Chapter 24 - The condition of Britain by 1885 Flashcards

1
Q

What was the population of Britain by 1885?

A

Around 35 million

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2
Q

What percentage of the population were in receipt of poor relief in 1834?

A

8.8%

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3
Q

What percentage of the population were in receipt of poor relief in 1885?

A

3.2%

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4
Q

Who gained the vote under the 1884 Franchise Act?

A

All male householders over 21 and all £10 lodgers (in the counties), as well as those who met a £10 occupier franchise if they lived in shops or offices

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5
Q

What did the 1884 Franchise Act do to the franchise in counties and boroughs?

A

Made it equal in counties and boroughs

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6
Q

How many seats were redistributed via the 1885 Redistribution of Seats Act?

A

142

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7
Q

What were the terms of the 1885 Redistribution of Seats Act?

A

Boroughs with a population of under 15,000 lost both MPs, boroughs with a population under 50,000 lost one MP

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8
Q

What was the National Liberation Federation?

A

The radical wing of the Liberal party

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9
Q

What two types of worker were brought into the franchise in 1884?

A

Agricultural labourers and rural miners

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10
Q

When was the National Liberation Federation founded?

A

1877

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11
Q

What did the National Liberation Foundation pressure for?

A

The extension of the franchise to working men in the countryside

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12
Q

What was the size of the franchise before and after 1884?

A

3 million before, 6 million after

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13
Q

What did the 1885 Redistribution of Seats Act bring an end to?

A

The over-representation of rural areas and under-representation of industrial towns and cities

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14
Q

What occurred for the first time in the 1874 election?

A

Two working-class candidates became MPs

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15
Q

What percentage of the adult population was without a vote by 1885?

A

Around 70% (including women)

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16
Q

What role could women fill after 1875?

A

Poor Law guardians

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17
Q

What percentage of the adult male population was paupers by 1885?

A

12%

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18
Q

What 3 significant male groups still didn’t have the vote in 1885 because of the property qualification?

A

Adult sons living at home, live-in servants and paupers

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19
Q

What was a problem with the electoral system by 1885 which prevented many, especially working-class, men who were entitled to vote from voting?

A

Many who were entitled to vote couldn’t as they had no documentation to prove their qualification, so they couldn’t get on the electoral register

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20
Q

What was a period of marked economic downturn in the 1880s?

A

1882-1886

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21
Q

What was a Royal Commission set up to investigate in 1885?

A

The Depression of Industry and Trade

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22
Q

What did the 1885 Royal Commission on the Depression of Industry and Trade report?

A

That agricultural prices had been falling since 1873 and continued to do so, that in many cases in British manufacturing supply outstripped demand, that foreign competition was a growing problem but that overall there were promising signs for British industry

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23
Q

What were 5 features of the Victorian ‘mass society’ which had begun to emerge by 1885?

A
  1. Mass politics
  2. Mass consumption
  3. Mass unionism
  4. Mass education
  5. Mass production
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24
Q

What was still a dominant feature of Victorian society by 1885?

A

The class system

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25
Q

Was total social mobility possible by 1885?

A

No- it was possible to move from the working to the middle class, but very rare to move into the upper classes, unless via marriage or exceptional wealth creation

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26
Q

Who still largely governed Britain in 1885?

A

The landed aristocracy, although some with industrial wealth had moved into this group

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27
Q

Where did the Conservatives tend to come from by 1885?

A

The landowning classes

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28
Q

Where did the Liberals tend to come from by 1885?

A

The professions, commerce and industry

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29
Q

How was middle-class political support split by 1885?

A

Fairly evenly between the Conservatives and Liberals

30
Q

Who did neither the Conservatives nor the Liberals fully satisfy the needs of by 1885?

A

Newly-enfranchised working class voters

31
Q

When was the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies launched?

A

1887

32
Q

What proportion of London’s population lived in poverty by 1886 according to Charles Booth?

A

30%

33
Q

Was the economy growing by 1885?

A

Yes, but at a slower rate than in the 1850s and 60s

34
Q

Was the rate of production in the coal, steel and cotton industries increasing by 1885?

A

Yes, but at a slower rate than in the 1850s and 60s

35
Q

What was there a fall in (economically) by 1885?

