power and the people - chapter 9

Question 1

since medieval times, what had controlled prices and wages

Answer 1

workers’ guilds

Question 2

what was business like before the industrial revolution

Answer 2

• businesses were small
• terms and conditions of services were negotiated person to person
• most business owners worked with their employees in small workshops so work was fair and conditions were good

Question 3

what was business like during and after the industrial revolution

Answer 3

• work that had previously been done at home or in workshops were moved into factories
• wage competition was a massive problem, with immense increases in the working population
  -> if someone had a grievance about their wages or working conditions they would simply be invited to leave, and someone else would be ready to take their job, often for a lower wage

Question 4

what groups fought against the changes in industry

Answer 4

the Luddites
the Swing Rioters

Question 5

what did the Luddites do

Answer 5

would deliberately break machinery in the hope that factory owners would turn away from technology
-> this did not have the desired effect

Question 6

what did the Swing Rioters do

Answer 6

• were angered by the depression in agriculture after the Napoleonic wars, and by the new threshing machines that took their jobs
• they set fire to farms and damaged the machines

Question 7

what had the various combination acts since 1799 done

Answer 7

put restrictions on groups of workers combining to form trade unions

Question 8

why was the Combination Act of 1825 passed

Answer 8

• after a wave of strikes in 1824
• to stop the perceived threat of intimidation by groups of workers combining

Question 9

what did the Combination Act of 1825 say

Answer 9

• defined the rights of trade unions as meetings to discuss wages and conditions
• anything outside of this was illegal

Question 10

what did the Combination Act of 1825 stop workers doing

Answer 10

picketing

Question 11

what was the problem with the Combination Act of 1825

Answer 11

it was not clear what intimidation meant exactly

Question 12

what did Robert Owen set up

Answer 12

he set up the Grand National Consolidated Trade Union (GNCTU) in 1834

Question 13

why did owen set up the GNCTU

Answer 13

to bring all workers together under one umbrella organisation

Question 14

what did the GNCTU do

Answer 14

• it saw workers buying goods in bulk to sell on in their cooperative member shops
• the profit from these shops was then shared among the working members

Question 15

how many members did the GNCTU have within a week of being set up

Answer 15

half a million
-> the gov was worried

Question 16

why was the success of the GNCTU short lived

Answer 16

• factory workers had different grievances from mine workers
• conflict between the two groups weakened the union

Question 17

when and why was the fate of the GNCTU sealed

Answer 17

• in 1834
• when 6 farm labourers were arrested for swearing an oath to protect their income
• although union activity was not illegal, the swearing of an oath was

Question 18

in 1837 what did the Scottish Friendly Association of Cotton Spinners do and how did they do it

Answer 18

• they took strike action
• when they were unhappy with something to do with their job, for example pay, they would refuse to work until all their demands were met
• they used violent methods, such as harassing people who were willing to work for less, and in extreme cases shooting them
• eventually, they ran out of funds and their leaders were arrested
• the strike ended in disaster

Question 19

in 1851, what new type of union was set up

Answer 19

the Amalgamated Society of Engineers (ASE)
- this was a union of highly skilled men who could afford to pay weekly subscriptions
-> this would ensure they received sick pay and other benefits
- also, if they threatened to strike their employer would suffer as they could not replace them
- this then sparked a new wave of New Model Unions, with carpenters in 1860 and then tailors in 1866

Question 20

how many members did the ASE have by 1868

Answer 20

33,000

Question 21

why were New Model Unions seen as ‘New Model’

Answer 21

they were moderate in their outlook: they accepted the structure that they worked in and did not want to destroy it. rather, they wanted to negotiate improvement from within
-> this helped trade unionism to gain support from the government

Question 22

by the 1870s what did trade unions have

Answer 22

legal status and members could picked for their rights

Question 23

who did the success of the New Model Unions benefit

Answer 23

only the more affluent skilled workers
-> meaning there was a whole class of unskilled workers who were still unhappy

Question 24

what were the two most high-profile cases of strikes of unskilled workers

Answer 24

• the match girls’ strike of 1888
• the dockers’ strike of 1889
• these strikes were successful: the trade unionism movement was strong

Question 25

what did the strength and order of unskilled workers strikes lead to

Answer 25

- paved the way for a move into politics, with the creation of the Independent Labour Party; at the turn of the 20th century this became the labour party we have today - trade unionism realised that it could best support and improve the lives of members by creating a political voice that could be heard

Question 26

who were the Tolpuddle Martyrs

Answer 26

- in a small village in Dorset called Tolpuddle, farm labourers had formed a union to try to negotiate better pay and conditions - the new farm machinery that had been invented meant fewer labourers were needed - also, anyone could operate the machines and no special training was needed, so wages dropped - being part of a trade union had been made legal so the men were not breaking any laws - they met under a sycamore. tree int he village, or in a room in one of the members’ cottages - their leader was George Loveless - in feb 1834, Loveless got arrested

