Poverty and Pauperism 2 Flashcards
What did Gilbert’s Act of 1782 do?
Grouping together of parishes into unions to provide a poor house for physically unfit people rather than able-bodied poor people.
Give 5 requirements of the Poor Law Amendment Act.
Poor Law Commission set up
‘Less eligibility’ rule
Grouping of parishes together
Workhouses
Ending of outdoor relief
What replaced the Poor Law Commission in 1847?
The Poor Law Board
What does the term ‘less eligibility’ mean?
Makng the conditions in workhouses so harsh than only the truly desperate would enter/apply to go into a workhouse - putting the emphasis on work rather than relying on the state for help.
What did Jeremy Bentham found?
Utilitarianism
What is Jeremy Bentham’s theory?
Utilitarianism is the belief that human’s are motivated by pleasure and pain and that government action should be based on what provided the greatest happiness to the greatest number of people.
Give 8 reasons why important parts of the Poor Law Amendment Act were not implemented sucessfully.
. North/south divide
. Industrial v agricultural areas
. Opposition to the law
. Continuance of ‘outdoor relief’
. Same overseers continued
. Lack of uniform picture
. Lack of weight behind the new Commission
. Division within the Commission.
What book did Charles Dickens write about the despair and drudgery of the workhouse for children?
Oliver Twist
Why did Dicken’s book have a big impact on the public? Give 2 reasons.
Because it was serialised in a newspaper making it cheaper to buy, read by more people and tapped into a growing concern amongst the public
What is philanthropy?
General concern for the welfare of others through charity or donations to help people
When did the Andover Workhouse Scandal happen?
1845
What was the Andover Workhouse Scandal? Give 7 points.
Harsh regime, treated more like prisoners, eating rotten bones, abuse of women inmates, eating with fingers, long working day, starving.
Why did the Andover Workhouse scandal come to light?
Concerns raised by local poor law guardian to MP and home secretary, role of newspaper reports by the Times.
What impact did the Andover Scandal have?
The Poor Law Commission was dissolved and replaced by a Poor Law Board in 1847
How many workhouses were built between the years 1834 and 1851?
402
How many workhouses were built between the years 1851 and 1866?
100
Utilitarianism
The moral belief that an action is right if it brings the greatest good to the most number of people
What was Edwin Chadwick appointed as in 1832?
Assistant commissioner into the poor law royal commission
What did Chadwick help write?
The final report of the Poor Law Royal Comission
What did Chadwick believe in?
Utilitarianism
What did parliament ask Chadwick to do?
Investigate living conditions in London
What was Chadwick the man behind?
The poor law Amendment Act of 1834
What did Chadwick want to create a system of?
Poor relief where people were trained to help themselves.
What did Chadwick believe the old system did?
Encouraged a system of laziness by simply handing out money every week
How did the Victorians categorise the poor?
. Deserving
. Undeserving
What did legislators want the new poor law to do?
To force the poor to stand on their own feet and participate in a healthy economy
Why were the upper and middle classes against the old poor law?
Against paying taxes