Britain by 1885

Question 1

Hugh Cunningham

Answer 1

By 1885 GB had become more democratic. The steps taken towards democracy had a certain bureaucratic logic, a tidying up of anomalies and discrepancies like the distinction between county and borough seats and franchises. Steps towards democracy also driven by public demand. The fact that the electorate could now determine the govt had considerable impact; leaders redefined their relationship to MPs and supporters in the country, and the organisation of this support became more important. But if people at the time thought of themselves as living in a democracy, the limitations of democracy even after the TRA were striking. Still excluded 70% of adults from the franchise and the act denied the vote to some who had every claim to respectability while granting it to others who were without any. Pessimists may have disliked democracy but they could be under few illusions that in due course there would be no more of it

Question 2

What was the arguement against reform in the 1820s and 1830s

Answer 2

The governing class argued that parliament had functioned for hundreds of years so there was no need to change it; reform would lead to demand for further reform and had the potential to cause revolution and anarchy. Believed it would be impossible to trust the illiterate masses with power, and reform to parliament would lead to demands for reform in other areas. Most of the aristocrats did not want to share power with the middle classes. To abolish rotten and pocket boroughs was seen as property confiscation without compensation. They thought parliament would be at the mercy of public opinion

Question 3

Why were these arguements flawed

Answer 3

These arguements denied industiralisation and denied the fact that it had enacted unprecedented change on society and economy

Question 4

How did the SRA change the attitude of the parties

Answer 4

Realised that if they were to win elections they needed policies and party organisation to swing public opinion in their favour

Question 5

How did the TRA change the attitude towards the working class

Answer 5

They were no longer to be seen as they untrustworthy, illiterate masses: as children would now be compelled to go to school and learn to read and write and perform basic arithmetic

Became clear to the Cs and Ls that they could no longer displease the large working class electorate with things like hostile TU legislation or ignoring their social needs

Question 6

Terms of TRA

Answer 6

In the counties the vote was given to all male householders over 21 and £10 lodgers

£10 occupier franchise was created for those living in shops or offices

This made the franchise the same in counties and boroughs

Question 7

Terms of 1885 Redistribution of Seats Act

Answer 7

Boroughs with pop under 15k lost both MPs

Boroughs under 50k lost one

142 seats redistributed

Question 8

Describe the pressure for the TRA

Answer 8

Pressure from the National Liberation Federation and the radical wing of the Liberal Party to extend the franchise to working men in the countryside

Question 9

Who did the TRA grant the vote to

Answer 9

Agricultural labourers and miners from the rural areas

Question 10

How much did the TRA increase the franchise

Answer 10

From 3 to 6 mil out of a pop of 35 mil. For the first time a majority of adult males could vote

Question 11

What did the redistribution of seats act attempt to do

Answer 11

Make the distribution of MPs proportionate to constituency sizes and end the over representation of the rural areas and the under representation of the industrial towns and cities

Question 12

Why is it perhaps odd that the new working class voters were happy with the choice between Cs and Ls

Answer 12

Because they would soon come to desire a party representing working class interests

Question 13

Who became MPs for the first time following the 1874 GE

Answer 13

Two members of the working class

Question 14

How was female emancipation advanced

Answer 14

G allowed single female householders to vote in local elections, propertied women could serve on school boards and from 1875 women could be Poor Law Guardians

Question 15

Limitations of TRA

Answer 15

Voting still linked to complex property related qualifications and there were therefore significant groups who didn’t qualify for a vote. Adult sons from middle class backgrounds who were still living with their family, live in servants and paupers (made up 12% of the adult male pop). Helps explain Cunningham’s idea that the vote denied the franchise to some who had every right to it. Many men who had the right to vote, mainly unskilled workers, could not as they had no documentation to prove their qualification and so could not get on the electoral register

Question 16

Evaluate democracy by 1885

Answer 16

Most of the working classes were enfranchised, influence of landed classes substantially reduced and Britain was much more democratic than pre-1832, but universal suffrage had not yet been achieved

