Power and the People

Question 1

Magna Carta Causes

Answer 1

It was an agreement between King John and the barons.
The barons were not happy with how King John was ruling.
John argued with the church and the pope excommunicated him.
John was a poor war leader and lost land in France.
John increased scutage (tax) to pay for war.
John lost the crown jewels.

Question 2

Magna Carta Events

Answer 2

King John met the barons on 15 June 1215 at Runnymede.
John agreed to stop unfair taxes, allow barons to inherit land, let the church make appointments, prevent arrest without trial, create 25 barons to monitor the king.

Question 3

Simon de Montfort and the origins of Parliament Causes

Answer 3

Henry III was an unpopular king.
Simon de Montfort had lost land that he wanted back. He married the King’s sister and fought wars for Henry.

Question 4

Simon de Montfort and the origins of Parliament Events

Answer 4

1258 the Provisions of Oxford forced King Henry to agree to fifteen barons being in the Great Council, each county would have a sheriff and taxes and castles would be held by Englishmen.
Henry refused to sign them so the barons asked de Montfort to lead an army. He won the Battle of Lewes in 1258
The meeting of the Great Council in 1265 was the first time commoners were consulted and it was seen as the first Parliament.
At the battle of Evesham, the King’s forces defeated de Montfort and he was hacked to death.

Question 5

The Peasants’ Revolt (1381) Causes

Answer 5

The Black Death killed 1/3 of England’s population.
The peasants who survived the Black Death could choose who they worked for and for what price. Edward III passed the Statute of Labourers (1351) to try to control the peasants
Richard II introduced a poll tax to pay for war with France.

Question 6

The Peasants’ Revolt (1381) Events

Answer 6

30 May 1381 Villagers in Kent and Essex refused to pay the poll tax.
7 June 1381 the rebels freed the priest John Ball. Ball and Wat Tyler headed towards London They burned records, attacked clerks and killed the Archbishop of Canterbury.
14 June 1381 Richard II met Tyler and the rebels at Smithfield. Tyler asked for all villeins to be made freemen
15 June 1381 Tyler asked for changes to the system of law and for church land to be given to the people. However, one of the king’s supporters killed Tyler.

Question 7

The Peasants’ Revolt (1381) Significance

Answer 7

The significance of the event increased over time. It was the first time commoners had rebelled against royal power. In the short term, the rebellions failed as King Richard went back on his promises. In the long term, peasants were never taxed as heavily again and peasants’ wages continued to rise

Question 8

The Pilgrimage of Grace (1536-37) Causes

Answer 8

Henry broke with the Catholic church and made himself Supreme Head of the Church of England. He dissolved the monasteries to get money for war with France.
The dissolution of the monasteries was unpopular as monasteries played an important role in the community, many nobles lost influence, people did not like the religious changes and Henry increased taxes.

Question 9

The Pilgrimage of Grace (1536-37) Events

Answer 9

An uprising broke out in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire, led by lawyer Robert Aske
The rebels demanded that England return to Catholicism and Henry get rid of corrupt ministers, including Thomas Cromwell
Henry VIII sent the Duke of Norfolk to deal with the rebels.
Aske spent Christmas with Henry VIII.
January 1537 74 rebels were hanged as a warning. Aske was called back to London, arrested and executed.

Question 10

The Pilgrimage of Grace (1536-37) Consequences

Answer 10

No more religious rebellions took place in Henry’s reign. Henry had gained full control of religion and the people

Question 11

The English Revolution (1629-1658) Causes

Answer 11

Puritans in Parliament did not like the Catholic changes to the church made by Archbishop Laud.
Charles ruled without Parliament for 11 years (1629-40).
Charles believed in Divine Right
Parliament drew up the Grand Remonstrance (a list of demands for Charles).
Charles tried to arrest 5 MPs

Question 12

The English Revolution (1629-1658) Events

Answer 12

August 1642 Civil War started.
Oliver Cromwell created the New Model Army which helped Parliament win the Civil War.
300 MPs were ejected from Parliament, leaving only the Rump Parliament to put Charles on trial.
Charles was found guilty of treason and was executed on 30 January 1649.

Question 13

The English Revolution (1629-1658) Consequences

Answer 13

England became a Republic after Charles was executed. Oliver Cromwell ruled as Lord Protector.
Parliament restored the monarchy after Cromwell died. Charles I’s son became King.
Parliament met more regularly and was not influenced so much by the temperament and abilities of the King.

Question 14

The American Revolution (1776-1783) Causes

Answer 14

The American Revolution began because the thirteen British colonies in America were taxed but did not get an MP in Parliament.

Question 15

The American Revolution (1776-1783) Events

Answer 15

1776 the colonists declared themselves independent from Britain.
Britain sent a large army but could not keep up the fight and surrendered in 1783.
Trade between Britain and North America increased.

