Social and Economic Reform in Britain
Mr. Divett
Important Reforms
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In the early and mid 1800s Parliament passed
important new laws:
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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Some British tariffs were repealed in the 1820s.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
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Parliament repealed the Corn Laws in 1846.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
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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
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In the early 1800s more than 200 crimes were
punishable by death.
The following were capital offenses:
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Murder
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Shoplifting
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Sheep stealing
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Impersonating an army veteran
Some juries would not convict criminals
because the punishment was so harsh.
The Death Sentence Being
Pronounced
Executions
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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
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Capital offenses were reduced.
By 1850 the only crimes punishable by death
were:
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Murder
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Piracy
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Treason
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Arson
Parliament ended public hangings in 1868.
Penal Colonies
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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
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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
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Other laws that were passed in the late 1800s:
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Regulation of safety conditions
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Enforcement by safety inspectors
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Minimum wage
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Maximum work hours
The Growth of Labor Unions
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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:
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Demanding higher wages
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Demanding shorter hours
Labour Unions
Later Reforms
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Both parties enacted reform to benefit the
working class between the late 1800s and the
early 1900s.
Disraeli sponsored laws to:
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Improve public health
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Improve worker housing
Gladstone pushed:
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Free elementary education for all children
To open government jobs based on merit, not birth or
wealth
Fabian Society
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Socialist society
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Founded in 1883
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Promoted gradual
change through legal
means, not violence.
Labour Party
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Formed in 1900
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Grew in power
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Became one of Britain's two main parties by
the 1920s
Social Welfare Laws
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Britain began passing them in the early 1900s.
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They protected the poor and disadvantaged.
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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
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Emmeline Pankhurst was a suffragist.
She promoted suffrage through radical means
including:
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Interupting speakers in Parliament with “Votes for
women!”
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Organized massive public demonstrations.
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Violence: Breaking windows, burning buildings.
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Hunger strikes.
In 1918 Parliament granted the right to vote to
women over 30.
Women’s Suffrage
Instability in Ireland
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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
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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
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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
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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
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In 1914 passed a home rule bill.
It delayed the law until 1921 when southern
Ireland became independent.