C+P 1700-1900 intro + crimes

Question 1

Factors affecting crime and punishment, c.1700-c.1900

Britain experienced significant social change in the period c.1700 to c.1900.
What were these and what did they mean?

Answer 1

This was because of the development of cities and industry during the Industrial Revolution, and a rapidly growing population.
These new circumstances led to changes in crime, punishment and policing across Britain.

Question 2

Factors affecting crime and punishment, c.1700-c.1900

When was the industrial revolution?

Answer 2

1800s
It is argued that the Industrial Revolution in Britain began towards the end of the 18th century and ended in the early 19th century.

Question 3

Factors affecting crime and punishment, c.1700-c.1900

What was the result of the Industrial revolution?

Answer 3

Many people moved to cities for work, leaving rural jobs in farming and agriculture.
By the end of the 19th century, most people in Britain were employed in factories and workshops. Cities were now the main centres of production.

Cities became overcrowded, which increased crime and the need for a police force.

Question 4

Factors affecting crime and punishment, c.1700-c.1900

Population of London by 1900?

Which other cities also grew?

Answer 4

By 1900, London had a population of 4.5 million.

Other cities were growing in size across Britain too, including Birmingham, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester.

Question 5

Factors affecting crime and punishment, c.1700-c.1900

Result of the increase in population?

Answer 5

Some parts of cities such as London became overcrowded and attracted crimes such as petty theft and pickpocketing.
The people who committed these crimes were often called the ‘criminal underclass’. In the busy town and city centres, those who committed these crimes were not as easily noticed as they would have been in the past.

Question 6

Factors affecting crime and punishment, c.1700-c.1900

When did railways come about?

Answer 6

Travel benefitted from these developments and by the 1840s the railway became a major form of travel.

Easier travel meant that criminals could move around Britain quickly.

Question 7

Factors affecting crime and punishment, c.1700-c.1900

Laissez-faire approach to crime?

Answer 7

Translated as ‘leave well alone’ or ‘let the people choose’. A government policy of interfering as little as possible in social and economic policy. This continued until the mid 1800s.

After the mid 1800s, this began to change as the govt began to pass new legislation.

Question 8

Crimes against the person and property, c.1700-c.1900

Continuity regarding crimes?

Answer 8

Crimes against the person and property continued into and throughout the period c.1700 to c.1900. These included common crimes such as murder, petty theft, poaching and smuggling.

Question 9

Crimes against the person and property, c.1700-c.1900

Fill in the blanks…
The ……. Black Act was passed after groups of ……….. took part in a series of poaching raids. The act made hunting ………. , ………. or hare a crime that was punishable by ……….
The act also made it illegal to ‘…………. the face’ in an area of hunting (for camouflage), carry ………… (traps), or keep dogs suitable for hunting and …………. .

Answer 9

The 1723 Black Act was passed after groups of poachers took part in a series of poaching raids. The act made hunting deer, rabbits or hare a crime that was punishable by death.
The act also made it illegal to ‘blacken the face’ in an area of hunting (for camouflage), carry snares (traps), or keep dogs suitable for hunting and poaching.

Question 10

Crimes against the person and property, c.1700-c.1900

Who were the Waltham Blacks?
What happened to them?

Answer 10

A group of poachers from the surrounding areas of Hampshire, known as the Waltham Blacks, took part in a poaching raid, where they took the Bishop’s deer and stole a shipment of the King’s wine.
The group was arrested and hanged.

Question 11

Crimes against the person and property, c.1700-c.1900

Poaching had always been considered a social crime.
Why were these laws were unpopular?

Answer 11

People felt that:
poachers were just poor people who needed food
the law existed to protect the wealth of landowners
the death penalty was too harsh a punishment

Question 12

Crimes against the person and property, c.1700-c.1900

True or false?
Anyone who owned land worth £50 or more could hunt without restriction.

Answer 12

False.
Anyone who owned land worth £100 or more could hunt without restriction.

Question 13

Crimes against the person and property, c.1700-c.1900

Fill in the blanks…
People continued to ………… tea, cloth, wine and alcohol into Britain without paying any ……….. …… . This was especially common and popular in ……….. areas.
The government needed the import duties and saw smuggling as a ………. crime. The punishment for smuggling was the ……….. …………

Answer 13

People continued to smuggle tea, cloth, wine and alcohol into Britain without paying any customs duty. This was especially common and popular in coastal areas.

The government needed the import duties and saw smuggling as a serious crime. The punishment for smuggling was the death penalty.

Question 14

Crimes against the person and property, c.1700-c.1900

Fill in the blanks…
The ………….. Gang smuggled along the ………. coast. In ……….. , they seized back their smuggled tea, brandy, rum and coffee after breaking into the …………. house in Poole. A year later the leaders of the gang, Arthur Gray and Thomas Kingsmill, were ……… .

Answer 14

The Hawkhurst Gang smuggled along the south coast. In 1747, they seized back their smuggled tea, brandy, rum and coffee after breaking into the customs house in Poole. A year later the leaders of the gang, Arthur Gray and Thomas Kingsmill, were hanged.

Question 15

Crimes against the person and property, c.1700-c.1900

How many active smugglers in Britain by the mid-1700s?

Answer 15

By the mid-1700s it was believed there were 20,000 active smugglers in Britain. Smuggling proved hard to stop.

