4: Social Developments

Question 1

Put the following in order with the highest first:

a. Landowners
b. King
c. Unskilled workers
d. Yeomen
e. Rural/Farm workers
f. Church/Nobility
g. Merchant class
h. Court/Knights
i. Underclass

Answer 1

1. (b) King
2. (h) Court/Knights
3. (f) Church/Nobility
4. (a) Landowners
5. (d) Yeomen
6. (g) Merchant class
7. (e) Rural/Farm workers
8. (c) Unskilled workers
9. (i) Underclass

Question 2

Why did the middle class begin to emerge?

Answer 2

Entrepreneurial men could invest and grow businesses and increase their wealth
They controlled the industrialisation
They began to question the old order

Question 3

True/False: The industrial workforce had secure jobs

Answer 3

False: They would be laid off after an economic downturn and potentially rehired when the economy boomed

Question 4

What was the average wage for an adult male factory worker?

Answer 4

15 shillings (75p)

Question 5

What were the two jobs usually given to children in the factories and what did they have to do in each?

Answer 5

Piecers: Run underneath machines and repair broken threads
Scavengers: Pick up loose threads from under machines

Question 6

What was the average length of a factory worker’s day?

Answer 6

12-14 hours

Question 7

Name 3 punishments given to factory workers

Answer 7

Beatings
Fines
Dunkings in water
Hanging weights from necks
Nailing ears to tables

Question 8

Give 3 effects of factory work on the workers

Answer 8

Mill fever
Death
Asthma
Disease as it would spread easily
Soft/bendy bones
Joint damage
Mutilations from machines

Question 9

True/False: Prices increased more than wages meaning lower real wages

Answer 9

True: Prices increased and fell along with wages, but they were always higher

Question 10

What effect did war have on the standard of living?

Answer 10

Wages rose but so did prices and taxation so the improvements in the standard of living were put on hold

Question 11

What were trade and friendly societies?

Answer 11

They connected workers and provided them with insurance in case of unemployment or sickness; they could also help workers’ families in case of death

Question 12

Plan an answer to this question: ‘The hardships of the labouring classes in the years 1783-1812,a as a result of industrialisation, have been overstated.’ Assess the validity of this view

Answer 12

Was hard: ….

Wasn’t hard: …..