Question 27

what crime had the Tolpuddle Martyrs committed

Answer 27

- they had not broken the law by being part of a trade union - however, part of the act to legalise trade unionism had stated that no secret oaths were to be taken - the men had all taken an oath to keep their union a secret, and so they had, in fact, broken this law - the local landowner heard about this and was worried that the men had formed a union in the first place - because of the french revolution landowners and the gov were scared that the ideas of equality of freedom would spread through britains working class population - the Luddites and the Swing Rioters had not helped to ease their worries - the six men were arrested

Question 28

Tolpuddle Martyrs punishment

Answer 28

seven years transportation to Australia there they would endure hard labour

Question 29

what was the public reaction to the Tolpuddle Martyrs punishment

Answer 29

- word spread quickly about the sentences the men had received - soon there were various organisations and groups who were committed to overturning the decision made about the group - Robert Owen called a meeting of the GNCTU; 10,000 people arrived to attend - the march at Copenhagen Fields was attended by thousands of working-class supporters, and many prominent individuals such as William Corbett and Robert Owen - the supporters gathered petitions and demanded that the Tolpuddle Martyrs be returned to england - the gov was originally reluctant to reverse the decision made, but eventually the persistent campaigning paid off - on 14th march 1836, all six men were given a full and free pardon - the trade unions had won

Question 30

what was one of the most prominent factories making matches

Answer 30

the Bryant & May factory in London

Question 31

why did the matchbox factory workers go on strike

Answer 31

- the factory employed women to make the matches, many of them young girls - the conditions in the factory were poor and many of the girls and women there became very ill; some even died - the most common illness was ‘phossy jaw’, which was caused by the white phosphorus that was used to make matches light -> the chemical caused their jaws to rot, meaning their teeth fell out and those who survived the illness were left with disfigured faces - the workers were paid poor wages: around 20p a week for girls and 40p for a woman - they were often fined at the whim of the factory owner, for not working fast enough or for being late to work - in 1882, money was deducted from their. wages to fund a new statue of Prime Minister William Gladstone - the women had had enough and in July 1888 they decided to go on strike

Question 32

who supported the matchgirls’ strike

Answer 32

- a journalist, Annie Besant - she had become aware of the conditions the women worked in - she helped to organise strike action, and supported the workers - the strike quickly caught the imagination and sympathy of the general public

Question 33

what happened during with matchgirls strike

Answer 33

- Besant organised the grievances of the women in a publication: ‘White Slaves of London’ - with it she called for a boycott of the matches made at Bryant & May - the factory owners put pressure on the women who were not striking to deny the claims made by Besant - when one refused she was dismissed from her job - as a result, a further 1400 workers came out in support of the strike during the strike Besant: - asked for higher wages for the women and registered them for strike pay - wrote articles in support of the women - help public meetings to raise awareness of the match factory conditions - marched the women in a procession to the Houses of Parliament

Question 34

what were the consequences of the matchgirls’ strike

Answer 34

- the strike action paid off - the employers agreed to the demands and removed the system of deductions and fines - the matchbox workers were given a pay rise - this was the first successful strike by unskilled workers

Question 35

why did the London dockers go on strike

Answer 35

they wanted better pat and working conditions

Question 36

who were the dockers inspired by

Answer 36

the matchgirls strike the gas workers’ strike

Question 37

what were the dockers striking for

Answer 37

- a wage rise, from five pence an hour to six pence - they also wanted eight pence an hour for any overtime work - they also had the added problem of having to compete for work - they would regularly go days without work and would just turn up in the morning to see if they were needed -> they needed to change this and wanted to secure at least four hours a day

Question 38

tactics of the dockers

Answer 38

- the New Unionism strikes were more militant than the actions of the New Model Unions, mostly because the New Unionism leaders were socialists - the dockers’ leader was Ben Tillet; he was adamant that the men should get better working conditions - he encouraged them to march through london to raise the profile of the strike and get support - the men carried rotten vegetables and fish heads to show the public what their families were living on - the men also picketed the gates of london docks - this way they could continue to put pressure on the managers and stop any ‘blackleg’ labourers enetering the docks to do the work

Question 39

why did the dockers get what they wanted

Answer 39

- the strike action closed london docks and rained the support of some influential people, including the Lord Mayor of London and Cardinal Manning, who mediated between the dock owners and the workers - the public, as with the match girls, were sympathetic to the dockers’ plight and supported their demands - a donation of £30,000 from unions in Australia helped support the strike action - this force the hand of the dock openers and the men received their pay rise and a guaranteed four-hour day