Economy 1865-1900

Question 1

What percent of the working class were skilled by 1870?

Answer 1

About 2%, making £2 per week

Question 2

By 1871, how much of the population lived in urban areas?

Answer 2

65%

Question 3

When was most the sewerage system in London finished?

Answer 3

1866

Question 4

Who was the chief engineer behind the London sewer system?

Answer 4

Joseph Bazalgette

Question 5

When were Victoria and Albert Embankments opened and what did they do?

Answer 5

1870, attempted to conceal sewers, whilst reclaiming land for gardens and roads

Question 6

What length of sewer pipes was laid in the London sewer system?

Answer 6

82 miles

Question 7

What did the 1868 Torrens Act mean?

Answer 7

Bound landlords to keep property in a good state of repair

Question 8

What did Chamberlain do in Birmingham in terms of housing?

Answer 8

Used Artisans Dwellings Act to carry out widespread improvements (both in housing and municipal buildings)

Question 9

What did the 1871 Trade Union Act mean?

Answer 9

That trade unions had legal status, now able to support workers

Question 10

Who’s economic argument about laissez faire did Bentham and Mill take up?

Answer 10

Adam Smith (1766, Wealth of Nations)

Question 11

How was Smith’s laissez faire adapted in government?

Answer 11

Smith talked about non-intervention in trade, the government used it as a policy for non-intervention in social reform too

Question 12

What was Bentham’s theory of Utalitarianism?

Answer 12

‘Greatest happiness to the greatest number’

Question 13

What was the mantra of Gladstonian Liberalism?

Answer 13

‘Peace, retrenchment and reform’

Question 14

What did the adoption of free trade lead to?

Answer 14

Massive increases in the volume of trade, stimulated economic growth

Question 15

What was the rate of unemployment in 1872?

Answer 15

1%

Question 16

What was the rate of unemployment in 1879?

Answer 16

11.4%

Question 17

What was unemployment in 1886?

Answer 17

10%+

Question 18

What did the 1886 Royal Commission on the Depression of Trade and Industry do?

Answer 18

Offered an opportunity of merchants and manufacturers to ventilate their concern over foreign competition

Question 19

In 1879, what did The Economist describe the year as?

Answer 19

‘One of the most sunless and cheerless of the century’

Question 20

What did Randolph say about British trade in 1884?

Answer 20

That it was effected by a ‘moral disease’

Question 21

When did Italy abandon free trade?

Answer 21

1878

Question 22

When did Germany abandon free trade?

Answer 22

1879

Question 23

When did France abandon free trade?

Answer 23

1882

Question 24

When did the USA abandon free trade?

Answer 24

1883

Question 25

How did British steel production change 1875-1894 (as a percentage of world production)?

Answer 25

Fell from 35.9% to 24.6%

Question 26

How did German steel production change 1875-1894 (as a percentage of world production)?

Answer 26

Increased from 16.6% to 21.4%

Question 27

How did USA steel production change 1875-1894 (as a percentage of world production)?

Answer 27

Increased from 26% to 33.7%

Question 28

What happened to the price of industrial goods 1873-96?

Answer 28

Fell

Question 29

How much did the price of coal and textiles fall 1871-96?

Answer 29

Over 30%

Question 30

How much did coal output rise in the 1880s?

Answer 30

23.5%

Question 31

What was happening to other economies during the 'Great Depression'?

Answer 31

Experiencing same slow down as Britain

Question 32

What did the 'Great Depression' lead to in terms of wages?

Answer 32

Rise in real wages

Question 33

What did Germany and USA utilise to help their rapid industrialisation?

Answer 33

Natural resources and manpower of European immigrants

Question 34

When did the USA overtake Britain in terms of steel and iron production?

Answer 34

1890

Question 35

Until when was Britain the biggest producer of coal?

Answer 35

1900

Question 36

When did Germany and America introduced protectionist tariffs?

Answer 36

Germany 1879 and America 1890

Question 37

What was the 'scramble for Africa'?

Answer 37

Moves by world powers for raw materials, resources and new markets

Question 38

What new industries did Britain not involve themselves with?

Answer 38

Chemicals and electrical engineering

Question 39

Why was there a lack of entrepreneurship?

Answer 39

'Third generation syndrome'

Question 40

How did unemployment change 1879 to 1886?

Answer 40

11.4% in 1879, down to 2% in 1883, back up to 10% in 1886

Question 41

How did wheat imports change from 1870-1900

Answer 41

Increased from 50.4cwts to 85.9cwts

Question 42

How did the number of workers employed in argiculture change 1871-1901?