Question 16

Crimes against the person and property, c.1700-c.1900

Three reasons smuggling was hard to stop?
(related to the common people)

Answer 16

Ordinary people would ignore smuggling because they benefitted and were happy to pay lower prices for goods.

Smugglers were regarded as heroes.

Many locals in coastal areas collaborated with smuggler gangs, maintaining boats and hiding cargo until it was sold on.

Question 17

Crimes against the person and property, c.1700-c.1900

2 reasons smuggling was hard to stop?
(related to smugglers themselves)

Answer 17

Smugglers worked at night and there were miles of unpoliced coastline where smugglers could easily store their
cargo in secret.

The smuggling gangs used violence and were feared.

Question 18

Crimes against the person and property, c.1700-c.1900

Why was highway robbery increasing?

Answer 18

Highway robbery increased as handguns became easier to obtain and horses became cheaper to buy.

Some soldiers struggled to find work after they returned from war and fell into crime.

There was no police force in the 18th century, which meant that criminals could not be easily tracked across Britain.

Question 19

Crimes against the person and property, c.1700-c.1900

What was highway robbery?

Answer 19

Highway robbery was not a new crime. However, it had become more of a concern by 1700 because it was happening more regularly. Highway robbers would attack stagecoaches while they were travelling to and from towns and cities. They would wait for travellers to slow down.

Highway robbery happened frequently on the roads around London, and those involved were ruthless and violent.

Question 20

Crimes against the person and property, c.1700-c.1900

5 Measures to reduce highway robbery

Answer 20

Highway robbery began to decline once the road surfaces improved and stagecoaches could travel more quickly, allowing victims to escape more easily.
The introduction of mounted patrols along major roads.
Developments in the banking system meant that travellers no longer had to carry large sums of money, which made them less of a target.
In 1772, the death penalty was introduced for anyone found armed and disguised on a high road.
Rewards were offered for information about those involved in highway robbery.

Question 21

Crimes against the person and property, c.1700-c.1900

2 names of notable highwaymen.

Answer 21

In 1724, thousands of people lined the road to the Tyburn Tree, a hanging station in London. They were there to see Jack Shepherd, who was a well-known highwayman and had escaped prison four times.
Dick Turpin was also a well-known highwayman. In 1739 he was executed after being found guilty of horse theft.

Question 22

Crimes against the person and property, c.1700-c.1900

When was the last reported case of highway robbery?

Answer 22

1831

Question 23

Crimes against the person and property, c.1700-c.1900

What crimes started to worry the authorities more?
What no longer mattered?

Answer 23

During the years c.1700 to c.1900, the authorities were more worried about activities that threatened landowners and employers.
They no longer feared heresy and witchcraft, as religious and supernatural beliefs declined and were replaced by scientific understanding.

Witchcraft was decriminalised in the early 1700s

Question 24

Crimes against the person and property, c.1700-c.1900

What took place in France in the late 1700s?
(and why did it scare the govt here?)

Answer 24

The French Revolution took place in 1789.
As a result, the British government feared that revolution led by the working classes would follow and be successful in Britain too.
British landowners and politicians saw every protest as a potential threat to their power.

Question 25

Crimes against the person and property, c.1700-c.1900

Which union were the govt concerned about in particular and why?

Answer 25

The government was concerned about the Grand National Consolidated Trades Union, which aimed to bring workers together to improve their conditions. It was not illegal to belong to a trade union.
However, employers felt threatened by workers joining to demand better pay and conditions.

GNCTU

Question 26

Crimes against the person and property, c.1700-c.1900

What did the Tolpuddle martyrs ask for and what did they get in return?

Answer 26

The story of the Tolpuddle Martyrs took place in a Dorset village called Tolpuddle.

Local labourers, led by George Loveless, asked their employers to increase their wage after it had been cut several times.
Their wage was six shillings a week when farm labourers earned ten shilling a week on average.

The farm owners refused and cut their wages further.

Question 27

Crimes against the person and property, c.1700-c.1900

fill in the blanks…
In ……… , the labourers set up a …………. called the ………. Society of Agricultural ……….. . Each man took a secret ……… to support the union. However, the ………. owners found out and were determined to break the union.

Answer 27

In 1833, the labourers set up a union called the Friendly Society of Agricultural Labourers. Each man took a secret oath to support the union. However, the farm owners found out and were determined to break the union.

Question 28

Crimes against the person and property, c.1700-c.1900

Punishment of the Tolpuddle Martyrs and consequences nationally that followed?

Answer 28

George Loveless and the other members of the union were arrested and sentenced to seven years transoprtation to Australia.

This sentence was the harshest available to the judge and was designed to deter others from joining unions.

The punishment worried members of the Grand National Consolidated Trades Union, which broke up.

Landowners and employers in Britain were happy with this outcome.

Question 29

Crimes against the person and property, c.1700-c.1900

The punishment given to the men of Tolpuddle was unpopular among the people of Britain.
**What happened as a result? **

Answer 29

The men were seen as martyrs for union rights and a campaign was organised against their unfair punishment.

A petition was written demanding the martyrs’ release, and it was signed by 200,000 people. However, Lord Melbourne, the Home Secretary, refused to accept it.

After continued public pressure and protest, in 1836, the Tolpuddle Martyrs were granted a pardon from the government.
Two years later, they returned to Britain.