A

Prices

36
Q

When in the 1880s was there a brief recovery in industry?

A

1880

37
Q

What was the high point in unemployment during the economic slump of 1885?

A

Around 10%

38
Q

What were 2 possible reasons for the fall in prices from the early 1870s to 1885?

A
  1. Shortage of gold to support currency
  2. Britain had come to the end of a long, unsustainable period of economic growth
39
Q

What are 6 examples of successful small industries which had developed by 1885?

A
  1. Boots
  2. Shoes
  3. Chocolate
  4. Soap
  5. Tobacco
  6. Beer
40
Q

What was Britain still ahead of the USA and Germany in by 1890?

A

Production of coal

41
Q

What had Britain fallen behind the USA in by 1890?

A

Iron and steel production

42
Q

What was the USA rich in by 1885 that made it a strong economic competitor to Britain?

A

Natural resources and manpower (from European immigration)

43
Q

When did the USA set up a system of tariffs?

A

1890

44
Q

When was the Fair Trade League established?

A

1881

45
Q

What did the Fair Trade League press the government for?

A

Some form of trade protection against Britain’s competitors

46
Q

What 2 things would colonial expansion into Africa give Britain?

A
  1. New supply of raw materials
  2. New markets for British goods
47
Q

What have several historians suggested as a possible motive behind Britain’s role in the Scramble for Africa?

A

Trade protection

48
Q

When was Sunlight Soap set up?

A

1885

49
Q

Who set up Sunlight Soap?

A

The Lever Brothers

50
Q

Where was Sunlight Soap set up and why is this important?

A

Liverpool, as there was high unemployment in the area at the time

51
Q

What was Britain’s industrial machinery like by 1885?

A

Either old or obsolete

52
Q

Where was there an especial reluctance to invest new capital by 1885?

A

The steel industry, where there was a modern method (the Gilchrist-Thomas method) available

53
Q

By when had the boom in rail ended?

A

1875

54
Q

What 2 new industries saw little interest in their future development in Britain by 1885?

A

Chemicals and electrical engineering

55
Q

What happened because of the end of the railway boom?

A

A reduction in demand for iron and steel, and subsequent job losses

56
Q

The summer of what year was the wettest on record?

A

1879

57
Q

What were 3 negative effects of the wet summer of 1879?

A
  1. Crops rotted in the ground
  2. Outbreaks of swine fever and foot and mouth
  3. Shortage of animal feed
58
Q

What did falling agricultural prices after 1873 force down?

A

Rents

59
Q

What 2 commodities had their prices plummet in the agricultural depression after 1873?

A

Wool and wheat

60
Q

What were 3 examples of agricultural improvements which benefited Britain’s foreign competition more than it?

A
  1. Combine harvesters, ideal in the vast US wheat lands
  2. Development of the canning process in 1880s meant South American beef could be transported to Britain
  3. Developments in refrigeration also benefited foreign meat, especially Australian and New Zealand lamb
61
Q

What was the price of wheat in 1874?

A

55 shillings a quarter

62
Q

What was the price of wheat by 1885?

A

31 shillings a quarter

63
Q

What areas were hardest hit by the Agricultural depression after 1873?

A

The wheat and cereal counties of the South and East

64
Q

What 2 things did many out of work agricultural workers do by 1885?

A

Move to the towns for work, or emigrate to Canada or the USA

65
Q

Why was life not much better in the towns for emigrants from the country by 1885?

A

The depression in industry made finding regular work difficult

66
Q

What had happened to many farmers by 1885?

A

They had gone bankrupt

67
Q

Why were farmers in the South of Scotland, Warwickshire and Lancashire less badly affected by the agricultural depression?

A

They had already concentrated on mixed farming

68
Q

What did many British farmers have to do to survive the agricultural depression of 1873 onwards?

A

Diversify their farming

69
Q

Why did many farmers move into dairy farming after 1873?

A

Milk could not be easily imported, yet could be transported quite far in the UK by rail

70
Q

What 2 forms of farming became popular after 1873?

A
  1. Dairy farming
  2. Poultry farming
71
Q

In what 2 areas was market gardening an especially successful alternative to farming?

A
  1. Vale of Evesham
  2. Thames Valley