What were the Combination Acts and why were they introduced?

Question 1

What was the result of urbanisation, which was caused by industrialisation?

Answer 1

• workers lived loser together, making it easier to share grievances

Question 2

What were the grievances of workers?

Answer 2

• war taxes
• food prices
• working conditions etc.

Question 3

Was strike action legal or illegal? What did this suggest about the government?

Answer 3

• illegal
• suggested that the government did not want to deal with it; they wanted to ignore workers

Question 4

Who still used strike action?

Answer 4

• tradesmen; artisans and journeymen

Question 5

What did tradesmen join? What were these groups known as?

Answer 5

• groups within their occupation for their benefit
• paid a subscription to keep in touch with the job market and to provide sick pay
• the forerunners of trade unions

Question 6

What were the differences between trade unions and friendly societies? What caused these differences?

Answer 6

• tradesmen saw themselves as superior to labouring class
• trade: high skilled/middle class workers
• friendly: labouring class

Question 7

What was the Friendly Societies Act? When was this passed?

Answer 7

• 1793
• gave members the right to hold meetings and have their funds protected

Question 8

What did Henry Pelling say about friendly societies?

Answer 8

• they were used as covers for organising strike action

Question 9

Why were these groups growing?

Answer 9

• industrialisation created more capitalist employers who didn’t listen to workers
• workers were inspired by their growing wealth and the FR

Question 10

What were Corresponding Societies?

Answer 10

• sprung up in London
• consisted of radicals
• inspired by FR, spoke of democracy and freedom
• worried government

Question 11

When was the London Corresponding Society founded? By who?

Answer 11

• 1792
• Thomas Hardy

Question 12

When were the Combination acts introduced?

Answer 12

1799 and 1800

Question 13

Why were the Combination acts introduced?

Answer 13

• growing ‘anti-establishment’ talk
• strike action was illegal but trade, friendly and corresponding societies were growing
• thus, there was a growing risk of rebellion

Question 14

What did the Combination acts do?

Answer 14

• made corresponding societies, the united irishmen and all associations of working men illegal
• made strike action punishable by law; dealt with by a magistrate

Question 15

What were the consequences of the Combination acts?

Answer 15

• showed that the establishment favoured capitalist interests
• new trade societies formed in spite of this
• magistrates turned a blind eye to strike action unless it involved violence

Question 16

What parallel act did the government pass to show parity?

Answer 16

• banned the combination of employers

Question 17

What did magistrates turning a blind eye to strike action, after the Combination acts were passed, show?

Answer 17

• general consensus was that the acts were unnecessary
• magistrates did not want to incite violence by persecuting strikers
• most agreed with strikers