HOW FAR DID INDIVIDUALS DEVELOP, AND ALSO CHALLENGE, THE PREVAILING ORTHODOXY CONCERNING POVERTY AND POOR RELIEF?

Question 1

What was the prevailing orthodoxy throughout most of the 19th century?

Answer 1

• poverty was necessary, and even desirable, if people were to strive and improve their lot.
• indigence (the inability of individuals to provide for themselves and their families even at the most basic level) was the fault of the poor themselves.

Question 2

Who was Samuel Smiles?

Answer 2

• author and political reformer.

Question 3

After studying medicine, where did Smiles move to in 1838 to begin his career in journalism? What newspaper did he become editor of?

Answer 3

• Leeds- the Leeds Times.

Question 4

What did Smiles use his post as editor of the Leeds Times to campaign for?

Answer 4

• reform of parliament, women’s suffrage, free trade and factory reform.

Question 5

What movements was Smiles a strong supporter of?

Answer 5

• the cooperative movement in Leeds- particularly of Leeds Mutual Society and Leeds Redemption Society.
• 1840- became secretary of the Leeds Parliamentary Reform Association- supporting the Chartist movement.

Question 6

Why did Smiles stop supporting the Chartist movement?

Answer 6

• was alarmed by the growing militarism of some of the Chartist leaders- eg: Feargus O’Connor from the Northern star who used physical force.

Question 7

Why did Smiles turn to writing?

Answer 7

• he was disappointed with the lack of progress towards parliamentary reform.

Question 8

What did Smiles begin to believe about how to lift the poor out of poverty and give them a voice?

Answer 8

• parliamentary reform its self wouldn’t be enough- thought individual reform was needled and people needed to change their own attitudes and practices.

Question 9

What was Smiles’ first book and what was it about?

Answer 9

• Self-Help (published in 1859).
• said self-help provided the best route to success, saying it was possible for all to accumulate wealth for people to raise themselves out of poverty, so vast amounts of poor rates were not necessary. Only the genuinely destitute required help.

Question 10

Who did Smiles write biographies for due to his belief in people being able to improve their lot?

Answer 10

• George Stephenson and Josiah Wedgwood- who had achieved their success through hard work.

Question 11

What did Smiles book Thrift published in 1875 argue?

Answer 11

• the correct use of money was the basis of self help.

Question 12

In 1980, what book of Smiles’ got published? What did it contain?

Answer 12

• Duty.
• full of examples of great deeds done by men and women who he thought should be shining examples to the rest of the population.

Question 13

How did Smiles effect the prevailing orthodoxy?

Answer 13

• he supported it, but developed it too.

Question 14

Who was Henry Mayhew?

Answer 14

• investigative journalist.

Question 15

In 1849, what did Mayhew write a series of articles on? What was the name of the book that they went onto be published in?

Answer 15

• wrote articles for the Morning Chronicle about the lives of the poor in London.
• book- London Labour and the London Poor.

Question 16

Why was Mayhew’s work in the London Labourer and the London Poor so influential and popular?

Answer 16

• findings primarily concerned with London- but he paced them in a wider national context too.
• he visited the homes and workplaces of the poor so became very in touch with how they lived and felt.

Question 17

What did Mayhew discover about the poor in London?

Answer 17

• revealed the extent to which London’s economy depended on casual and unskilled labour.

Question 18

What groups did Mayhew end up classifying the poor into?

Answer 18

• those who will work.
• those who cannot work.
• those who will not work.

Question 19

How did Mayhew describe his class of pauper of those who will work?

Answer 19

• able-boddied poor who did a wide range of jobs.
• skilled artisans- elite of the group, eg: cabinet makers, jewellers, engineers. Manual workers but had skills they could sell.
• craftsmen- next group down, eg: bricklayers, weavers, ironworkers. When demand was there they could get a decent wage.
• labourers- largest group, eg: sweeping, lifting, scrubbing. Casual work only really available when the times were good.

Question 20

How did Mayhew describe his class of pauper of those who cannot work?

Answer 20

• some able-bodied poor couldn’t work because there was no work for them to do.
• eg- bad weather meant house painters and bricklayers couldn’t work, failed US cotton crop meant mill workers were laid off.
• no redundancy money/ unemployment benefits meant paupers were forced to bed or seek help from charities or guardians.
• labouring work was dangerous- broken bones and disease followed meaning labourers could no longer work.
• elderly- not the strength or health to work, and with no pensions, the childless elderly faced a desperate old age.

Question 21

How did Mayhew describe his class of pauper of those who will not work?

Answer 21

• beggars abs vagrants (normally boys) were common.

* calculated between 40,000 and 100,000 destitute men and boys were tramping the roads and begging where they could.

Question 22

Who was Charles Dickens?

Answer 22

• novelist and social critic.

Question 23

What were the 2 points that Dickens constantly emphasised throughout his work?

Answer 23

• the poor wee people, with hopes and desires like everyone else.
• the workhouse system was a mindless, cruel institution that dehumanised both its clients and carers.

Question 24

Why was Dickens’ childhood so significant for his writing? What happened to him?

Answer 24

• he had experienced poverty first hand.
• family plunged into poverty when his father went to prison for debt.
• 12 years old- Dickens taken out of school and sent to work in a blacking factory (where polish was made).
• 3 years later- Dickens able to return to school after his father payed off his debt- but his experiences never left him.

Question 25

What books did Dickens’ childhood provide the background for?

Answer 25

• David Copperfield (1849-50).

* Great Expectations (1861).

Question 26

How did Dickens publish his books? Why was this successful?

Answer 26

• published them in short weekly/ monthly instalments.
• the quality of his writing guaranteed success.
• he could gauge his readers reactions and modify the plots accordingly to ensure popularity.
• left instalments on cliff hangers to hold the readers attention and leave them eager for the next instalment.

Question 27

Who was Dickens’ audience?

Answer 27

• popular with the middle classes.

* evidence that the illiterate poor gathered to have episodes read to them too.

Question 28

What was Dickens’ most famous novel and what did it criticise?

Answer 28

• Oliver Twist (1837-38)- critical of the workhouse system.

Question 29

What did his novel Bleak House (1852) provide an insight into?

Answer 29

• the plight of the poor- describing how the poor feel excluded from normal human life and contact.

Question 30

What did Dickens’ novel Little Dorrit (1855-57) tell the story of?

Answer 30

• a father imprisoned for debt so complex that no one could figure out how he could be released.

Question 31

What did Dickens’ novel Our Mutual Friend (1864-65) react to?

Answer 31

• the workhouse system.

Question 32

Which other authors drew attention to the poor in a similar way to Dickens?

Answer 32

• Elizabeth Gaskell and Benjamin Disraeli- focused on poverty and the problems faced by those living close to the edge.

Question 34

How did Dickens’ work create pressure for change?

Answer 34

• gave a voice to the poor in a manner that captured the interest and concern of the middle class.
• this pressure for change was subtle, but it’s impact was widespread.