Topic 8: Protest and change

Question 1

Recap of what occurred in the 19th century

Answer 1

The 19th century was a time of reform of the working and social lines of those in the new towns and cities. One of the movements was the Anti-Corn Law League.

The Corn Laws had been introduced in 1815 because:
- During the war with France, Britain banned cheap French wheat used to make flour for bread.
- Without any competition, British farmers got a high price for the wheat they grew.
-When the war ended many politicians (who were also wealthy landowners) wanted to keep big profits from high wheat prices.

So the Corn Law leagues kept the price of wheat high, by banning cheap non-British wheat. This made farmers and landowners happy.

Question 2

What was the Anti-Corn Law League?

Answer 2

• There were riots across the country as the price of bread increased as a result of the Corn Laws. The working people were not happy.
• The Anti-Corn League was created and mostly made up of middle-class men who felt the price controls on wheat were unfair to the poor.
• The League had 2 prominent members: Richard Cobden (became an MP in 1841), and John Bright (became and MP in 1843).
• Both men were excellent orators and spread the word of the League throughout the country. They used the following tactics:
  
  • gave speeches
  • created pamphlets
  • published newspaper articles
  • used the railways to travel faster
  • sent pamphlets through the penny post to reach every eligible voter

The new prime minister, Robert Peel, saw the benefit of free trade and of not controlling imports. He therefore supported the Anti-corn league. However, he was the leader of the Conservative Party, whose members were mostly wealthy landowners who wanted to keep prices high. Peel would need to move more slowly to persuade the government.

Question 3

What were the reasons that people opposed the Corn Laws?

Answer 3

1) Corn Laws were unfair to the poor as the price of basic food, bread, was far too high.
2) Cheap wheat could lower living costs.
3) People would have more money to spend in other goods, like meat.
4) People could buy industrial goods.
5) Improved trade relations with other countries would help to secure peace.

Question 4

What was the Irish Famine and repeal?

Answer 4

• The Irish relied heavily on bread and potatoes for their diet, but in the early 1840s the potato harvest failed.
• By 1846 Ireland was facing a terrible famine and there was no spare wheat in Britain to send to the millions that’s were starving.
• At the same time a crop failure in Scotland and England was threatening the same crisis.
• Robert Peel’s hand was forced; he would need to repeal the Corn Laws and allow cheaper foreign wheat to be used to feed the people.
• Robert Peel repealed the Corn Laws in 1846. He was faced with so much opposition from his party that he was forced to resign.
• British farmers and landowners actually did well even after repeal as the population increased just as the price of wheat was lowered. This gave people more money to spend on barley, oats and meat.

Question 5

What was slave trade like?

Answer 5

Since the 1500s, Britain had been making vast sums of money from the slave trade. The conditions in slave ships and plantations were terrible. A third of slaves died on the ships. If they did survive the journey their life expectancy was only 27.

Question 6

What was the Abolition movement?

Answer 6

Many people in parliament supported slavery, mostly because they made money from the plantations. However, in the late 18th century people started to accept it was wrong. The mains reasons for this were:
- the comparison to working condition in factories for so-called “white slaves”
- religious belief that slavery was not Christian.
One perso. Who held these views was William Wilberforce. He and some like-minded individuals created the Anti-Slavery Society.

Question 7

Some of the Anti-Slavery Society key figures

Answer 7

William Wilberforce MP - spoke for abolition in parliament and presented a petition in 1797

Thomas Clarkson - collected information and produced drawings and pamphlets about conditions on board slave ships

Granville Sharp- argued in Law Courts to free slaves and clarify the law about slave ownership

Olaudah Equiano - former slave who wrote a widely-read book about this life

There were many other important individuals who helped gain support for abolition, such as Hannah More, who wrote poems for the movement, and Josiah Wedgwood, who made a badge for supporters to wear.

Question 8

What was slave resistance?

Answer 8

It was not just middle-class white people in Britain who helped bring about the abolition of slavery. There were many instances of slave rebellions.
- The Maroon slaves escaped from their plantation in Jamaica in 1655; they lived in the mountains and celebrated their native African culture.
- Inspired by the French Revolution, the slaves of St Dominique rebelled, killing the white plantation owners and burning the sugar crops; they were victorious - slavers was abolished in the island in 1804.
- The slave rebellions sent the message that slaves were no longer willing to accept slavery, and would use any means necessary to gain freedom.

Question 9

Comparison of abolition movement and Anti-Corn Law League

Answer 9

similarities between the movements are shown in bold

Aims
Abolition movement: End the slave trade and ownership of slaves.
Anti-Corn Law League: Repeal the Corn Laws that had been introduced in 1815.

Motivation
Abolition movement:
- Religion - conviction that slavery was not Christian.
- Moral
Anti-Corn Law League:
- Economic - wanted free trade as e.
- Social - people were starving

Key dates
Abolition movement:
- 1807: abolished slave trade
- 1833: Abolition of Slavery Acts -