Social and Economic Reform in Britain Mr. Divett

Important Reforms • In the early and mid 1800s Parliament passed important new laws: – Free trade- end to tariffs on trade between countries. Based off of the idea of laissez faire.

– Some British tariffs were repealed in the 1820s.

– The Corn Laws remained, these were heavy tariffs on imported grain.

– Free traders called on Parliament to repeal the Corn Laws.

Free Trade

End of Corn Laws • Parliament repealed the Corn Laws in 1846.

• In the late 1800s, economic hardship led Britain and other European countries to reinstate tariffs.

Corn Laws

Campaign Against Slavery • In 1807 Britain became the first European power to abolish slave trading.

• This was due to Enlightened ideas about the evils of slavery, as well as pressure from the abolition movement.

• This did not actually ban slavery.

• In 1833, Parliament passed a law banning slavery.

British Abolition Movement

• Crime and Punishment In the early 1800s more than 200 crimes were punishable by death.

• The following were capital offenses: – Murder – Shoplifting – Sheep stealing – Impersonating an army veteran • Some juries would not convict criminals because the punishment was so harsh.

The Death Sentence Being Pronounced

Executions • Executions occurred in public.

• A hanging would often draw a crowd of thousands of spectators.

• Criminals did not receive a proper burial, their bodies were often given to medical colleges for dissection.

Public Execution in Manchester

Changes to Punishment • Capital offenses were reduced.

• By 1850 the only crimes punishable by death were: – Murder – Piracy – Treason – Arson • Parliament ended public hangings in 1868.

Penal Colonies

• Petty criminals were transported to penal colonies, or settlements for convicts.

• These colonies were set up in the new British territory of Australia.

Australian Penal Colonies

Victories for the Working Class • Working conditions were dangerous during the early industrial age.

• Parliament started to pass laws to regulate conditions in factories and mines.

• 1842- mine owners were forbidden to employ women or children under the age of 10.

• 1847- women and children were limited to a 10-hour work day.

British Industrial Revolution

Victories for the Working Class • Other laws that were passed in the late 1800s: – Regulation of safety conditions – Enforcement by safety inspectors – Minimum wage – Maximum work hours

The Growth of Labor Unions  Labor unions used to be outlawed during the early Industrial Revolution.

 Unions became legal in 1825, but going on strike remained illegal until later.

 Union membership exploded between 1890 and 1914.

 Unions improved the lives of the working class by:   Demanding higher wages Demanding shorter hours

Labour Unions

Later Reforms  Both parties enacted reform to benefit the working class between the late 1800s and the early 1900s.

 Disraeli sponsored laws to:   Improve public health Improve worker housing  Gladstone pushed:   Free elementary education for all children To open government jobs based on merit, not birth or wealth

Fabian Society  Socialist society  Founded in 1883  Promoted gradual change through legal means, not violence.

Labour Party  Formed in 1900  Grew in power  Became one of Britain's two main parties by the 1920s

Social Welfare Laws  Britain began passing them in the early 1900s.

 They protected the poor and disadvantaged.

 These laws were modeled after those of Bismark in Germany.

 They provided accident, health, and unemployment insurance  This was an argument against socialism.

Women's Suffrage  Emmeline Pankhurst was a suffragist.

 She promoted suffrage through radical means including:     Interupting speakers in Parliament with “Votes for women!” Organized massive public demonstrations.

Violence: Breaking windows, burning buildings.

Hunger strikes.

 In 1918 Parliament granted the right to vote to women over 30.

Women’s Suffrage

Instability in Ireland  Britain had been conquering Ireland in the 1100.

 Ireland was colonized in the 1600s.

 Absentee landlords owned large estates but did not live in them.

 Irish peasants paid rent to landlords in England.

 They also (even though they were Catholic) had to pay tithes to the Church of England.

Irish Nationalism  The Irish resented British influence and rejected British rule.

 In the 1800s Irish nationalist campaigned for freedom and justice.

 Daniel “The Liberator” O'Connell organized the Irish Catholic League to demand fairness.

 In 1829 Parliament passed the Catholic Emancipation.

 This let Irish vote and hold political office, but not enjoy freedoms like speaking their language.

Daniel O’Connell

Irish Potato Famine  Under British rule, three quarters of Irish farmland was used to grow crops to export.

 In 1845, a disease destroyed the potato crop.  Tenants were evicted because the had no money.

 Britain continued to ship what was left away, and about one million men, women, and children died of starvation or disease.

 Many immigrated to the U.S. or Canada.

Irish Potato Famine

Struggle for Home Rule  The Irish famine left the Irish with distrust for the British.

 In 1850 they created the Fenian Brotherhood to liberate Ireland from British rule by force.

 In 1870 a leader was chosen, Charles Stewart Parnell.

 He pressed Parliament for home rule, or local self government.

Home Rule at Last  In 1914 passed a home rule bill.

 It delayed the law until 1921 when southern Ireland became independent.