However before we focused on the revolutions we first had to deal with the “Act of Union” in 1707 with Scotland. This was the first British Empire and the creation of the United Kingdom. However things could have ended very differently to how we recognise them today. In 1698 Scotland attempted to set up a colony in Central America, however this resulted in a complete disaster for Scotland. Darien (New Caledonia) cost Scotland a fifth of its wealth and was a malarial swamp. A financially strained Scotland surrendered its sovereignty to England to be bailed out of their monetary turmoil.
The French Revolution
The UK benefited greatly from the French Revolution. British Naval Power was absolute and the blockades of French ports destroyed France’s trade, creating a boom for British trade. Whilst other European countries were occupied by the revolution, Britain took this as their cue to expand their empire. The Transatlantic Triangular Trade (the slave trade) was also highly profitable for Britain. However the end of the war meant the end of the boom, causing widespread unemployment and a steep fall in wages. In response to this the British government created the Corn Laws (1815 and repealed in 1846), which put a tariff on imported grains.
The Industrial Revolution
England became the “workshop of the world” and Manchester’s population went from 17,000 to 180,000 in between 1760 and 1830. The city was the centre of the industrial revolution, however this came with a price of squalid living conditions, desperate pollution and widespread illness. Cotton was key to the revolution and the raw material was transported from slave plantations in the American South.
In the politics at the time pressure was building for reform. The Peterloo Massacre 1819, in Manchester, 60,000 protesters gathered but were then charged at by the Cavalry, eleven people died. Protesters demanded that the larger industrial cities and towns should have the right to elect MP’s. Less than 2% of the population had the option to vote. The political corruption is made obvious with examples such as the village of Old Sarum, which had eleven voters and managed to elect two MP’s, whereas Manchester, with its population in the thousands, had none.
The Enclosure Act was also then put in place, pushing smaller farmers from the countryside into industrial jobs in the cities.
The Poor Law Act was introduced in 1834 and was put in place to prevent members of the public getting state benefit, stating that no able bodied person was to receive money or other help from the poor law authorities, except in a workhouse. A workhouse however was not an attractive option. People would work for hours in trade for food, which was only sufficient enough to just about keep the body functioning and eventually causing a person to starve to death. This concept of a workhouse was created on the basis of Bentham’s Utilitarianism. This is the theory that people act based on an attraction to pleasure and a repulsion from the unpleasant. So to prevent people from claiming relief they had to make it unpleasant, making it an object of “wholesome horror”.
I think I may need to try hone my skills in concise blogging…
The UK benefited greatly from the French Revolution. British Naval Power was absolute and the blockades of French ports destroyed France’s trade, creating a boom for British trade. Whilst other European countries were occupied by the revolution, Britain took this as their cue to expand their empire. The Transatlantic Triangular Trade (the slave trade) was also highly profitable for Britain. However the end of the war meant the end of the boom, causing widespread unemployment and a steep fall in wages. In response to this the British government created the Corn Laws (1815 and repealed in 1846), which put a tariff on imported grains.
The Industrial Revolution
England became the “workshop of the world” and Manchester’s population went from 17,000 to 180,000 in between 1760 and 1830. The city was the centre of the industrial revolution, however this came with a price of squalid living conditions, desperate pollution and widespread illness. Cotton was key to the revolution and the raw material was transported from slave plantations in the American South.
In the politics at the time pressure was building for reform. The Peterloo Massacre 1819, in Manchester, 60,000 protesters gathered but were then charged at by the Cavalry, eleven people died. Protesters demanded that the larger industrial cities and towns should have the right to elect MP’s. Less than 2% of the population had the option to vote. The political corruption is made obvious with examples such as the village of Old Sarum, which had eleven voters and managed to elect two MP’s, whereas Manchester, with its population in the thousands, had none.
The Enclosure Act was also then put in place, pushing smaller farmers from the countryside into industrial jobs in the cities.
The Poor Law Act was introduced in 1834 and was put in place to prevent members of the public getting state benefit, stating that no able bodied person was to receive money or other help from the poor law authorities, except in a workhouse. A workhouse however was not an attractive option. People would work for hours in trade for food, which was only sufficient enough to just about keep the body functioning and eventually causing a person to starve to death. This concept of a workhouse was created on the basis of Bentham’s Utilitarianism. This is the theory that people act based on an attraction to pleasure and a repulsion from the unpleasant. So to prevent people from claiming relief they had to make it unpleasant, making it an object of “wholesome horror”.
I think I may need to try hone my skills in concise blogging…
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