Changing Britain Flashcards
1
Q
Living conditions in cities
A
- Pollution
- Overcrowding
- Disease
- Waste disposal
- Poor quality housing
- Lack of fresh water
2
Q
Reasons for problems of overcrowding
A
- Due to large numbers of people moving the cites, not enough houses for all the people
- Low wages and high rents caused families to live in as small spaces as possible
- Migration - push and pull reasons, wanting to escape poverty and hunger
- Industrialisation - more factories and workers needed
3
Q
Reasons for the spread of diseases
A
- Diseases like typhoid, typhus, tuberculosis and cholera existed
- Reasons: rapid pace of industrialisation, weak local and national gov and lack of understanding of causes of disease
- Waste
-Overcrowded housing - Filth, dirt and rubbish
- Lack of food, clean water and clothing
- Dumped rubbish
- 14 feet between buildings
4
Q
Improvements in living conditions and slums
A
- 1848 Public Health Act
- 1875 Public Health Act
- 1866 Sanitary Act
5
Q
1848 Public Health Act
A
- to improve sanitary conditions of towns by encouraging cities to set up boards of health and provide clean water.
- Local boards of health must be established.
6
Q
1875 Public Health Act
A
Forced many towns and cities to clean up streets and improve working conditions
7
Q
1866 Sanitary Act
A
Gave town councils the power to force land owners to connect new houses to sewers. Force landlords to improve conditions in slums.
8
Q
Medical advancements
A
- During major cholera epidemic in 1854, John Snow made connection between disease and water supply
- Edward Jenner discovered vaccination then vaccinations against cholera were created
- Joseph Lister introduced sterilisation of dressings and surgical equipment during operations
- Hospital building programme began in late 1800s and Florence Nightingale made them cleaner
- 1847 James Simpson discovered chloroform, an effective aesthetic
9
Q
Dangers in cotton mills
A
- Illness
- Exhaustion
- Injuries
- Overseer’s punishments
- Getting crushed by large machinery
10
Q
Dangers in coal mines
A
- Cave ins
- Flooding
- Black lung
- Nystagmus (eyes hurt all the time)
- Gas leaks
- Poisonous gases
- Explosions
11
Q
Improvement of factories
A
- 1833 Factory Act
- 1878 Factory Act
- Invention of the spinning jenny by James Hargreaves
- James Watt’s steam engines
12
Q
1833 Factory Act
A
No children under the age of nine to work - if between 9-13 48 hrs per week and part time schooling
- Inspectors created to enforce act but only a few were effective
- Parents and doctors lied about the ages of the children
- Schooling avoided
- If factories persecuted, fines were very low
13
Q
1878 Factory Act
A
- Brought all previous acts together - consolidation
- No child under 10 employed
- Compulsory education for children up to 10
- 10-14 only employed half days
- Women no more than 56 hours per week
- Inspectors increased
14
Q
Improvement of mines
A
- 1842 Coal Mining Act
- 1911 Coal Mine Act
- Deeper mines, working to support the roof
- Upcast and downcast shafts to provide ventilation
- Invention of Davy Lamp which helped to prevent gas explosions
- Easier coal transport
15
Q
1842 Coal Mining Act
A
- 8 hr day
- No boy under 14 to work underground
- Required all mine owners to make rescue stations, provide teams of trained rescuers
16
Q
Growth of railways
A
- Railway building began in 1830s in industrial areas
- Pulled 30 tons of coal, impressed mine owners
- Railway opened on 15th Sep 1830, within month, line was carrying 1200 passengers per day
17
Q
Why were railways built?
A
- Trade
- Population growth - increase in demand for coal etc
- Reliability - better than canals
- Cost - raw materials could be transported quickly
18
Q
Impacts of railways
A
- Holidays
- Boosted industries
- Created jobs
- Improved communication
- Easy travel
- MPs could travel freely between constituencies and parliament
19
Q
Why did canals decline?
A
- Summer: canals dried up
- Winter: Froze over
- Many canal owners did not invest and network began to look shabby
- Canals became mainly used for tourism
- By 1800s railways were faster and could move goods
- Slow
- even short journeys involved several canal companies, inconvenient paperwork, expensive
20
Q
Pressure for democratic reform up to 1884
A
- Few people could vote
- MPs were unpaid, you had to be rich to be one
- Open voting: voters could be intimidated/bribed
- Rotten boroughs - small villages had few people but an MP
- Parliament controlled by rich landowners, often passed laws to suit themselves
21
Q
Radical unrest at Peterloo - St Peter’s Field
A
- Happened in Manchester in 1819
- Radicals increased demands for political reform
- Group organised large meeting at St Peter’s Field
- 60,000 came to listen some with children and picnics
- 1000 locals to deal with potential riot
- Crowd got excited, commanders sent into crowds, determined to arrest group leaders
- People threw rocks and sticks at them, more horses charged
- 10 mins later, people had fled but 11 were dead and between 400-600 wounded
22
Q
Chartism Demands
A
- They were radical protesters
- All men right to vote
- End bribery and corruption and elections
- Each MP representing roughly same amount of people
- Elections every year
- Pay for MPs
23
Q
Failures of the Chartists
A
- Petitions: presented to parliment three times, all times rejected
- Many signitures on petitions fake and chartists became the subject of jokes
- Many workers scared of losing their jobs or being arrested so they ignored them
- Branded as being ‘dangerous revolutionaries’
24
Q
Successes of the Chartists
A
- 4th Nov 1839 Newport rising. 5000 workers armed arrived in Newport, gunfire broke out, 25 min gun battle resulted in deaths
- Without existence of the Chartist movement it may well have taken longer for any other reforms to take place after 1832
- First real organisation of the working-class population in Britain
25
1832 Reform Act
- 76 new constituencies created - cities like Manchester were given MPs
- 56 of the corrupt boroughs abolished
- Voting now based on value of property, not where you lived
- Less rotten boroughs
26
1867 Reform Act
- Men or lodgers who owned or rented property of £10 a year could vote
- Depopulated areas lost the right to an MP
27
1884 Reform Act
- Voters in countryside given same rights as those in towns
- Adult males owning or renting land worth £10 a year could vote
