Middle class Flashcards
(10 cards)
How was pre industrial classes determined?
Owned land = well placed in society.
Rented or worked land = significantly lower in society.
How would the middle class describe themselves?
‘Self made’ men.
Between 1816-1831. By what percentage had the middle class expanded?
75% - 160,000 to 214,00.
What book did Adam Smith write and when?
An Enquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776)
Why were the urban working class attracted to the new factories and mills?
Provided stable and long term employment.
What was the relationship between the working class and middle class owners called?
‘Master and worker identity’ promoted a class consciousness.
Give an example of a man who created his fortune in the emerging middle class.
Richard Arkwright (Water Frame inventor) - son of a tailor (didn’t go to school), purchased land in Derbyshire for his cotton mill.
How much was Richard Arkwright worth at his death in 1792?
£500,00 and a knighthood in 1786.
Give an example of a man who lost his fortune (proving that fortune was not guaranteed).
Richard Trevithick - designed the steam engine on wheels however died penniless due to bad business decisions.
What was Adam Smiths main philosophy?
‘Free trade’ that played into the ‘laissez faire’ attitudes at the time.
