18th and 19th century Britain Flashcards
What years are 18th - 19th century Britain?
1700-1900
Factors causing an increase of crime.
Growing population in towns: The growth of towns and cities from the 18th century led to an increase in their population. The British people were no longer scattered across the countryside but focused in cities and towns.
Some parts of cities such as London became overcrowded and attracted crimes such as petty theft and pickpocketing. The people who committed these crimes were often called the ‘criminal underclass’. In the busy town and city centres, those who committed these crimes were not as easily noticed as they would have been in the past.
List new crime in the 18th and 19th century
Highway robbery,
What was highway robbery?
Highway robbers would attack stagecoaches while they were travelling to and from towns and cities. They would wait for travellers to slow down or stop at staging posts for a rest and then advance on horseback.Highway robbery happened frequently on the roads around London, and those involved were ruthless and violent. Patrols were set up around London and rewards were offered for information about those involved in highway robbery.
Why did highway robbery increase?
Handguns became easier to obtain and horses became cheaper to buy.Some soldiers struggled to find work after they returned from war and fell into crime.There was no police force in the 18th century, which meant that criminals could not be easily tracked across Britain.
Improved roads led to more eople travelling. Increased trade between towns meant more goods and money were transported by road. Many roads were isolated, making it easy to pull off the robbery.
Why did highway robberies later decline?
Highway robbery began to decline once the road surfaces improved and stagecoaches could travel more quickly, allowing victims to escape more easily. Travellers were also helped by the introduction of mounted patrols along major roads. Developments in the banking system meant that travellers no longer had to carry large sums of money, which made them less of a target. The last reported case of highway robbery was in 1831.
Who is a notable highway robber?
Dick Turpin, he was executed in 1739 after being found guilty of horsetheft.
What crimes continued in 18th and 19th century Britain?
Poaching and Smuggling.
What was poaching like?
The 1723 Black Act was passed after groups of poachers took part in a series of poaching raids. The act made hunting deer, rabbits or hare a crime that was punishable by death. The act also made it illegal to ‘blacken the face’ in an area of hunting (for camouflage), carry snares (traps), or keep dogs suitable for hunting and poaching.
A group of poachers from the surrounding areas of Hampshire, known as the Waltham Blacks, took part in a poaching raid, where they took the Bishop’s deer and stole a shipment of the King’s wine. The group was arrested and hanged.
Why were poaching laws unpopular to people?
Poachers were just poor people who needed food, the law existed to protect the wealth of landowners, the death penalty was too harsh a punishment Anyone who owned land worth £100 or more could hunt without restrictions.
What was smuggling like?
People continued to smuggle tea, cloth, wine and alcohol into Britain without paying any customs duty. This was especially common and popular in coastal areas.The government needed the import duties and saw smuggling as a serious crime. The punishment for smuggling was the death penalty.
The Hawkhurst Gang smuggled along the south coast. In 1747, they seized back their smuggled tea, brandy, rum and coffee after breaking into the customs house in Poole. A year later the leaders of the gang, Arthur Gray and Thomas Kingsmill, were hanged.
Why was smuggling hard to stop?
Ordinary people would ignore smuggling because they benefitted and were happy to pay lower prices for goods. Smugglers were regarded as heroes. Many locals in coastal areas collaborated with smuggler gangs, maintaining boats and hiding cargo until it was sold on.
Smugglers worked at night and there were miles of unpoliced coastline where smugglers could easily store their cargo in secret. The smuggling gangs used violence and were feared.There were not enough customs officers to enforce the law.
Decline of witchcraft
The religious upheaval that had dominated the years c.1500 to c.1700 had passed and the last execution for heresy was in 1612. During the 18th and 19th centuries, most educated people no longer believed in witchcraft allegations. The Witchcraft Act was repealed in 1736, which decriminalised witchcraft as a capital crime. It was now mostly regarded as a crime of deception carried out by confidence artists.
Why did witchcraft decline?
Economic and social changes led to more prosperity and political stability. The Royal Society, set up by Charles II, led to increased scientific experiments, which explained things previously thought to be the work of witches.
Explain the lead up to the tolpuddle martyrs.
The French Revolution took place in 1789. The French monarchy was overthrown and members of the ruling class were guillotined. As a result, the British government feared that revolution led by the working classes would follow and be successful in Britain too. In the early 19th century, there were further uprisings in France. British landowners and politicians saw every protest as a potential threat to their power. They feared that the start of a similar revolution would destabilise their place in society. This led them to punish protest harshly.
Local labourers, led by George Loveless, asked their employers to increase their wage after it had been cut several times. Their wage was six shillings a week when farm labourers earned ten shilling a week on average. The farm owners refused and cut their wages furtherIn 1833, the labourers set up a union called the Friendly Society of Agricultural Labourers. Each man took a secret oath to support the union. However, the farm owners found out and were determined to break the union. The government then reintroduced a navy law that banned sailors from taking a secret oath and made all secret oaths illegal. They also changed the definition of crime and made all secret oaths a crime against authority.
What was the punishment of the Tolpuddle Martyrs.
George Loveless and the other members of the union were arrested and sentenced to seven years’ transportation to Australia in an attempt to deter others from forming a trade union. People protested against this, there was a petition of over 200,000 signatures. They were pardoned in 1836 and returned home.
