Chapter 11 - Pressures for change Flashcards

1
Q

What are some reasons that the years after 1811 were a period of social and economic distress for Britain?

A

Effects of continuing changes in agriculture and industry, high prices and taxation due to Napoleonic Wars, lack of effective poor relief to deal with hardships of labouring population

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2
Q

What government policies did the Tories imitate to cope with working class disturbances in the years following 1811?

A

Repressive policies of Pitt

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3
Q

What were the Luddite riots?

A

Outbreaks of machine breaking in Northern and Midlands England in early 1810s

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4
Q

Where and when were the first Luddite riots?

A

1811 in Nottinghamshire

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5
Q

Who was Ned Ludd?

A

A mythical figure, possibly named after an apprentice punished for machine breaking around the time, who supposedly led the Luddites and had his HQ in Sherwood Forest

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6
Q

What was the initial problem which caused the Luddite riots?

A

Stocking-frame knitters were angered by the use of a mechanical wide frame machine, which produced worse quality stockings faster and cheaper than the narrow frame machine used by skilled knitters, and accused factory owners of underhand practices to put them out of work or pay them poorly.

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7
Q

When did the Luddite machine breakers operate?

A

Mainly at night

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8
Q

What is a problem in understanding Luddite motives?

A

The Luddites themselves documented very little, so most evidence comes from alarmist local magistrates or spies

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9
Q

What heightened government alarm about the Luddite riots?

A

The apparent spread of Luddism to Lancashire, Yorkshire and Cheshire, and their quasi-military structure

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10
Q

What happened in Lancashire cotton mills at a similar time to the Luddite riots?

A

Power looms were smashed by hand loom weavers who worried they were becoming obsolete

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11
Q

What were the Yorkshire protests from a similar time to the Luddites directed against?

A

New technology rather than unfair working practices, such as skilled croppers from the wool industry protesting against the introduction of the shearing frame, which threatened to make their skills obsolete

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12
Q

What did Yorkshire protesters do before beginning violent protests against new machinery?

A

Petitioned parliament to ask to help safeguard their livelihoods

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13
Q

When did the Yorkshire croppers turn to machine breaking and why?

A

1812 when their petition to parliament failed

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14
Q

Why is William Horsfall important?

A

A prominent woollen manufacturer, in April 1812 he was murdered by 4 Luddites on his way back from the market

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15
Q

How many Luddites were put on trial in January 1813 and where?

A

Over 60 in York

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16
Q

How many Luddites were executed in January 1813 at York Castle?

A

14, including 3 for the murder of William Horsfall

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17
Q

What did the government do to stop the Luddite uprising?

A

Large show trial at York in January 1813, soldiers drafted in, series of arrests, transportations and hangings

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18
Q

What happened to the croppers after the Luddite riots?

A

Could no longer find work within a few years

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19
Q

What happened to the hand loom weavers after the Luddite riots?

A

Suffered weeks of falling wages due to increased use of power loom

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20
Q

What happened to the stocking knitters after the Luddite riots?

A

They were more successful than the croppers or weavers as they produced better quality product than machines, and their wages even rose once the disturbances died down

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21
Q

What organisation was Wilberforce a key member of?

A

The Clapham sect

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22
Q

What did Wilberforce play a significant role in apart from the abolitionist movement?

A

The evangelical revival

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23
Q

Who was the term radical applied to in 18th and 19th Century Britain?

A

Any person or group who wished to see change or reform in an existing institution or system

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24
Q

Who first formed the Hampden Clubs in 1811?

A

Sir Frances Burdett

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25
Q

Who made the Hampden Clubs popular?

A

Orators such as Henry Hunt

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26
Q

What is it significant that Henry Hunt owned?

A

A stately home

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27
Q

What sort of reform was there a revival for after 1815?

A

Political reform, more focused and determined than under Pitt

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28
Q

What sort of background were radicals usually from?

A

Middle Class

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29
Q

What did David Ricardo use his MP seat to do?

A

Help protect the economic interests of the working classes

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30
Q

When was the Manchester Guardian created and who did it act as a mouthpiece for?

A

1821, acted as a mouthpiece for middle-class manufacturers who wanted parliamentary representation, especially in the North

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31
Q

What sort of radical pressed most vocally for an extension of the franchise in the 1810s and 1820s?

A

Benthamite radicals such as James Mill

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32
Q

What did the working classes focus their discontent on in the 1810s?

A

Low wages, unemployment and the inadequate system of poor relief, although they were being politicised and interested in achieving political representation

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33
Q

How did the working classes mainly express their discontent in the 1810s?