Question 16

The American Revolution (1776-1783) Consequences

Answer 16

The British Empire grew as Britain took over Australia, New Zealand and India.
The war defeat exposed weaknesses in the British government.
This was the first time a colony had rejected rule by a European power.
The idea of peoples’ rights spread to France where a revolution broke out.
British leaders feared a similar revolution in Britain so dealt with radicals harshly.

Question 17

The Great Reform Act (1832) Causes

Answer 17

In the early nineteenth century the British electoral system was corrupt.
There were rotten boroughs who sent an MP to Parliament even though no one lived there while new industrial towns had no MP.
Only people who owned property could vote.
There was no secret ballot.
The government increased taxes on corn after the Napoleonic Wars.

Question 18

The Great Reform Act (1832) Events

Answer 18

1819 a meeting at St Peter’s Field, Manchester called for the reform of Parliament.
The authorities sent soldiers into the crowd. Eleven people were killed, including women and children. This was called the Peterloo massacre.
The government introduced the six acts which banned the meeting of more than 50 people.
1830 Thomas Attwood organised a petition calling for reform.
1832 the Great Reform Act gave the vote to more middle class people. It redistributed MPs so that industrial towns were represented.

Question 19

The Great Reform Act (1832) Consequences

Answer 19

The Great Reform Act extended the franchise but it did not get the vote for working class people.

Question 20

Magna Carta Consequences

Answer 20

The Magna Carta was about kings and barons not ordinary people. As time went on, Magna Carta applied to more people and became a symbol of people power.

Question 21

Simon de Montfort Consequences

Answer 21

Like Magna Carta, de Montfort’s Parliament became a symbol of democratic principles (people having a say in the running of the country

Question 22

Chartism (1836 onwards) Causes

Answer 22

1836 the Chartists formed to demand more reform and to get the vote for working class people.

Question 23

Chartism (1836 onwards) Events

Answer 23

The six demands of the Chartists were votes for all men, equal sized constituencies, voting in secret, wages for MPs, no property qualification for voters and annual elections.
1848 the Chartists presented a petition to Parliament. They claimed it had 5 million signatures but it actually had 2 million.

Question 24

Chartism (1836 onwards) Consequences

Answer 24

The Chartists did not achieve their aims in the short term. However, by 1928 all except one of their six aims had been realised.

Question 25

Anti-Corn Law League Causes

Answer 25

1815 The Corn Laws made bread expensive.

Question 26

Anti-Corn Law League Events

Answer 26

The Anti-Corn Law League used pamphlets and meetings to protest. Richard Cobden and John Bright became MPs.
1845 bad harvests led to famine. 1846 Peel repealed the Corn Laws.

Question 27

Anti-Corn Law League Significance

Answer 27

This was the first time the government acted in the interests of the poor.

Question 28

Anti-slavery organisation Causes

Answer 28

Slavery was abolished due to abolitionists, the economy and slave resistance.
Many abolitionists were motivated by religious beliefs. For example, William Wilberforce was a Quaker.

Question 29

Anti-slavery organisation Events

Answer 29

The Anti-Slavery society, led by William Wilberforce challenged slavery by holding meetings, producing pamphlets, signing petitions and speaking in Parliament.
Slave rebellions like the one in St Dominique in 1804 threatened plantation owners.
The price of sugar fell so it became too expensive to keep slaves.
1833 slavery was abolished.

Question 30

Factory working conditions Causes

Answer 30

Working conditions in the factories were terrible.

Question 31

Factory working conditions Events

Answer 31

Industrialists like Robert Owen and George Cadbury improved conditions in their own factories.
Lord Shaftesbury campaigned in Parliament and a factory act was passed in 1833 limiting the hours children could work and a Mines Act was passed in 1842 banned women and children from working underground in the mines.

Question 32

Factory working conditions Consequences

Answer 32

Workers themselves did not always support the Acts as it limited the income of many families.

Question 33

Workers’ movements and workers’ rights causes

Answer 33

Workers were vulnerable to economic depression.
Industrialisation separated employers and workers.
The French Revolution spread fear of a workers’ uprising in Britain.

Question 34

Workers’ movements and workers’ rights events

Answer 34

In the 1830s Robert Owen organised the Grand National Consolidated Trades Union (GNCTU) with half a million members.

Question 35

Workers’ movements and workers’ rights consequences

Answer 35

The GNCTU failed but worried the government.

Question 36

The Tolpuddle Martyrs (1834) causes

Answer 36

1834 Farm workers in Tolpuddle formed a union when their employer tried to cut their wages.

Question 37

The Tolpuddle Martyrs (1834) events

Answer 37

The leaders were arrested for getting their members to sign a secret oath of loyalty.
The leaders were sent to Australia for seven years’ hard labour. The government wanted to send a message.
200,000 people attended a protest meeting about the treatment of the leaders. The leaders became known as the Tolpuddle martyrs

Question 38

The Tolpuddle Martyrs (1834) consequences

Answer 38

The treatment of the martyrs helped the Union movement in the long term.

