Chapter 14 - The Whig response to social change Flashcards
When was the first Factory Act introduced?
1833
When was slavery abolished in Britain?
1833
When was the Poor Law Amendment Act?
1834
When was the Municipal Corporations Act?
1835
What was an influence on the Whigs’ reforming policies of the 1830s?
The continuing influence of radical agitation
What was preparation for reform usually preceded by in the 1830s and how did the Whigs improve this?
Usually preceded by the findings of a Select Committee of the House of Commons, system was improved through greater use of Royal Commissions
How were Royal Commissions an improvement on Select Committees?
They included experts as well as MPs, so the opinion of people other than just those in Parliament started to matter more
What were the 5 key areas of Whig reform in the 1830s?
- Slavery
- Education
- Factories
- Municipal Corporations
- The Poor Law
What was the main concern for education reformers in the 1830s?
The lack of education provision for poor and working-class children
How had industrialisation created a need for education reform?
An industrialised society needed a better educated and more literate workforce
How many working-class children were attending Bible classes on a Sunday by 1830?
Over 1 million
What did working-class children learn at Sunday schools?
How to read
What is the significance of Sunday schools being on that day?
It was the only day that the children had off work
Who started up the first Sunday schools?
Methodist chapels
What financed Sunday schools?
Voluntary contributions from the congregation or benefactors
What was the most successful early school system for the poor?
The Monitorial system
What was the Monitorial system?
A style of schooling where older children would be taught a topic, and would then teach the same topic to younger children
What were two organisations which used the Monitorial system?
The National Society and the British and Foreign Society
When were both the National Society and the British and Foreign Society founded?
1811
Who founded the National Society?
The Church of England
Who led the British and Foreign Society?
Joseph Lancaster, a Quaker
What was the main difference between the National Society and the British and Foreign Society?
The National Society taught Anglicanism whilst the British and Foreign Society made no mention of religion
What did the Government do in 1833 to help educate the poor?
Gave a grant of £20,000 to be shared between the National Society and the British and Foreign Society
What were the voluntary schools of the early 19th century unable to cope with?
Rapid urban development
Who opposed the grant given to the education system in 1833 by the government and why?
The traditional political classes, who opposed working class children spending time learning to read when they could be employed on a factory floor
How was the system of giving money to the British and Foreign and National Societies improved?
Salaried inspectors were appointed to improve accountability
What 2 things happened to the grant to the British and Foreign and National Societies in 1839?
It was increased to £30,000, and a Cabinet committee was appointed to oversee how the money was spent
What did the 1843 Factory Education Bill attempt to do?
Make schooling under Anglican direction compulsory for child labourers
Was the 1843 Factory Education Bill a success?
No- it was soundly defeated, as the government had misjudged the joint Catholic and Nonconformist opposition to the scheme
What unsuccessful education reforms did the Whigs put forward and why were they unsuccesful?
Proposals to establish non-denominational colleges for teacher training, and to place responsibility for education in the hands of a Privy Council committee without clergy representation. These failed due to Anglican opposition.
Who set up the first teacher training college?
James Kay-Shuttleworth, who did so using his own money
What did Kay-Shuttleworth’s committee attempt to do in 1846 and why did it fail?
Establish a national scheme of teacher training- this failed because of criticism of its additional cost
What were working conditions like for children before the Whigs’ Factory Act?
Children worked the same 16-hour days as their parents, orphans were exploited by factory owners, and children often had the most dangerous jobs by virtue of being small and able to fit under machines
How did Richard Oastler help the cause of Factory Reform in the early 1830s?
He pointed out the comparison between the treatment of factory workers and West Indian slaves
Who were 4 influential figures in Whig Factory Reform?
- Richard Oastler
- Michael Sadler
- Lord Anthony Ashley Cooper
- Edwin Chadwick
Which 3 groups helped pressure the government for factory reform?
Humanitarians, Evangelicals and working-class groups
What campaign did Michael Sadler lead before losing his seat in 1832?
The ‘ten hour’ campaign for shorter working days
What did Lord Anthony Ashley-Cooper do?
Campaigned for improvement in childrens’ working conditions, particularly in factories and mines
What were the terms of the 1833 Factory Act?