A

Rioting during periods of economic hardship

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34
Q

When was the Spa Fields demonstration and who led it?

A

1816 led by Henry Hunt

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35
Q

Why were the Spa Fields riots a failure?

A

Poor organisation led to fighting among the crowds, arrests and dispersal by the local militia

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36
Q

Why were the Blanketeers named so?

A

They carried blankets for shelter on their long march

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37
Q

What did the Blanketeers intend to do?

A

March from Manchester to London to present petitions to the Prince Regent for relief of distress

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38
Q

Were the Blanketeers successful?

A

No- most dispersed at the start, and according to legend only one made it to London to present his petition

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39
Q

When was the March of the Blanketeers?

A

1817

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40
Q

When was the Pentrich uprising?

A

June 1817

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41
Q

Who caused the Pentrich uprising and how?

A

Oliver the Spy, a government agent provocateur who convinced the villagers that they would be joining tens of thousands of others on a march to London, and that Nottingham had already fallen

42
Q

Which 3 leaders were hanged for the Pentrich uprising?

A

Jeremiah Brandreth, Isaac Ludlum and William Turner

43
Q

Was the Pentrich uprising a success?

A

No- it was quickly stopped by the military, and it’s leaders hanged

44
Q

When and where was the Peterloo massacre?

A

St. Peter’s Fields, Manchester, 16th August 1819

45
Q

How many people were killed at Peterloo?

A

18, with over 700 injuries

46
Q

What happened to the journalist who coined ‘Peterloo’?

A

His newspaper was closed down and he was sentenced to a year in prison for seditious libel

47
Q

What happened to some injured at the Peterloo massacre?

A

They were refused treatment as it was seen as politically dangerous

48
Q

What were people protesting against at Peterloo?

A

The employers of Lancashire weavers refusing to negotiate a legal minimum wage, which the weavers thought a political solution was needed for

49
Q

Who was main speaker at Peterloo?

A

Henry Hunt

50
Q

What went wrong at Peterloo?

A

The unnerved local magistrates sent the armed Manchester yeomanry into the crowd during Hunt’s speech to disperse the crowd and arrest Hunt. The yeomanry then used their sabres on the crowd, and the local magistrates (supported by the government) sided with the yeomen, saying they’d done nothing wrong

51
Q

What legislation did the government introduce in response to Peterloo?

A

The Six Acts

52
Q

What caused working class disturbances to recede in the early 1820s?

A

Economic recovery

53
Q

Where did the Swing riots occur?

A

The rural South of England

54
Q

When did the Swing riots occur and why?

A

Late 1820s and 1830 due to sudden economic slump

55
Q

What were the Swing riots?

A

Outbreaks of violence among agricultural labourers in the rural South of England - farm machinery smashed, haystacks set on fire

56
Q

What caused government reaction to the Swing riots?

A

In June 1830 a series of letters appeared, issuing threats against local farmers and landowners

57
Q

How did the government respond to the Swing riots after the letters of 1830?

A

By hanging troublemakers and transporting several hundred more

58
Q

What goal did both middle and working-class agitators share in the early 1800s?

A

Bringing an end to aristocratic dominance of the political system

59
Q

How did the tactics of the middle-class and working-class radicals of the early 1800s vary?

A

Working-class radicals tended to use violence, causing middle-class radicals, who preferred persuasion and rational argument, to be wary of associating too closely with them

60
Q

Which ports became especially wealthy through the slave trade?

A

London, Glasgow, Bristol and Liverpool

61
Q

What had it become easier and more acceptable for British people to do by the early 19th century?

A

Express their opinions and make their views felt in opposition to government, as long as it was through peaceful channels

62
Q

Why did supporters of the anti-slavery movement publish pamphlets?

A

To shock a mainly middle-class and increasingly literate audience about the inhumane conditions suffered by slaves, causing the movement to raise public conciousness

63
Q

Where was Wilberforce MP for and why is this significant?

A

Hull- significant because it was a port which did not benefit much from slavery, leading some to suggest that he was motivated at least partially by profit

64
Q

Who was the main campaigner in the anti-slave trade movement?

A

William Wilberforce

65
Q

Who was Wilberforce’s arguably most powerful friend?

A

William Pitt

66
Q

Why were the Clapham sect not democratic in any true sense?

A

They upheld class differences and the distinctions between rich and poor

67
Q

What new technology did the Clapham sect take advantage of?

A

New trends in publishing and printing, which they used to launch a propaganda campaign against the more literate middle and upper middle-classes

68
Q

What did the Clapham sect encourage and promote?