Question 17

Williams and Ramsden

Answer 17

Despite the growing sense that there was a working class and no a number of separate working classes, in 1885 there were still big obstacles to working class political participation. Britain was in no serious sense a democracy, as 1/3 of adult men and all adult women did not have the right to vote even after the TRA. Unclear which sections of the community were excluded; inlcuded middle class sons living with parents and lodgers in transcient occupations. Also working class men excluded due to franchise being based on the value of property occupied, naturally excluding the poorest. The excessive complexity of the registration system made it difficult and expensive for the uneducated the claim their rights; over time this obstacle became less significant and the class bias in the electorate became less important

Question 18

What is the general opinion about when the depression occurred

Answer 18

From 1873 until the 1890s

Question 19

Give an example of one of the periods of marked cyclical downturns during the depression

Answer 19

The one between 1882-6

Question 20

Why was there a fall in demand for British goods

Answer 20

Because they were now facing foreign competition

Question 21

Confidence in what had eroded by 1885

Answer 21

Britain’s economic dominance - as prices and profits fell in industry and agriculture

Question 22

How did the govt respond to the perceived depression in 1885

Answer 22

Sufficiently anxious about the economy to set up a Royal Commission to inquire about the depression of industry and trade. Its remit was to report on ‘the extent, nature and probable cause of the depression prevailing in various branches of trade and industry’. The majority report concluded that agricultural prices had been falling since 1873 and that the downward trend had continued. Noted an increase in production of most other commodities, but in many instances supply outstripped demand. This led to reduced profits, lower prices and lower rates of interest on investment. There were issues related to foreign competition. The report also commented that there were encouraging signs for the future

Question 23

How did McCord and Purdue think society was changing by this time

Answer 23

On the verge of a new modern society. Moving into an era of mass politics, mass unionism, mass education, mass production mass consumption and ultimately a mass society

Question 24

How was the class system still a dominant feature of society despite this change

Answer 24

Although Victorians believed that a person could improve their social position through hard work and self improvement. While it was possible to move from the working class to the middle class, it was virtually impossible to move into the upper classes, except through marriage or exceptional wealth creatio

Question 25

How did the class system influence the parties

Answer 25

In spite of political reform Britain was still largely governed by the landed aristocracy, although the political power and social influence of men with industrial wealth had made inroads into this elite group. Social differences developing in the parties and by 1885 the conservatives tended to come from the landowning classes, while Ls tended to come from the professions, commerce and industry. Little difference among supporters, however, as middle class voters were split between the big two. Neither the L nor the Cs satisfied the new working class voters. The desire to have their voice heard led to the emergence of the Labour party in the decades to come

Question 26

State of religion

Answer 26

Regular church going was a feature of stable, respectable family life and church building had been a feature of urban development that moved in tandem with pop growth until the 1880s

Question 27

Position of women

Answer 27

Paradoxical as the monarch was female. McCord and Purdue said the dominant rhetoric insisted upon distinct and separate roles for the sexes, the exclusion of women from politics and male dominance with regard to divorce and property. Female position in the home as mother and wife represented stability, respectability and virtue. Many women regarded these attitudes as condescending and restrictive and wanted opportunities in education and employment. NUWSS launched in 1887

Question 28

Living standards

Answer 28

Poor living standards and miserable conditions remained the norm for the most. Booming economy did not remove poverty. In 1886 Charles Booth’s survey of London shocked the comfortable, confident Victorians with the conclusion that 30% in London lived in poverty.

Question 29

McCord and Purdue

Answer 29

The coming of mass politics and mass society was mostly urban and included things like efficient transport systems, well organised spectator sports, the telephone, newspapers and magazines with large circulations. Ever more urban; religion remained important but less central to the lives of the majority; consumerism and commercialism transformed the lifestyles of all classes; more words and pictures printed and seen by more people; the views and wants of the majority became more important; government intruded more socially, political and economically; although Britain remained powerful and confident there were worries about economic competitiveness and military ability

Question 30

Keith Robbins

Answer 30

While traffic receipts and operating profits of most railway companies steadily grew, the number of new lines constructed dropped sharply. Limit to the number of small seaside towns that could be equipped with a railway for just two months a year. The Great Central Railway was the last major railway and the return on investment was poor. The construction of the Forth Bridge and the Severn Tunnel in the 1880s brought major improvements to the railway system

