How far do you agree that the work of individuals was more significant than mass movements in achieving improved working conditions in the years 1830-70?? Flashcards
work of individuals- Lord Ashley
attempted to introduce factory bills in 1838,1839,1840, all including 10 hour working days. He also led committee in 1840 which investigated the success and failures of the 1833 act, showing there were active members of parliament who were striving to make positive changes to the working conditions, and shows the importance of people in positions of power being behind the causes, as his work was carried on and completed by John Fielden in 1847 who helped finally introduce the 10 hour working day.
Work of individuals- Robert Peel
-Robert Peel- motivated by the idea of uplifting society in general, through reformed working conditions, he saw the link between economic growth and improved lives of workers.(led tory govt from 1841) Therefore he supported the 1844 factory act to give women and children 13-18 no more than 12 hour working days, and fenced off dangerous equipment. Once a sympathetic govt leader was in power, he supported the improvement of workers lives through improved working conditions for the greater good of the economy, even if it wasn’t necessarily to promote the wellbeing of workers specifically.
work of individuals-Michael sadler
Facts- Started campaigning in October 1831 ip improve conditions of agricultural labourers. Gained significant support from John wood; owner of the most successful UK spinning company who gave him £40,000 to help Sadlers 10 hour bill campaign
-16th March 1832 Sadler introduced legislation proposing the reduction in working hours of under 18s. Report published in January 1833 which shocked British public and increased pressure on parliament to protect children
Small judgement for work of individuals.
In the long term, individuals were more important than mass movements in gaining sustainable and adequate improvements because it was the work of individuals involved in parliament who had the power to initiate legislation; mass movements alone could only raise awareness to parliament, but combined with sympathetic individuals in parliament, together they could achieve improved working conditions.
Mass movements- 10 Hour movements
10 hour movements- Led by Oestler and Bull, the members were vital reform drivers looking to reduce the working day to 10 hours, where they used the exploitation of children workers especially to gain widespread sympathy and attract further campaigners. Learnt from the failures of the overly aggressive spin riots and luddites. campaign began in 1830-31 and was sustained throughout the 1830s, and eventually the 10 hour movement was granted to women, children and some men in 1847. Their importance is in the short term, where the presence of their support was enough to persuade individuals like sadler and Ashley that the calls for reform were widespread enough to be debated in parliament. Best mass movement because of closest correlation between what they demanded and what was reformed by government
Mass movements- swing riots
-Swing riots- an agricultural mass movement which shows that calls for working conditions reforms was a nationwide problem and that the IR had indirect affects on rural areas. They felt the IR meant they had lost their Jobs to threshing machines and wanted reduced rent, lower unemployment and better pay. They organised burnings, with the first in Kent in 1830, which spread to 16 counties. 1976 arrested and 19 killed. Their demands weren’t met immediately but the stir that they had caused showed the government the strength and popularity of rural workers, and that not only did working conditions need addressing as a result of the IR in cities, that there needed to be a nation wide fix.
Mass movements- short term committees
easily accessible groups that held public meetings across the UK and persuaded people to sign petitions to be sent to parliament. Leeds committee collected 10,000 signatures in a week and Bradford sent off a petition with 4000 signatures. They appealed to trade unions and were looking to gain support for new factory legislation regarding working conditions. They remained in existence until 1847 when the 10 hour movement was passed, and were an important cause in raising awareness in cities across the UK which didn’t have groups like the 10 hour movement but still wanted to express their desire for reform, which ultimately helped the cause of working conditions reform as they demonstrated even more widespread need for reform.
small judgement for mass movement
These mass movements all demonstrated the widespread need for working condition reform, but were more important in the short term, as without these groups which showed the agitation of workers, its unlikely that the powerful individuals would’ve picked up these ideas and causes as soon as they did to initiate the necessary legislation to improve working conditions.
line of argument/ judgement
Overall the approach to improving working conditions required both mass movements and the work of individuals to allow positive reform to take place. The mass movements were more significant in the short term because their work had a snow ball effect- gaining increasing momentum which translated to petitions and signatures which turned the head of important MPs. Without their teamwork, agitation for reform would’ve been less apparent. In the long term, these ideas had to be picked up by individuals like Lord Ashley, Sadler and Fielden so that they could use their positions of power to initiate the legislation- mass movements alone could not directly introduce the reforms that they campaigned for as they needed parliamentary support.
