18th and 19th Century Britain

Question 1

Name factors that increased crime (4)

Answer 1

1. People travelling more meaning more strangers
2. Larger towns made it easier to escape
3. Criminals became professionals within dens or gangs of thieves
4. Extreme poverty lead to survival crimes

Question 2

Why did highway robbery increase in the 18th Century? (3)

Answer 2

1. Improved roads led to more travelling
2. Increased trade meant more goods and money were transported by road
3. Many roads were isolated

Question 3

Changes in poaching in 18th Century (3)

Answer 3

1. Poaching gangs worked on a large scale
2. 1723 Waltham Act made poaching a capital offence
3. The act also made it illegal to carry snares or own hunting dogs

Question 4

Changes in smuggling in 18th Century (3)

Answer 4

1. Increased as tax on imported goods was so high
2. Large gangs of smugglers (Hawkhurst Gang) smuggled huge volumes of goods
3. Taxes were cut in 1840s and smuggling decreased

Question 5

Name 4 types of people involved in smuggling

Answer 5

1. Smugglers themselves
2. Those who traded with smugglers
3. Those who bought smuggled goods
4. Those who gave smugglers alibis

Question 6

Why did people like smugglers?

Answer 6

They brought them cheap goods and believed the government were unreasonable

Question 7

Name 3 reasons why witchcraft stopped being a crime

Answer 7

1. Economic and social changes = prosperity and political stability
2. Most of the educated became less superstitious
3. Royal Society (set up by Charles II) led to increased scientific experiments which gave some explanations

Question 8

Explain the significance of the Tolpuddle Martyrs (4)

Answer 8

1. Shows authorities used laws to criminalise people they viewed as a threat
2. Government would protect the interests of employers at the expense of workers
3. Pardoning of the martyrs shows impact of public opinion
4. Martyrs inspired some to fight for workers rights

Question 9

Write a narrative of the Tolpuddle Martyrs (6)

Answer 9

1. 1834 a group of farm workers formed a ‘friendly society’ to protest low wages compared to other farm workers
2. Government felt they lost control of farm workers. 6 men arrested for taking secret oaths - an old law intended to stop Naval mutinies
3. 6 found guilty at trial and receive max sentence of 7 years transportation to Australia to deter others from forming trade unions
4. News spread quickly and there were mass protests and a petition of 200,000 signatures against their punishment
5. Home Secretary continued with punishment anyway
6. Protests continued and in 1836 martyrs were pardoned and returned home

Question 10

Continuity in policing from Early modern to 18th century (3)

Answer 10

1. Watchmen patrolled cities on foot at night
2. Parish constables dealt with petty crime
3. Soldiers put down riots and large protest across the country

Question 11

Changes in policing form early modern to 18th century (2)

Answer 11

1. 1749 Bow street runners tracked down criminals and stolen property
2. 1754 Bow Street Horse Patrols patrolled the streets

Question 12

Describe the Bow Street Runners (4)

Answer 12

1. Established London 1749 at Bow Street Court to try to tackle the huge crime wave of 17th century
2. Charged fees and collected rewards but by 1785 they were paid by the government
3. Patrolled major roads on foot and horse
4. They shared information on crimes and suspects with others

Question 13

Create a timeline of the development of the police force 1829-1900 (6)

Answer 13

1. 1829 = Metropolitan Police Act Britain’s first professional police force
2. 1835 = Municipal Corporations Act where councils set up police forces in their area (but only half did)
3. 1839 = Rural Constabulary Act where countries could set up police forces
4. 1842 = Detective department set up at MET headquarters in London
5. 1856 = Police Act forced all counties to set up a professional police force
6. 1878 = Criminal Investigations Department set up for MET

Question 14

1856 Police Act (3)

Answer 14

1. Made police forces compulsory for the whole country
2. Funded by government and regularly inspected
3. Aim was to deter crime

Question 15

Write a timeline for punishments starting 1610 (12)

Answer 15

1. 1610 = Transportation to America
2. 1770 = Eastern Australia claimed for Britain
3. 1774 = Gaol Act
4. 1776 = American War of Independence stops transportation to USA
5. 1787 = Transportation to Australia
6. 1787-1868 = Over 160,000 transported to Australia
7. 1822 = Last hanging for shoplifting
8. 1823 = Goals Act
9. 1825 = End of bloody code
10. 1842-77 = 90 new prisons built
11. 1850s = Transportation slows down
12. 1868 = Transportation abolished and no more public executions

Question 16

Factors that changed views on the purpose of punishments

Answer 16

1. They should be equal to the crime committed
2. Corporal and capital punishments were inhumane apart from very serious crimes
3. Punishment should also be about rehabilitating the offender

Question 17

Why did Transportation end by 1868? (4)

Answer 17

1. Australia no longer needed forced labourers and it didn’t want criminals
2. Too expensive and not enough to deter crime
3. Too harsh for both the criminals and their families
4. More prisons had been built

Question 18

Describe Elizabeth fry (3)

Answer 18

1. Visited women in Newgate Prison in 1813
2. Set up education classes to reform female prisoners
3. Got them better food and clothes

Question 19

What led to the 1774 Gaol Act?

Answer 19

John Howard’s work

Question 20

Describe Pentonville Prison (7)

Answer 20

1. Wings housed individual cells and a staff base
2. Walls were thick to prevent communication
3. Each cell was 4m x 2m
4. Loom for working on
5. Small barred window
6. Bed, mattress and blanket
7. Wash basin and toilet

Question 21

Reasons for a separate system (3)

Answer 21

1. Rehabilitation - solitude = reflection and prisoners could not be influenced by others
2. Retribution - Isolation and boredom made the criminal pay
3. Deterrent - serious punishment so deterred others

Question 22

Strengths of the separate system (2)

Answer 22

1. Clean and less disease compared to previous prisons

2. Provided the right level of punishment

Question 23

Weaknesses of the separate system (2)

Answer 23

1. Continuous isolation led to mental illness and high suicide rates
2. No education to provide prisoners with new skills for prisoners to use when they were released

Question 24

Metropolitan Police Act 1829 (2)

Answer 24

1. 1822 Peel set up parliamentary committee to look into issue of policing which helped him with the idea of centralised police force
2. Crime wave resulting from economic downturn in 1826 helped Peel get it through parliament

Question 25

What did the 1823 Goals Act state? (3)

Answer 25

1. Chaplains regularly visit prisons
2. Gaolers should be paid
3. Prisoners should not be put in chains

Question 26

What did Robert Peel want?

Answer 26

1. Less harsh punishments for petty crimes

2. Try to reform petty criminals rather than kill them

Question 27

Metropolitan Police officers (6)

Answer 27

1. Prevent crime and disorder
2. Recruits carefully selected and well trained
3. Members had uniform
4. Members usually unarmed
5. Focused on patrolling areas where crime was high
6. Not popular at first but public began to trust them