Question 31

Negative consequences of depression

Answer 31

Rate of production in the major industries of coal, cotton and steel was still increasing but at a slower rate. Fall in prices which meant smaller profit margins for the manufacturers, so workers laid off more frequently. Periods of unemployment during these years but they were not sustained. While the depression in agriculture continued, there was a brief recovery in industry by 1880, but another less severe slump occurred around 1885, during which unemployment rose to a high point of almost 10% of the working pop. Steady fall in prices since the early 1870s, possibly because of a shortage of gold to support currency, or because Britain had come to the end of a long period of economic growth that could not be sustained

Question 32

Indicators that there was no so much a depression

Answer 32

Signs of increases in Britain’s manufacturing output, with the appearance of many new smaller industries, such as the manufacture of boots and shoes, chocolate, soap, tobacco and beer, which all successfully developed at this time

Question 33

What was the scramble for africa

Answer 33

The competition between several European countries to take what was left of the vulnerable underdeveloped territories in Africa in order to bring more resources, markets and new outlets for capital investment

Question 34

What did Britain depend on to maintain its position of economic supremacy in world markets

Answer 34

Export trade

Question 35

Why was this not an issue

Answer 35

Because it enjoyed near monopoly in the production and export of the key industrial commodities - coal, iron and steel

Question 36

Why was the US able to race ahead in economic development

Answer 36

Rich in natural resources and manpower from European migration

Question 37

State of trade

Answer 37

The tariffs introduced by Germany in 1879 were a problem and Britain held on to its long term belief in laissez faire. D decided to continue the belief in free trade which meant no tariff protections were introduced to protect industries from foreign competition. The Fair Trade League established in 1881 and they pressed the govt for some form of protection, without success. Been suggested by several historians that the scramble for africa during the 1880s had as an underlying motivation the idea that securing colonial territories would allow for trade protection. Colonial expansion would give access to a new supply of raw materials and markets for British goods

Question 38

State of innovation

Answer 38

By 1885 Britain was falling behind in the latest tech and its machinery was either old or obsolete. There was a reluctance to invest new capital, especially in the steel industry. Perception that the entrepreneurial spirit of earlier industrialists was disappearing as the management of family firms was handed down to less interested or capable successors. Little engagement with future development of new industries such as chemicals and electrical engineering. Robbins says the railway building boom had ended by 1875, as most major towns and cities already had good rail links. This reduced demand for iron and steel led to job losses

Question 39

State of the agricultural industry

Answer 39

By 1885 the depression had not lifted. Falling prices forced down rents and the prices of commodities like wool and wheat plummeted. The weather could always tip to balance between survival and ruin; the summer of 1879 was the wettest on record. Crops rotted in the ground, shortage of animal feed, outbreaks of disease among livestock, such as foot and mouth and swine fever. Difficult for farmers to get back on track following these disasters. With agricultural immunity already low, recovery was made more difficult due to foreign competition.

Advances in farm machinery, particularly the combine harvester from the USA revolutionised the process of harvesting. The development of the canning process in the 1880s meant that beef from the large cattle ranges in Argentina and Uruguay could be put into tins to preserve it and then exported to Britain. Methods of refridgeration that developed at this time meant that previously perishable goods like lamb could be transported as far afield as Australia and NZ, and they could compete with British goods in terms of price

The result of these innovations and advances meant fierce competition for the British farmer and a continuing fall in prices. The price of wheat fell from 55 shillings a quarter in 1874 to 31 shillings in 1885. The hardest hit areas were the wheat and cereal counties of the south and east. By 1885 many farmers were bankrupt; many unemployed agricultural labourers settled in the towns. Life was not much easier for them there as the depression in industry made finding regular work difficult. Some sought a better life by moving to the USA or Canada

Pattern of British agriculture was changing by 1885, partly as a result of the depression. No region of the country was unaffected and to survive British farmers had to diversify. Farmers in south Scotland, Warwickshire and Lancashire were less badly affected as these areas were already concentrated on mixed farming. In some areas there were successful new developments and in others there was less scope for change. Some farmers were slow to spot the need for change. Many farmers moved into dairy farming as milk could not be easily imported and could quickly be transported some distance in Britain by rail. Poultry farming became popular. The development of market gardening as an alternative to farming was met with success, especially in areas like the Vale of Evesham and the Thames Valley where fruit, flowers and veg grew well. In Britain as a whole the area under cultivation fell, while the area turned over to pasture increased