Chapter 23 - Social developments 1946-85

Question 1

When was Charles Darwin’s ‘On the Origin of the Species’ published?

Answer 1

1859

Question 2

When was ‘Self-Help’ published?

Answer 2

1859

Question 3

Who wrote ‘Self-Help’?

Answer 3

Samuel Smiles

Question 4

What percentage of the population lived and worked in urban areas by 1871?

Answer 4

65%

Question 5

Was the rate of change more rapid in the towns or the countryside (in general)?

Answer 5

In the towns

Question 6

When was the Salvation Army founded?

Answer 6

1878

Question 7

When did the first Barnado’s home open?

Answer 7

1867

Question 8

Who founded the Salvation Army?

Answer 8

William Booth

Question 9

What was an issue adversely affecting many rural areas throughout the 19th century?

Answer 9

Depopulation as people left for work in the cities

Question 10

Who was responsible for creating the first London sewer system?

Answer 10

Joseph Bazalgette

Question 11

What are two examples of simple commodities which were much more readily available in towns by the 1870s?

Answer 11

Soap and matches

Question 12

What 3 fresh foods became more readily available in the cities by the late 19th century due to the railways?

Answer 12

Meat, milk and fresh vegetables

Question 13

What are 4 examples of public institutions which local authorities were opening in the towns by the 1870s?

Answer 13

Parks, libraries, wash houses, baths

Question 14

When was Bazalgette’s sewer system first opened in London?

Answer 14

1865

Question 15

What was Parliament’s decision to accept Bazalgette’s proposal on sewers largely down to?

Answer 15

The Great Stink of 1858

Question 16

What was the most important effect of the construction of Bazalgette’s sewer system?

Answer 16

Reduction in mortality rates in London

Question 17

What was the trend in both birth and death rates after 1865?

Answer 17

Both began to decline

Question 18

What opened the way to greater working-class prosperity after 1865?

Answer 18

Lower birth rates meaning smaller family sizes

Question 19

What group led the decline in birth rates after 1865, to be followed by the working classes?

Answer 19

The middle class

Question 20

What economic instrument did Gladstone introduce in 1861?

Answer 20

Post Office banks

Question 21

Who generally had to turn to government relief such as the workhouse by the 1860s and 1870s?

Answer 21

The unskilled working class

Question 22

What caused increased rents to exceed the means of most workers by the late 19th century?

Answer 22

Lack of commitment in towns to improve housing causing demand to outstrip the amount of housing available

Question 23

When was the Torrens act?

Answer 23

1868

Question 24

Why was there little enthusiasm for a program of slum clearance by the 1860s and 1870s?

Answer 24

There was not sufficient profit in it for landowners

Question 25

How did the Treasury attempt to boost house-building in 1866?

Answer 25

Offered loans to local authorities for house-building

Question 26

What did the 1868 Torrens Act do?

Answer 26

Bound landlords to keep property in a good state of repair

Question 27

What city was the exception to the general apathy towards housing improvements by the late 1800s?

Answer 27

Birmingham, where Joseph Chamberlain carried out improvements in housing and municipal buildings

Question 28

Who suggested the concept of Britain being 'two nations' in 1845?

Answer 28

Disraeli, in his book 'Sybil'

Question 29

When was the Bank Holiday Act?

Answer 29

1871

Question 30

The wages of industrial workers rose on average by what between 1850 and 1875?

Answer 30

50%

Question 31

How much did prices rise between 1850 and 1875?

Answer 31

20%

Question 32

Based on the relative rises in wages and prices between 1850 and 1875, what was the percentage rise in real wages for industrial workers in this time?

Answer 32

30%

Question 33

In what period did the wages of farm labourers drop to a low point?

Answer 33

1878-1886

Question 34

From what point did the real wages of farm labourers rise?

Answer 34

1860

Question 35

What was the best money wage an agricultural labourer could expect by the late 19th century?

Answer 35

~20 shillings per week

Question 36

What form of payment somewhat made up for the meagerness of agricultural wages?

Answer 36

Payment in kind of food, housing or fuel

Question 37

What did the dependence of agricultural labourers on their employers for housing sometimes lead to?

Answer 37

Them being stuck with basic or squalid housing

Question 38

What 5 things encouraged rural depopulation?

Answer 38

1. Higher wages in towns 2. Shorter working hours in towns 3. Greater ease of movement thanks to the development of the railways 4. Mechanisation and other improvements reducing need for agricultural labour 5. Increased demand for urban labour

Question 39

What working hours became gradually introduced for urban workers in the 1870s?

Answer 39

The 5 1/2 day week

Question 40

What did the 5 1/2 day week give industrial workers and what industry did this boost?

Answer 40

Gave them more leisure time, boosting the tourist industry

Question 41

What are 4 examples of counties which suffered serious rural depopulation?

Answer 41

Cornwall, Shropshire, Somerset and Westmorland

Question 42

What did rural depopulation lead to in those counties which were particularly badly affected?

Answer 42

Local economic stagnation and a fall in the wages of farm workers, leading to their wages dropping below those of farm workers elsewhere in the country

Question 43

What did the 1872 Scottish Education Act do according to Marshall?

Answer 43

Anglicise the Gaelic speakers of Ireland and Scotland or speakers of Welsh, in order to prepare them for urban life

Question 44

What made Gaelic almost obsolete in Scotland in Ireland?

Answer 44

Steady rural depopulation

Question 45

What caused the Crofters' War?

Answer 45

Disproportionately high rents

Question 46

Why were crofters in the Scottish Highlands left behind during the golden age of farming?

