British Politics & Pitt

Question 1

What was the system of governance in England in the 18th century called?

Answer 1

A constitutional monarchy

Question 2

What was patronage?

Answer 2

The right to give priviledges and make appointments into important positions

Question 3

What were the three key institutions that shared power in 1783?

Answer 3

The King
They House of Lords
The House of Commons

Question 4

Why was the King unable to govern alone?

2 points

Answer 4

The King was bound by oath to govern according to stutues passed by parliament.
The King’s annual funds were approved by the parliament through the Civil List

Question 5

Why was parliament unable to govern alone?

Answer 5

The memebers of parliament relied on the King’s patronage for their own social advancement

Question 6

What were the two parts of the parliament?

Answer 6

House of Lords
House of Commons

Question 7

which was more powerful:
The Lords or the Commons?

Answer 7

The Lords.
However the power of the Commons was steadily rising

Question 8

Who were the members of the House of Lords?

Answer 8

Unelected hereditory peers

Question 9

Who were the members of the House of Commons?

Answer 9

Gentry elected by the landowner electorate

Question 10

What were the qualitites necessary in a prime minister?

Answer 10

Needed to be a prominent member of the party with the majority in the commons
Had to be trusted by the King

Question 11

Was the parliament any more democratic than the monarchy?
Explain your answer

Answer 11

No
Members of parliament mostly consisted of the social elite that was focused in improving their own power through patronages
The electorate in england was extremely limited

Question 12

What was the order of prime ministers coming into power after the loss of the American colonies?

Answer 12

North ; Rockingham ; Shelbourne ; Fox North coaliation ; Pitt

Question 13

How did George use his power to dismiss the Fox-North coaliation?

Answer 13

Threatned to make a lifelong enemy of any peer who voted for the India Bill put forward by the coaliation. This led to the defeat of the bill in the Lords which gave George grounds to dismiss the coaliation.

Question 14

When and what was the India Bill

Answer 14

It was an attempt to root out corruption in the East India company
Put forward by the Fox North coaliation in November 1783

Question 15

When was the Fox-North coaliation defeated?

Answer 15

17 Decemeber 1783

Question 16

When did William Pitt the younger first enter parliament?
What was his initial position?

Answer 16

1782
The chancellor of the Exchequer

Question 17

When was Pitt appointed prime-minister

Answer 17

19 Decemeber 1783

Question 18

How did Fox lose support in the commons?

Answer 18

His outspoken condemnation of the action of the King to whom most of the electorate was still loyal to

Question 19

How did the King use his power to support Pitt in the elction to win the majority in the house of commons?

4 points

Answer 19

• Waited unitl Pitt had a chance to win over the electorate and dissolved parliament in 3 years instead of the usual 7 years so that Pitt could gain the majority in the commons.
• Provided a sizable fund for Pitt to use in his campaigning
• Attempted to influence the vote in goverment controlled boroughs
• Influences a group of voters referred to as the “Kings friends” who voted according to the Kings wishes

Question 20

How did the King use his power to support Pitt in the elction to win the majority in the House of Lords?

Answer 20

Created new peerages among the trading class in London so the influence of the old whig aristocracy which would have supported Fox would be reduced

Question 21

How much was the national debt by 1783 and what was the annual interest?

Answer 21

£240 million
£8 million

Question 22

What was the sinking fund and how successfull was it?

Answer 22

A fund to which Pitt paid £1 million annually
Reduced national debt by £10 million

Question 23

Why could the sinking fund be considered unsuccessfull?

Answer 23

It was a failure as a wartime policy as money kept being taken out to fund the war

Question 24

What were the problems with trade by the time Pitt came into power in 1783?

2 points

Answer 24

there were high and complicated taxes and duties on imports and exports leading to commodities being smuggled in. This was bad for the goverment as taxes composed 3/4 ths of the governments revenue.
England had lost it’s trade relationship with America which was a key market for English goods

Question 25

What were Pitt’s reforms to tackle smuggling and low trade volume

5 points

Answer 25

• Passed the Commutations act in 1784 reducing tax on tea and improving trading with China
• Pitt simplified and lowered many taxes to incentivise legal trade through the consolidation act of 1787
• Passed the Hovering act in 1787 which allowed authorities to consificate smuggling ships within 4 miles of the shore.
• passed an excise bill removing taxes for importing storing and exporting tobacco and spirits
• Formed free trading treaties

Question 26

What was the act under which rates and duties on imports were simplified and reduced?
Which year was it passed in?

Answer 26

Consolidation act
1787

Question 27

Which country did Pitt fail to make a free trading treaty with? Why?

Answer 27

Ireland
British manufacturers feared that they would not be able to compete with the pricing set by Irish manufacturers as the Irish had lower wages (so produced at lower cost )

Question 28

Which country did Pitt successfully make a free trading treaty with?
What was it called?
When was it made?

Answer 28

France
Eden treaty
1786

Question 29

What were the drawbacks of the Eden treaty?

Answer 29

The break out of the French revolution in 1789 led to the negating of any positive effects from it

Question 30

What were the intial consequences of Pitt’s trade reforms?

Answer 30

Lower income from taxes initially
However led to increased volume of legal trade which led to increased taxes as time passed.

Question 31

How did Pitt improved the goverments finance?

Answer 31

Pitt introduced new taxes onto commodities that would be primarily utilised by wealthy and aspiring classes to fill in the money lost from his trade reforms

Question 32

What was the overall outcome of Pitt’s reforms on trade and finance?

two points and a year

Answer 32

By 1793 annual government income rose by £4 million
Value of imports and exports doubled

Question 33

What were Pitt’s reforms to reorganise the administration?

7 points

Answer 33

• Abolished many sinecure offices
• He devised a new budgeting system
• Set up a central stationary station (1784)
• Created a consolidated fund in the central bank to pay taxes into (1785)
• Created an Audit department to curb corruption
• Abolished free post for MP’s (1784)
• Introduced the India Act to curb corruptionin the East India company

Question 34

What is an example for a sinecure office Pitt abolished and how much was it worth?

Answer 34

The clerkship of Pells
worth £3000

Question 35

How big was the middle class by 1800

Answer 35

25% of the population

Question 36

What were the advantages of working in cities rather than in agricultural lands?

Answer 36

higher wages
Consistent work (agriculutral labourers had more work during harvest season and not much work during other periods)

Question 37

what were the disadvantages of working in cities?

4 points

Answer 37

During times of recession workers were laid off
There were no saving opportunities for the working class( all the money was spent on basic necessities)
Extremely unhygenic working conditions
Long working hours

Question 38

What were the working hours and days of an average labourer in a city?

Answer 38

16 hours a day
6 days a week

Question 39

What was the effect of industrialisation on the social division?

Answer 39

The trading and manufacturing class benefitted from industrilisation while the labouring class coontinued to suffer.
This increased social division