Pitt the Younger and his Opponents

Question 1

When did George I rule?

Answer 1

1714-1727

Question 2

When did George II rule?

Answer 2

1727-1760

Question 3

What were the dates of the 7 year wars ?

Answer 3

1756-1763

Question 4

How old was George III when he came to the throne ?

Answer 4

22

Question 5

When was Lord North PM ?

Answer 5

1770-1782

Question 6

What were the dates of the American War of Independence?

Answer 6

1776-1783

Question 7

What did George III say when he summoned Cabinet in Summer of 1779?

Answer 7

If others will not be active, I must drive

Question 8

What happened after George III summoned cabinet in 1779 ?

Answer 8

American war became George’s war - issue around which opponents could gather

Question 9

Who were the two main branches of opposition to North?

Answer 9

Rockinghamites and Chatamites

Question 10

What was the succession PMs after North’s gov fell in March 1782 ?

Answer 10

1. Rockingham
2. Shelburne
3. Fox-North coalition
4. Pitt

Question 11

When was Shelburne PM for?

Answer 11

July 1782 - February 1783

Question 12

What were the dates of the Fox-North coalition ?

Answer 12

April-December 1783

Question 13

What did Shelburne say about America ?

Answer 13

He ‘would never acknowledge in the independence of America’

Question 14

Was Shelburne a Rockinghamite or Chatamite?

Answer 14

Chatamite

Question 15

Why did Rockingham stop being PM?

Answer 15

He died on 1 July 1782

Question 16

Who nominally headed the Fox-North coalition?

Answer 16

The Duke of Portland

Question 17

What happened between Shelburne and the Fox-North Coalition?

Answer 17

There was a 2 month period of no gov

Question 18

What did George III do to damage the Fox-North coalition?

Answer 18

Removed all patronage

Question 19

What was the decisive failure of the Fox-North coalition?

Answer 19

The India bill

Question 20

What did the India bill want to do?

Answer 20

Remove all military and political control from the East India Company and put it in the hands of parliament

Question 21

What did Pitt say about the East India Bill?

Answer 21

‘Most unconstitutional measure ever attempted’

Question 22

What did the King say about the East India Bill?

Answer 22

Whoever voted for the bill ‘would be considered by him as an enemy’

Question 23

When did the Lords throw out the East India Bill?

Answer 23

17th December 1783 by 19 votes

Question 24

When did Pitt become PM?

Answer 24

18th December 1783 (day after East India Bill was rejected)

Question 25

What did Mrs Crew say about Pitts government?

Answer 25

A ‘Depend upon it, it will be a mince pie administration’

Question 26

What was Fox’s majority down to by 8 March 1784?

Answer 26

1

Question 27

When did George III dissolve parliament?

Answer 27

25 March 1784

Question 28

How many net gains did Pitt have in the 1784 election?

Answer 28

70

Question 29

By how much did Government expenditure exceed income in 1783?

Answer 29

£10.8m

Question 30

How much of treasury money did George III spend in the 1784 election supporting pro-Pitt candidates?

Answer 30

£30,000

Question 31

Example of ennoblement helping Pitt

Answer 31

1. Gave younger son of the Duke of Northumberland a peerage | 2. MPs who sat in the House of Commons under the Duke’s patronage switches allegiance from Fox to Pitt

Question 32

When was the regency crisis?

Answer 32

1788-89

Question 33

Why did Pitt resign in 1801?

Answer 33

King would not permit him to introduce Roman Catholic Emancipation as part of the package associated with the union of Ireland and Great Britain

Question 34

When did Pitt introduce the Commutation Act?

Answer 34

1784

Question 35

What did the Commutation act do?

Answer 35

Reduced tax on tea from 119% to 25%

Question 36

When did Pitt introduce the Hovering Act?

Answer 36

1784

Question 37

What did the Hovering Act do?

Answer 37

Increased the authority of customs officers to search ships, making smuggling more risky

Question 38

How much did Pitt increase revenue per annum by by 1792 due to a reduction in smuggling?

Answer 38

£1m

Question 39

In the 1770s how much of gov expenditure was used paying interest charges on the national debt?

Answer 39

25%

Question 40

When did Pitt introduce the sinking fund?

Answer 40

1786

Question 41

How much did the Sinking Fund reduce debt by?

Answer 41

£10m by the end of 1793

Question 42

What did Evans call Pitt’s reforms to tax system?

Answer 42

‘Little more than a shuffling of the Hanoverian Pact’

Question 43

What was the value of debt in 1783?

Answer 43

£243m

Question 44

What was North widely caricatured as ?

Answer 44

The ‘father of corruption’

Question 45

Why did Boyd Hilton say Fox was not a good candidate to advertise reform?

Answer 45

Reform implied moral reformation and fox’s personality was ‘unsuited to a crusade for virtue’

Question 46

By how much did the value of British exports increase between mid-1780s and mid-1790s?

Answer 46

90%

Question 47

Why did American Independence not damage British trade?

Answer 47

American need for manufactured textile goods mitigated the adverse commercial effects of independence

Question 48

Example of when Pitt was defeated in Parliament to little consequence

Answer 48

In 1785 lost bill which proposed the redistribution of seats in some rotten boroughs to the counties and to London by 74 votes

Question 49

When was the League of Armed Neutrality formed?

Answer 49

1780

Question 50

Who was in the League of Armed Neutrality?

Answer 50

Russia, Denmark and Sweden

Question 51

Why was the League of Armed Neutrality formed?

Answer 51

Against Britain due to ship searches

Question 52

When did the Ottoman Empire, Naples, Netherlands, Austria and Prussia unite?

Answer 52

1782

Question 53

When was the Triple Alliance formes?

Answer 53

1788

Question 54

Who was in the Triple Alliance?

Answer 54

Britain, Holland and Prussia

Question 55

What happened at Nootka Sound?

Answer 55

Spain occupied Nootka Sound in July 1789 but when British navy mobilised Spain withdrew Showed that France not prepared to support Spain

Question 56

When did Britain make a trade treaty with the United Provinces?

Answer 56

1785

Question 57

When was the Eden treaty signed ?

Answer 57

1786

Question 58

What was the Eden Treaty?

Answer 58

Liberal trade agreement between Britain and France

Question 59

How much did the yield to government on spirits increase by by 1790 due to decrease in duty?

Answer 59

63%

Question 60

How did Pitt reform tax?

Answer 60

Taxes luxury goods such as windows, wig powder and carriages

Question 61

When did Pitt pass the shop tax?

Answer 61

1785

Question 62

What did the shop tax lead to?

Answer 62

Riots in London

Question 63

When was the shop tax withdrawn?

Answer 63

1789

Question 64

How many sinecures did the public accounts commissioners urge Pitt to abolish?

Answer 64

180

Question 65

How many sinecure positions had Pitt allowed to fall vacant by a) 1792 b) his death in 1806

Answer 65

a) 28 | b) most had been wiped out

Question 66

By how much did Pitt increase the navy by 1790?

Answer 66

43 new ships built and 85 repaired

Question 67

Why we’re British ties with the United Provinces so important?

Answer 67

1. Trade routes along the Scheldt River | 2. Positioning opposite coast to Britain

Question 68

Who was the king of UP?

Answer 68

William V

Question 69

What happened when the ‘Patriot’ party threatened William V?

Answer 69

Britain threatened troops BUT it was Prussia that actually invaded to restore Williams authority

Question 70

What did Hague say that Pitt did?

Answer 70

‘Helped restore faith in the British state after a period in which it had been discredited among its own people’