Answer 46

Because the railway system failed to connect them to the rest of the country

Question 47

When was the Crofters' War?

Answer 47

1882

Question 48

What were 2 consequences of the Crofters' isolation?

Answer 48

They were largely ignorant of new farming methods and financially unable to make improvements

Question 49

What 4 values did Evangelicalism encourage?

Answer 49

Thrift, sobriety, industry and self-sacrifice

Question 50

What 2 doctrines had a strong impact on Victorian society by the mid-19th century?

Answer 50

Evangelicalism and Self-Help

Question 51

In what social classes did Evangelicalism have its firmest support in the Anglican church?

Answer 51

The upper and middle classes

Question 52

Who was an example of a leading upper-class Anglican Evangelical?

Answer 52

Lord Shaftesbury

Question 53

What caused the informal split in the Anglican church in the mid-19th century?

Answer 53

Some of the clergy taking up Evangelicalism

Question 54

How was the Anglican church informally split?

Answer 54

Into the 'Low Church' Evangelicals and the more formal 'High Church'

Question 55

When was the Oxford Movement founded?

Answer 55

1833

Question 56

What organisation was at the heart of 'High Church' evangelicalism?

Answer 56

The Oxford Movement

Question 57

Would Queen Victoria have been classed as 'High Church' or Evangelical?

Answer 57

She was a classic member of the Evangelical 'Low Church'

Question 58

What was a widespread belief which caused resentment against the 'High-Church' Anglicans?

Answer 58

That they were too closely aligned with Roman Catholicism

Question 59

Who were 2 examples of famous charitable Evangelicals (other than Lord Shaftesbury)?

Answer 59

William Booth and Thomas Barnardo

Question 60

What was church attendance across the entire population by 1851?

Answer 60

Little over 50%

Question 61

What religious group were particularly keen churchgoers?

Answer 61

Evangelicals

Question 62

What lead to a substantial decline in religion in Britain after 1859?

Answer 62

The publishing of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution

Question 63

Who were the Pre-Raphaelites?

Answer 63

A group of artists who harked back to a purer, more natural early expression in art, and tried to appeal to working men (with limited success)

Question 64

What were Samuel Smiles' 4 key values?

Answer 64

1. Sense of duty 2. Strength of character 3. Thrift 4. Helping oneself rather than depending on others

Question 65

By when was the idea of Laissez-Faire and individualism being questioned?

Answer 65

1870

Question 66

When was the first Trades Union Congress held?

Answer 66

1868

Question 67

When was Forster's Education Act?

Answer 67

1870

Question 68

What did Forster's Education Act do?

Answer 68

Set up provision for elementary schools around the country

Question 69

When was Sandon's Education Act?

Answer 69

1876

Question 70

When was Mundella's Education Act?

Answer 70

1880

Question 71

What was the cumulative effect of Sandon's and Mundella's Education Acts?

Answer 71

Education made compulsory for all children up to age 10

Question 72

When was the Conspiracy and Protection of Property Act?

Answer 72

1875

Question 73

What did the Conspiracy and Protection of Property Act do?

Answer 73

Altered conspiracy laws so that unions could no longer be prosecuted for doing something collectively that would be legal if done by an individual, and effectively gave unions the right to strike

Question 74

In what decade of the mid-1800s was there a revival in trade unionism?

Answer 74

1850s

Question 75

What was the main sort of union by the 1850s?

Answer 75

Small craft unions with respectable leaders who saw themselves as the elite of the working classes

Question 76

Through what 3 measures did the small craft unions of the 1850s aim to improve working conditions?

Answer 76

Self-help, self-improvement and self-education

Question 77

How did small craft unions win the respect of Liberal leaders like Gladstone?

Answer 77

By solving their disputes via peaceful bargaining rather than violence

Question 78

After what year did the Trades Union Congress become an annual event?

Answer 78

1871

Question 79

What was the point of the Trades Union Congress?

Answer 79

To bring pressure to bear on the government to give unions legal recognition

Question 80

What 2 things had weakened the unions in the 1860s?

Answer 80

1. Dishonest officials 2. Violent behaviour of some striking members

Question 81

What 2 pieces of legislation cost the Liberals their working-class support at the 1874 election?

Answer 81

The 1871 Trade Unions Act and the 1871 Criminal Law Amendment Act

Question 82

How do historians explain Gladstone passing the Criminal Law Amendment Act?

Answer 82

Because he abhorred violence or the threat of it due to his faith, and thought striking could encourage this

Question 83

How did the direction of the trade union movement begin to change in the 1880s?

Answer 83

It saw the beginning of the organisation of unskilled workers, and a militant approach with striking as the first line of attack

Question 84

What contributed to the growth in union membership in the late 1870s and early 1880s?

Answer 84

The uncertain economic climate

Question 85

What 2 things boosted the confidence of unskilled unionists in the 1870s and 1880s?

Answer 85

1. The spread in lower-class education after 1870 2. Many unskilled labourers being given the vote in 1884

Question 86

What was there a fear amongst the upper classes that education would increase?

Answer 86

Social mobility

Question 87

What did Utilitarian reformers such as Henry Brougham regard as an essential part of a progressive society?

Answer 87

Improvements in education

Question 88

What did factory legislation passed in 1850 sanction?

Answer 88

A 60-hour week for 13-18 year olds

Question 89

What 2 organisations championed a permissive education act in the 1850s and 1860s?

Answer 89

The National Public Schools' Association and the national Education League