Context

Question 1

Summary of all context

Answer 1

• Industrial revoltion
• Dickens and the poor
• Thomas Malthus
• The 1834 Poor Law
• Religion

Question 2

Industrial revolution

Answer 2

• It was a change from farming to factories where an increasing number of factories were built.
• Positives: more job opportunity, increased production, efficiency, and migration.
• Negatives: Poor were subject to dehumanising and dangerous work conditions, masses of pollution and children as young as 4 or 5 were forced to work in these conditions

Question 3

Dickens and the Poor

Answer 3

• Dickens was poor growing up so used his novellas to give a voice to the poor and highlight the exploitation of the poor.
• A Christmas Carol was written in response to the Report of Children’s Employment
• Commission which covered the dehumanising and exploitative conditions children were subject too. He wrote a pamphlet on it first, then wrote the novella to reach a wider audience

Question 4

Thomas Malthus

Answer 4

• Malthus was an influential British economist. He believed that poverty was an inevitable consequence to the increasing population. As there was an increasing population, this meant it meant an increase in food demand. As this food demand could not be met, it would mean that individuals would have to starve.

Question 5

The 1834 Poor Law

Answer 5

• In 1834 ‘The New Poor Law’ was introduced which caused the introduction of the workhouses. The poor were sent to workhouses, which were intended to be there to provide shelter and food for the poor in exchange for work.
• They were hubs of squalor which exploited the poor, splitting up families and making young children work in these belligerent conditions. 10% of people admitted to the workhouses, would die.

Question 6

Religion

Answer 6

• Religion was the foundation of morality in the Victorian era. Redemption and salvation were key ideas as it was believed you would receive salvation, and therefore experience redemption, if you confessed your sins.
• The 7 deadly sins (known as cardinal sins) were seen as the route of all evil: pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath and sloth.