- No child under 9 could work in a factory
- Children between 9 and 12 to work 8 hours a day, with a maximum of 9 hours a day and 48 hours a week
- Children between 13 and 18 to work a maximum of 12 hours a day, 69 hours a week and no night-time work
- 2 compulsory hours of schooling a day for kids
- 4 factory inspectors appointed as regulators of the new legislation
Why did the Ten Hour bill fail in the 1830s?
The government was reluctant to interfere in the working hours of adults, and some argued that a decrease in childrens’ working hours would cause a concurrent decrease in adults’ working hours
What did the report of the Royal Commission on factory conditions in the early 1830s suggest?
That only childrens’ working hours should be legislated for
Why did the Factory Act of 1833 please industrialists?
It enabled children to be worked in relays, with adults working up to 16-17 hour shifts
How did Chadwick factor in the fact that the 1833 Factory Act would mean an increase in child workers?
That they could be drawn from the new workhouses set up by the 1834 Poor Law Amendment act
Who led the anti-Slavery movement in Britain?
Humanitarians and evangelicals
What slave revolts shocked the British government in the period before abolition?
Those in Jamaica 1831-32 and the Haitian Revolution
When was the Slavery Abolition Act passed?
1833
What were the terms of the 1833 Slavery Abolition Act?
Slavery was to officially end on the 1st August 1834, but the slaves were to be reclassified as apprentices and released only in 1838.
How much compensation did the British Government pay slavers after the Slavery Abolition Act?
£20 million, the equivalent of 40% of annual government expenditure
What measure was used to satisfy plantation owners apart from compensation?
A system of indentured labour, where Indians would work on 5-year contracts; despite regulations to safeguard the workers, it was still often a form of forced labour
What problems did the existing Poor Relief system cause before 1834?
- Suppressed wages, particularly in rural areas, as farmers depended on workers getting a wage supplement when prices rose
- Unable to cope with price and employment fluctuations of the 1820s and 1830s
What group of people placed much pressure on the government to reform the Poor Law in the early 1830s?
The middle classes
How did Chadwick regard the Speenhamland system?
As wasteful and inefficient
What was the general idea of the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act?
Outdoor relief for the able-bodied was to be abolished, and in its place a system of indoor relief in the form of workhouses was to be established
What was the ‘Principle of Less Eligibility’?
The idea that people getting poor relief should get worse conditions than even the poorest worker who did not
Why was the ‘Principle of Less Eligibility’ used on those seeking Poor Relief?
To ensure that only the most desperate would submit themselves to the deliberately harsh conditions of the workhouse
What was set up to oversee the implementation of the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act?
A Poor Law Commission made up of 3 members
What was the Andover workhouse scandal?
The inmates were found eating rotting meat from bones they were supposed to be crushing
What was the workhouse system seen to encourage by its creators?
Work ethic
What were the average annual poor rates in 1830-34?
£6.75 million
What were the average annual poor rates in 1835-39?
£4.5 million
Where was the new system of indoor relief inadequate and why?
The North and industrial towns, as during hard economic times it was impossible to provide indoor relief to everyone, so an inadequate outdoor relief system remained
What movement did the inadequacy of the workhouse system help promote?
Chartism
What did municipal corporations play a key role in pre-1832?
Controlling the election of MPs
What did pressure for reforms of municipal corporations come as a by-product of?
Parliamentary reform in 1832
What did an 1833 Commission of Inquiry find about municipal corporations?
That corruption and abuse of the system occurred in many boroughs.
What did the 1835 municipal corporations Act do?
Over 200 old corporations were dissolved, and 179 municipal boroughs were set up to replace them, which were to be run by councils elected by local ratepayers. New boroughs also defined.
When were the first municipal elections held in Britain?
1838
What held back councils even after the 1835 Municipal Corporations Act?
- Financial constraints
- A desire to cap the rates bill
- Narrow-mindedness and lack of vision of some of their members. Some towns were growing too rapidly for the councils to be competent enough to do their jobs properly
What disadvantage did the Municipal Corporations Act have over the Poor Law Amendment Act?
There was no central body to achieve uniform standards, so essential improvements in drainage, cleaning and paving were non-existent in some towns
What place was excluded from the Municipal Corporations Act?
London, due to its size, with Birmingham and Manchester not incorporated until later
When did James Kay-Shuttleworth set up the first teacher training college?
1839-40
