Power and the people - Protest and change

Question 1

What were the corn laws?

Answer 1

• Britain had been at war with France from 1803-1815 and during the war, wheat prices had soared
• After the war, people wanted to trade with France again
• The politicians were wealthy landowners who had profited from wheat prices
• In 1815, they passed the corn laws to keep the price of wheat high

Question 2

Who were the leaders of the anti-corn law league?

Answer 2

• The leaders were Richard Cobden and John Bright
• They were orators and toured the country making speeches
• They created pamphlets and newspaper articles
• They used the penny post to send pamphlets to every voter in the country
• The league had a lot of support which increased when Bright and Cobden were elected MPs in 1841 and 1843

Question 3

Who was the Prime minister at the time of the anti-corn law league?

Answer 3

• Robert Peel was the prime minister at the time
• He supported free trade and wanted to repeal the Corn Laws
• However, he was a member of the Conservative Party. This was a problem because his party wanted to protect the wealth of the landowners

Question 4

What event impacted the Anti-Corn law league heavily in 1840?

Answer 4

• In 1840, there was a potato famine in Ireland
• this caused the crop to fail and in 1846 Ireland had a terrible famine, killing around 1 million people

Question 5

What were the outcomes of the Anti-Corn Law league?

Answer 5

• In 1846, Robert Peel repealed the Corn Laws
• He faced a backlash from his own party and resigned
• Farmers and landowners did not suffer and the poor were able to buy bread

Question 6

What was the slave trade?

Answer 6

• The British and other European nations had set up plantations growing mainly cotton and sugar; they needed people to pick the crops. They got their enslaved people from the west coast of Africa.
• Britain was involved in the slave trade since the 1500s

Question 7

What were the conditions like for slaves?

Answer 7

• Conditions were dreadful on the ships that took enslaved Africans across the Atlantic - The men, women and children were crammed in on top of each other
• On average, one-third of the passengers died on each crossing
• The enslaved people were treated like animals during the auctions, where people bid for them
• Their average life expectancy was 27

Question 8

Who were the “white slaves”?

Answer 8

• The “white slaves” referred to the workers in the factories
• It became clear that if they opposed the horrible conditions of the British factories, they should also oppose slavery.

Question 9

What was the Anti-Slavery society?

Answer 9

• The anti-slavery society was created by William Wilberforce
• They believed that slavery was not Christian
• The society held public meetings to educate people, they produced pamphlets and posters, and society members wore a badge to display their membership
• These actions were designed to raise awareness and show support for the abolition of the slave trade

Question 10

Who was William Wilberforce?

Answer 10

• MP for Hull
• Motivated by his Christian faith
• Spoke in parliament and pushed several bills through to abolish slavery
• held meetings to convince other prominent members of society to end slavery and in 1797, presented a petition to parliament - it had more signatures than the Chartist petition
• secured the abolition of the slave trade Act in 1807, which would make it illegal to buy and sell slaves in the British Empire

Question 11

Who was Granville Sharp?

Answer 11

• motivated by his studies and his interest in politics and law
• in the famous case of Jonathan Strong, who was recaptured by his former slavemaster and sent back to the West Indies, Sharp won his case for freedom
• brought attention to the case of the slave ship zong

Question 12

Who was Olaudah Equino?

Answer 12

• had been enslaved to a ship-master and had travelled the world, during this time, he was educated and converted to Christianity
• Bought his freedom
• He wrote an autobiography - this was used by the abolition movement to win people’s support: it made people aware of the horrors of slavery

Question 13

Who was Thomas Clarkson?

Answer 13

• collected information about slavery and the conditions on board slave ships
• considered slavery evil and saw it as his job to do something about it
• produced drawings of the conditions on slave ships and pamphlets to show how horrible the conditions were for enslaved people

Question 14

Why was the abolition movement not fully supported by the government?

Answer 14

• Many of the MPs and Lords had benefited from slavery -> they would lose money by abolishing it

Question 15

What was the “white man’s burden”?

Answer 15

• it was a propaganda created by slave trade supporters to support the view that black people were inferior, and that Britain had a responsibility to keep enslaved black people locked up

Question 16

Who was Hannah More?

Answer 16

• Hannah More wrote poems for the movement.
• More met Wilberforce in 1787 and they formed a firm friendship, based around their faith and commitment to social reform

Question 17

What were women’s roles during the abolition movement?

Answer 17

• Anti-slavery societies were run by women, demonstrating that women nationwide were concerned about the issue of slavery and were willing to take action
• By the time slavery were abolished in 1833, there 73 such organisations

Question 18

Who were the maroon slaves?

Answer 18

• the maroon slaves escaped from the British when they took control of Jamaica.
• the British knew if word spread of this group, they would face slave rebellions everywhere
• Thus they negotiated with them

Question 19

How did the French Revolution play a role in the abolishment of slavery?

Answer 19

• the French revolution spread new ideas of freedom and equality.
• two years after the french revolution, the enslaved people of St.Dominique, a French-controlled island, rebelled and killed the white plantation owners
• The French and British tried to stop this rebellion but failed
• Toussant Louverture led fellow enslaved people to victory and slavery was abolished on the island in 1804

Question 20

What were the impacts of resistance to slavery?