Answer 42

1.6mil in 1871, 1.4mil in 1891, 1.3mil in 1901

Question 43

How did gross agricultural output change 1867-76 to 1894-1903?

Answer 43

Fell from 13% to 4%

Question 44

How much did beef, mutton and lamb prices fall by in the 1890s?

Answer 44

Beef 11%, lamb and mutton 8%

Question 45

How did agricultural and industrial productivity change 1867-69 to 1886-93?

Answer 45

Agricultural productivity grew 15% and industrial productivity grew 23%

Question 46

When were the poor years for weather in agriculture?

Answer 46

1873-1879

Question 47

What animal diseases were a concern in 1881-83?

Answer 47

Foot and mouth in cattle, liver rot in sheep

Question 48

How did area of cereal crop land change 1872-1913?

Answer 48

Fell from 9.6mil acres to 6.5mil acres

Question 49

How did employment on farms change 1871-1901?

Answer 49

Fell from 1mil to 600k

Question 50

How did price of wheat change 1874-1910?

Answer 50

Fell from 55s/quarter to 33s/quarter

Question 51

Where did cheap food come from and why?

Answer 51

Due to railways and steamships. Americas, India, Australia, Canada and Argentina

Question 52

How did the cost of transporting a tonne of wheat from Liverpool to Chicago change 1868-1882?

Answer 52

65s in 1868, 24s by 1882 - a low of 17s.

Question 53

How did pasture land change 1872-1913?

Answer 53

17.1mil acres to 21.5mil acres

Question 54

When and why was it forbidden to import cattle?

Answer 54

1892, govt said it was to control disease, also removed competitioin

Question 55

When was the Eversley Commission?

Answer 55

1893-97

Question 56

What did the Eversley Commission say?

Answer 56

Urged people to take up dairy and poultry farming or to turn to market gardening - slimmed down the unprofitable cereal sector

Question 57

When did the bicycle industry start up?

Answer 57

1869 in Coventry

Question 58

How many firms and employees were there in the bicycle industry by 1879?

Answer 58

60 firms with 700 employees

Question 59

Why did the bicycle industry experience a boom after 1885?

Answer 59

Innovation (John Kemp Stanley introduced the diamond frame) and dynamic marketing (by 1913 Britain was exporting 150k machines compared to Germany's 89k)

Question 60

How much of the world dyestuffs market did Germany hold in 1880?

Answer 60

90%

Question 61

How did consumption per capita change 1873-96?

Answer 61

Increased by 30%

Question 62

Until when did Britain lead world glass production?

Answer 62

1880 (then displaced to 3rd)

Question 63

Until when did Britain lead the soap manufacture market?

Answer 63

1914

Question 64

How much did real income per head grow per year 1871-80?

Answer 64

0.8%

Question 65

How much did real income per head grow per year 1890-1900?

Answer 65

1.2%

Question 66

How much did real income per head grow 1900-1910?

Answer 66

0.4%

Question 67

How much was GNP growing by per year in 1873?

Answer 67

2.8%

Question 68

How much was GNP growing per year in 1900?

Answer 68

2%

Question 69

How much was GNP growing by per year in 1910?

Answer 69

1.2%

Question 70

How much was industrial output growing per in 1873?

Answer 70

3.2%

Question 71

How much was industrial output growing by 1900?

Answer 71

2.2%

Question 72

How much was industrial output growing by 1912?

Answer 72

1.6%

Question 73

What were British/German/USA growth rates per year (1870-1913) for industrial output?

Answer 73

GB - 2.1%, G - 4.1%, USA - 4.7%

Question 74

What were British/German/USA growth rates per year (1870-1913) for GDP per capita?

Answer 74

GB - 1.3%, G - 1.8%, USA - 2.2%

Question 75

How much wheat was being imported in 1870?

Answer 75

50.4 million cwts

Question 76

How much wheat was being imported in 1890?

Answer 76

85.9 million cwts

Question 77

How much wheat was being imported in 1910?

Answer 77

102.6 million cwts

Question 78

How much wheat land was there in 1872?

Answer 78

3.6 million acres

Question 79

How much wheat land was there in 1895?

Answer 79

1.4 million acres

Question 80

How much wheat land was there in 1913?

Answer 80

1.8 million acres

Question 81

What was the balance of payments in 1871?

Answer 81

£75 million surplus

Question 82

What was the balance of payments in 1890?

Answer 82

£88 million surplus

Question 83

What was the balance of payments in 1895?

Answer 83

£52 million surplus

Question 84

What was the balance of payments in 1900?

Answer 84

£40 million surplus