A

More regular reading of the Bible, righteousness, the idea of society seeking to improve personal standards of morality

69
Q

What are some examples of influential political figures who were supporters of the Clapham sect?

A

Pitt, Fox, Grey, Canning and Grenville

70
Q

When and why did Pitt pull back from abolitionism?

A

1780s due to conflicting interests surfacing within parliament

71
Q

When was the Abolition of Slavery Act passed?

A

1807 with minimal fuss in Parliament

72
Q

What did Wilberforce and Thomas Buxton found in 1823 and what did it do?

A

The anti-slavery society, which coordinated the wider campaign to outlaw slavery throughout the British colonies

73
Q

What did the abolitionism movement want after the end of the Napoleonic wars?

A

The anti-slavers wanted reassurance that the slave trade would not build up as a result of Britain handing back colonial spoils of war to European powers, so bombarded Liverpool’s government with petitions

74
Q

What came of the anti-slavers’ petitioning of Liverpool’s government after 1815?

A

Agreement in principle was reached, including provision for British naval patrols of the West African coastline

75
Q

Who took over control of the Anti-Slavery party in Parliament in 1825?

A

Buxton, from an ageing Wilberforce

76
Q

Why did Canning falter over the proposal to allow slaves’ children to be born free?

A

He feared opposition from MPs with West Indian interests

77
Q

When was the Abolition of Slavery Act finally passed?

A

1833

78
Q

What did plantation owners value a healthy slave at by the 1830s?

A

£50

79
Q

What were some arguments that plantation owners made against abolition of slavery?

A

That they would be overwhelmed by competition from slave owners in the Southern USA, that giving slaves freedom would cause serious unrest, and that slaves would be too institutionalised to cope with their freedom

80
Q

What is an economic reason for the Abolition of Slavery Act being passed in 1807?

A

The West Indies’ sugar production was no longer so important to Britain’s economy due to industrialisation producing more wealth anyway

81
Q

How did Thomas Buxton’s wife Hannah help social change?

A

She was Elizabeth Fry’s sister, and supported her campaign for prison reform in the 1820s

82
Q

When did Methodism take root in Britain?

A

The early 18th century

83
Q

Who was the first leader of Methodism?

A

John Wesley

84
Q

What were the main character traits encouraged by Methodism?

A

Respectability, thrift, discipline, a strong work ethic and a belief in social equality

85
Q

Which Methodist became MP for Merthyr Tydfill in 1832?

A

Sir Josiah Guest

86
Q

When did numbers of members of the Methodist movement really start to take off?

A

after 1790

87
Q

What was Methodist membership estimated at by 1812?

A

Around 175,000, although some estimates put it as high as 350,000

88
Q

Why was the expansion of Methodism after 1790 viewed as suspicious and potentially dangerous by the government?

A

The Wesleyian view of equality of all men was regarded as meaning they may have radical tendencies

89
Q

What Bill did Sidmouth try to introduce regarding Methodism in 1811 and what was the result?

A

Required dissenting (including Methodist) preachers to be licensed only if their respectability could be vouched for- this caused an uproar, and was hastily withdrawn

90
Q

Which leading Methodist minister argued fiercely for the extension of their rights in the early 1810s?

A

Jabez Bunting

91
Q

What did Liverpool’s government do in 1812 regarding Methodists?

A

Repealed 2 outdated pieces of 17th century anti-dissenter legislation, thus according Methodist preachers the same rights as Anglican clergy

92
Q

What did the Toleration Act do for Methodists?

A

Gave them legal protection to worship and confirmed they were not a destabilising influence on society

93
Q

What influential work did David Ricardo write in 1817?

A

‘Principles of political economy and taxation’

94
Q

What did Robert Owen believe about his workforce?

A

That they had great value, and if properly treated and nurtured, would work harder and increase productivity

95
Q

What nice things did Robert Owen do for his workforce?

A

Hold dancing and singing classes after work (ignoring that the workers may be tired after a 10-12 hour day), no exploitation of the workforce, limits on age of child employees and their hours of work, no corporal punishment in factory school

96
Q

What did Robert Owen believe about character?

A

That it was formed by circumstances, and that it might be possible to develop and improve a person’s character through controlling their environment

97
Q

What did Robert Owen do in 1824?

A

Move to the USA to put his ideas about small, integrated, self-sufficient communities into practice

98
Q

What was Robert Owen’s first US colony called and where was it?

A

New Harmony, Indiana

99
Q

Why was measuring the success of Robert Owen’s US colonies difficult?

A

He lost a fortune setting them up

100
Q

What did Robert Owen do after returning to Britain?

A

Played a significant role in the establishment of the Trade Union and Cooperative movements