Answer 20

• The rebellions sent a clear message that enslaved people were not willing to accept slavery, and expected more from life
• They proved they would use any means to gain freedom

Question 21

Was economy a factor for the abolition of slavery?

Answer 21

• Some historians now argue that the abolition of slavery was less to do with a surge of social consciousness, and more to do with a decline in the economic benefits of slavery
• There was no need for the British to grow sugar themselves as it was cheaper to import it from Brazil and Cuba

Question 22

What were the short-term impacts of the abolition movement?

Answer 22

• the Abolition of Slavery Act 1833 only freed slaves under the age of six
• William Wilberforce was criticised for this “staged” abolition. He believed that slaves had not been educated and that they needed training
• Many slaves were sacked if they refused to live in their old slave quarters
• smuggling of slaves became a problem: as it was carried out in secret, there was no one to regulate conditions
• For many slaves, freedom resulted in a decline in living standards as they tried to compete for work and wages

Question 23

What was the long term impacts of the abolition movement?

Answer 23

• In the long term, the success of the abolition movement was undoubtedly a positive change for black people globally, as Britain increased pressure on other nations to abolish slavery

Question 24

Why were the new factories built?

Answer 24

• Textiles such as woollen and cotton cloth were the main products being made in factories in Britain during the Industrial Revolution.
• The factories were built because the new machines that made production more efficient, cheaper and quicker were too big for people’s homes

Question 25

What were the conditions in factories like?

Answer 25

• Children as young as six worked in some factories
• both adults and children worked unregulated long hours
• children were often caught under machines and injured
• Accidents were common, in which young people might lose limbs and, in extreme cases, their lives

Question 26

What were trappers?

Answer 26

their job was to open and close doors for carts for up to 12 hours a day in the dark

Question 27

what were the causes of the factory and social reform?

Answer 27

• child labour
• conditions in the mines
• factory owners - mistreated children and showed no concern for casualty rates
• conditions of factories

Question 28

Why did people want reform?

Answer 28

• An MP called Michael Sadler wrote a report showing that factory children were being caught under machines and injured, and were being mistreated by factory owners
• the public were horrified when they heard about the conditions people worked in. Men’s work was hard but the people were shocked when they heard about women + children

Question 29

What was the 10-hour movement?

Answer 29

• Sadler suggested that those under 18 should not be allowed to work more than 10 hours daily. This led to the 10-hour movement

Question 30

Who was Lord Shaftesbury?

Answer 30

• Lord Shaftesbury was another keen reformer.
• He wanted the reform to apply to all factories, not just textile factories
• motivated by his Christian belief

Question 31

What event was happening at the same time as factory and social reform?

Answer 31

the campaign for the abolishment of slavery was happening at the same time - people saw factory workers as “white slaves”

Question 32

who opposed reform?

Answer 32

• people who believed in laissez-faire politics - this means employers wanted to be trusted to run their factories in their own way
• it was a belief that conditions in a factory were a private agreement between a person and their employer

Question 33

What did the Factory Act 1833 state?

Answer 33

• applied to all textile mills except silk
• no children under nine could work in factories
• children aged 9-13 could work up to 48 hours a week
• 13-18 year olds could work no more than 69 hours a week
• children under 13 had to attend school for two hours a day
• four inspectors were appointed to check the act was enforced

Question 34

What did the Mines Act of 1842 state?

Answer 34

• women and children under 10 were not allowed to work underground
• no child under the age of 15 could be in charge of winding machines

Question 35

What were the problems with the Factory and Mines Acts?

Answer 35

• many workers opposed the factory reform acts as they limited the amount of money coming into the household
• the reform put poor people at a disadvantage + the existing poor relief didn’t meet the problem
• this led to the 1834 Poor law which only increased the pressure on families with the threat of the workforce

Question 36

What was the role of Robert Owen in social reform?

Answer 36

• he was a socialist: he led about the wellbeing of his workers as he believed in a more equal society
• By 1810, he had introduced eight hour day movement
• he opened a school in 1816 where all children had to have a certain number of hours of education, depending on their age

Question 37

What was the role of Edwin Chadwick in factory and social reform?

Answer 37

• He was responsible for the reform of the Poor law that resulted in record numbers of people entering the workhouse in 1834; this made him very unpopular

Question 38

What was the role of Elizabeth Fry in social reform?

Answer 38

• She was a social reformer who believed in the poor being helped; she also believed in prison reform
• Fry visited the Newgate regularly and soon established a school and chapel
• Her brother-in-law was an Mp; he raised the issue of prison reform in parliament. As a result, prisons were reformed, as were the conditions for women on transportation ships

Question 39

What was Josephine Butler’s role in social reform?

Answer 39

• she was concerned with the issue of child prostitution and campaigned for the age of consent from 13 to 16. She was appalled by the way women were treated when they were arrested for being prostitutes
• The Contagious Disease Act of 1869 meant that any woman could be examined by a police officer if she was thought to be a prostitute
• Butler’s campaigning saw the repeal of the Act in 1883