Question 39

New Model Unions and New Unions

Answer 39

The Unions movement grew in the 1850s helped by compulsory education (1880) and working men getting the vote (1884).
New Model Unions represented skilled workers.
New Unions represented unskilled workers.
1888 match girls strike.
1889 London dock workers’ strike.

Question 40

New Model Unions and New Unions Consequences

Answer 40

The strikes gained public support and resulted in a pay rise for the workers.
1893 Workers created their own political party – the Labour Party.

Question 41

The General Strike (May 1926) causes

Answer 41

After the First World War, mines were given back to mine owners and demand for coal dropped. Miners were forced to work longer hours for lower wages.

Question 42

The General Strike (May 1926) events

Answer 42

The TUC called for a general strike of all workers to support the miners.
4 May 1926 miners, railway workers and dockers went on strike.
The government got the army to do some of the workers’ jobs and used radio and newspapers to turn public opinion against the strikers.

Question 43

The General Strike (May 1926) consequences

Answer 43

Union membership fell sharply after the General Strike. The Labour Party was also weakened due to its association with the strike.

Question 44

Miners’ strike (1985) causes

Answer 44

Union membership rose again after the Second World War.
Nationalisation of many industries meant workers were employed by the government so workers found it easy to pressurise for better pay and conditions.

Question 45

Miners’ strike (1985) events

Answer 45

1970s and 1980s there were frequent, large scale strikes.
1980 and 1982 Margaret Thatcher introduced laws to limit the power of Unions.
1985 the government stockpiled coal. Some miners went on strike but many pits kept working. The government sent police to prevent striking miners picketing working pits.

Question 46

Miners’ strike (1985) consequences

Answer 46

The striking miners returned to work after one year. The union movement has not been as strong since.

Question 47

Women’s rights causes

Answer 47

From the 1850s, some women campaigned against inequalities such as women being paid less than men and women not being able to vote.

Question 48

Women’s rights events

Answer 48

1897 the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) was a uniting of regional groups for women’s suffrage. Millicent Fawcett was the leader and they were known as the Suffragists.
The suffragists used peaceful methods such as petitions, marches and meetings.

Question 49

Women’s rights consequences

Answer 49

The suffragists gained the support of many MPs but the progress towards women getting the vote was slow.

Question 50

Women’s rights (The Suffragettes) causes

Answer 50

1903 Emmeline Pankhurst broke away from the NUWSS and formed the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), or the suffragettes. Pankhurst was impatient to make more progress in women getting the vote.

Question 51

Women’s rights (The Suffragettes) events

Answer 51

The suffragettes used violence and direct action such as smashing windows, chaining themselves to railings and pouring acid on golf courses.
The suffragettes went on hunger strike in prison. The government force fed them but this gained negative publicity so the government passed the Cat and Mouse Act in 1913 so the suffragettes could be temporarily released from prison.
1913 Emily Wilding Davison threw herself in front of a horse at the Derby.

Question 52

Women’s rights (The Suffragettes) consequences

Answer 52

The suffragettes got attention for Votes for Women but many criticised them for losing support for the cause

Question 53

Women’s rights Impact of World War 1

Answer 53

The Suffragettes suspended their campaign and both the WSPU and the NAWSS encouraged people to support the war effort.
Women were recruited to work in munitions factories and do other ‘men’s jobs’ such as bus driving.
The war changed attitudes. In 1918 the Representation of the People Act was passed which gave women over 30 who owned property the right to vote.

Question 54

Minority rights causes

Answer 54

The British government needed more workers to rebuild after World War 2.

Question 55

Minority rights events

Answer 55

1948 the British Nationality Act allowed anyone from the Commonwealth to come to Britain and gain full British citizenship.
Jobs fairs were held to recruit workers from Commonwealth countries
Many immigrants faced discrimination e.g in housing, jobs.
The National Front was formed which called for an end to immigration and stirred up racial hatred.
1962 and 1968 Commonwealth Immigration Acts limited Black and Asian immigration.
1965 Race Relations act made some forms of racial discrimination illegal.

Question 56

Minority rights – the Brixton Riots 1981 causes

Answer 56

The early 1980s was a time of economic depression. Unemployment was high and there was a lot of crime.
April 1981 a police ‘stop and search’ incident turned into serious rioting.

Question 57

Minority rights – the Brixton Riots 1981 events

Answer 57

The Scarman report investigated the causes of the riots and blamed police tactics.
Others blamed economic factors including unemployment and poverty.

Question 58

Minority rights – the Brixton Riots 1981 consequences

Answer 58

The Brixton riots highlighted the response of the police to black communities and suggested some racial prejudice.