Poverty And Pauperism Flashcards

1
Q

How many poorhouses were there by 1776?

A

2,000 each with 20-50 inmates

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

What are Absolute and Relative Poverty?

A

Absolute - The lack of an income to provide even basic human needs

Relative - People who are poor but still have enough to survive

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

Between 1802-1803 what percentage of The North and The South received poor relief?

A

North - 10%

South - 23%

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

What did the 1832 Royal Commission do?

A

They had 9 commissioners (including Edwin Chadwick) and aimed to gather evidence on how to improve the poor law. They sent out questionnaires to 15,000 parishes, but only 10% returned

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

What did the 1832 Royal Commission recommend be changed with the poor law?

A
  • The Removal Of Outdoor Relief
  • The use of Workhouses as deterrents
  • The creation of a central board to control these changes
  • Grouping parishes to more effectively manage workhouses
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

What did the 1601 Elizabethan Poor Law do?

A

Poorhouses were made for the deserving poor. Outdoor relief was provided to the able bodied.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

What did the 1782 Gilbert’s Act do?

A

Allowed parishes to group together to build workhouses

It aimed to make the workhouse a place of refuge not punishment

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

How long did the Speenhamland System last?

A

1795-1834

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

What did the Speenhamland System do?

A

Subsidised low wages. Allowance depended on the price of bread and number of children.

Wages were topped to the price of 3 loaves of bread (4 1/2 loaves if the worker had a family)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

When was the French Revolution and Why did this cause fear in the government?

A

1789-99, As they feared the middle and working class would rise up together and revolt

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

When did the Napoleonic War end?

A

1815

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

Hoe many soldiers returned home from the Napoleonic war?

A

Over 400,000

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

Why did some people avoid Poor Relief?

A

To take poor relief was seen as social evil and indolent (lazy)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

What was Individualism?

A

They believed that minimum legislations and government intervention was best.

  • Thomas Malthus and Joseph Townsend
  • Malthus wrote an essay on how population increase will eventually lead to drained resources
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

What was Collectivism?

A

Early socialism, the government should take responsible for the poor to offer a collective solution to the problem of poverty.

  • Thomas Paine and Robert Owen
  • Thomas Paine’s “The Rights Of Man” outlines his radical beliefs such as a pension
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

What was Utilitarianism?

A

The Government should provide “The Greatest Happiness for the Greatest Number”

  • Edwin Chadwick and Jeremy Bentham
  • Bentham invented this and believed humans were motivated by pain and pleasure
17
Q

How much did poor relief cost the country from 1815-1833?

A

Over £5.7 Million per year

18
Q

What were the main reasons for the Reform Of The Old Poor Law?

A

• Rising Cost of The Poor Rate

• Individualists, Utilitarianism and Collectivists
Questioned the government’s old beliefs
Edwin Chadwick was made secretary to the commission

• Failures of the Old Poor Law
Speenhamland - 1795
Elizabethan Poor Law - 1601

• Attitude to Poverty
Deserving vs Undeserving
Less Protecting of the Poor

19
Q

When was the Poor Law Amendment Act?

A

1834

20
Q

How much did the Banbury Workhouse cost?

A

£6,200

21
Q

What did the Poor Law Amendment Act do?

A
  • Commissioners now have assistants to aid
  • No commissioners can become members of the House Of Commons
  • Commissioners have the power to say which parishes join into unions
  • Those dangerously deranged could not be detained in a workhouse for more than 14 days
  • The Board of Guardians (Overseers) are elected by ratepayers and run the workhouses
22
Q

What were the workhouses designed for (post Poor Law Amendment Act)?

A

Deterring workers

They were less appealing conditions than those of the poorest labourer

23
Q

What did the Poor law Amendment Act (1834) do to the parishes?

A

The 15,000 parishes were amalgamated into groups of about 30.
Each with a board of Guardians

24
Q

When was Oliver Twist Published?

A

1837

25
Q

How much more did indoor relief cost

A

Indoor Relief cost 50-100% more than Outdoor Relief

26
Q

When was the Andover Workhouse Scandal?

A

Andover was built in 1836

But the scandal went public in 1845

27
Q

Who publicised the Andover Workhouse Scandal?

A

The Times

28
Q

What was life like in the Andover Workhouse?

A
  • All unmarried mothers wore yellow shame strips
  • Watered down children’s milk, everyone underfed
  • Ran by the alcoholic Ex Sergeant Major Collins M’dougal
  • Bone crushing was a job and some resorted to eating the flesh off the bones
29
Q

What was the Andover Workhouse Scandal?

A

In 1845, it was discovered that the workers of the Andover Workhouse had been abused and starved. This resulted in Colin M’Dougal’s forced resignation and no other punishment

30
Q

What was the average living age of the Poor and Upper class?

A

Poor - 40s

Upper class - 60s

31
Q

Who was Elizabeth Gaskell?

A

A female author of novels that gave a close look at social problems

She wrote Mary Barton (1848) giving a dark look into the struggles of the working class

32
Q

What are signs that the Andover Workhouse Scandal didnt change anything?

A
  • Between 1851-66 another 100 workhouses were built adding to the 402 ones build after the 1834 PLAA
  • Contempt for those unwilling to help themselves still existed
  • The middle class had mainly lost touch with their origins in the working class
33
Q

What was poor relief?

A

financial assistance given to the poor from state or local community funds.

34
Q

What percent of Britain’s GNP (Gross National Profit) did poor relief expenditure take up?

A

2%

35
Q

How did someone qualify for Indoor relief?

A

By entering a poorhouse / workhouse

36
Q

How did Charles Dickens change public opinion?

A
  • Oliver Twist (1837-39)
  • Christmas Carol (1843)

All highlight the work of poverty, oppression and the theme of “change”

37
Q

How did the Andover Workhouse Scandal lead to improvements?

A
  • Well publicised (e.g editor of ‘The Times’ John Walter)
  • Displayed the need for new ways of dealing with poverty
  • The ‘Workhouse Visiting Society’ was created to check in on Workhouses (though they were unofficial)