideology believed that poor people made a deliberate choice to become criminals instead of working. Criminals knew what they were doing was wrong, but did it anyway. There was little recognition that poverty might lead to crime through genuine need. They believed you could identify criminals by the shapes of their skull.

Question 14

What changed in capital punishment?

Answer 14

Long drop = 15ft rope that would break the persons neck and make the death quicker. New drop = hangings happened behind walls rather than public entertainment as this led to other crimes. Fewer executions due to the Bloody Code ending.

Question 15

An example of capital punisment

Answer 15

Kate Webster 1879 hanged at Wandsworth gaol. She murdered the lady she worked for – Mrs Thompson

Question 16

What is transportation?

Answer 16

Transporting criminals allowed the government to get rid of people and help build the Britain’s new territory. Getting taken to an unknown place would deter people.

· May 1787, 11 ships, carrying 736 convicts set off for Australia. 8 months later they arrived at Botany Bay. 48 convicts died on the journey. · Between 1787-1868 around 160,000 convicts were transported to Australia. 1830s 5000 people a year sent there.
· 80% of convicts had stolen food, clothing or items of small value. · Those in Australia did not want prisoners sent to their colony. They called transportation the ‘stain’ and wanted it ended.
· 1868 ended due to complaints against rate payers who had to support families of those transported.

Question 17

An example of transportation

Answer 17

The oldest transportee was 82 year old Dorthy Handland. 11 year old – James Grace who had stolen ribbon, and a pair of silk stockings.

Question 18

The Milbank fail

Answer 18

Milbank penitentiary failed due to prison revolt and where it was built. It cost £450,000 and opened in 1816 and was a failure which meant the government didn’t build any more prisons until 1842.

Question 19

The Gaol act

Answer 19

1823 Gaols Act – JPs had to visit gaols, each category of prisoner had their own area in prison, women prisoners supervised by female warders, every prisoner have a sleeping cell, governors, surgeons and chaplains ha to visit prisoners regularly.

Question 20

Elizabeth Fry

Answer 20

Quaker- Worked in Newgate prison 1813. Discovered 300 women cramped into a space meant for 50. Women slept on the floor with no night clothes and some were still awaiting trial. She established a school for women and promoted reading the bible. The women were divided into 12 groups based on age and offence.

Question 21

John Howard

Answer 21

1773- high sheriff and shocked at prisoners. Discovered gaolers were not paid but lived of fees paid by prisoners. Persuaded parliament to pass: · The Discharged Prisoners Act: Gaolers were no longer allowed to charge prisoners a ‘discharge’ fee. · The Health of Prisoners Act: Prisons had to be clean and whitewashed, they had to have baths and sick prisoners were to be kept separate to prevent the spread of disease.

Question 22

What reccommendations did John Howard make?

Answer 22

He went further with reforms and wrote his well-known work ‘The State of Prisons’ 1777, which recommended that: · Prisons should be built near a supply of clean water · Gaolers should live in the prison and be paid a salary · Different ‘categories’ of prisoners should have their own blocks · Each prisoner should have their own sleeping cell · Prisoners should have adequate food and clean clothes

Question 23

The separate system?

Answer 23

Separate system- prisoners were by themselves at all time and this led to depression and suicide

Question 24

Silent system?

Answer 24

Silent system – made prisoners work in silence and do hard labour jobs e.g. crank, treadmill, shot put. In the 1860s prisons got harsher due to a number of people being choked and killed on London’s streets. 1863 flogging re-introduced and 1865 Prisons Act emphasised hard labour.

Question 25

An example of the silent system

Answer 25

John Hearne, 12 year old experience silent system 1873.

Question 26

An example of prison

Answer 26

1895 Oscar Wilde imprisoned for homosexuality. He was in Wandsworth gaol and due to hard labour this led to ill health and he was moved to Reading gaol.