National 5 History - Changing Britain

Explain the Technology improvements to coal mines

Modern pumps to stop flooding

Steel props reduced the risk of cave ins

Ventilators allowed for cool/ breathable air around the mine

Davy lamps reduced risk of explosion by preventing naked flames come into contact with explosive gases underground

Machines to cut the coal

Steam engines transported coal

Explain why there was a demand for coal

Factories needed more coal

Steam engines needed more coal for trains

Increase in population - more people needed to heat their homes

Gas was used for cooking and heating in homes

Coal was needed for gas lighting

Exports of coal increased

Explain the Conditions in coal mines

Long working hours

Total darkness

Nudity - injuries and cuts

Heavy carts pulled by women - back problems

Flooding, Gas Explosions, Cave - ins

Gas which suffocated miners underground

Young children working - as young as 5

Explain the condition in textile factories

Health problems - cotton particles inhaled causing cotton lung

Extremely high temperatures

Long working hours - 12-15 hrs a day with only a 15 min break

Dangerous Machinery - could cut off limbs

Low Pay - barely enough for food and shelter - sometimes only paid tokens to use in factory shops

Discipline - Children beaten, punished and often killed by overlookers

Technology improvements in factories

Spinning Jenny (James Hargreave) - could spin multiple threads at once - quicker production

Flying Shuttle (John Kay) - Could produce 4x more cloth

Spinning Mule (Samuel Crompton) - Could operate many spindles at once which mad production more efficient

Steam Engine (John Watt) - Cloth produced on much larger scale

Arkwrights Water Frame (Richard Arkwrights) - Able to spin cotton very quickly

Power Loom (Edward Cartwright) - Much faster and cheaper to produce cloth

Explain the impact of the Factory Acts

Health and Morals of Apprentices Act 1802 - protected only apprentices up to age 21 however - not enforced

Factory Act 1833 - No child under 9 could work - Only 4 Inspectors - a bit more enforced

Factory Act 1844 - Dangerous Machinery fenced off - no change in enforcement

10 hour Act - 1847 - Working hours for under 18s - 10 hour/day

Fatory Act 1878 - Compulsory educwtion for workers up to age 10

Factory Act 1901 - Raised minimum working age to 12

Explain the Impact of the Mine Acts

The Mines and Collieries Act 1842 - All women, girls and boys under 10 banned from underground - birth dates were hard to prove and wasn't enforced

Coal Mines Inspection Act 1850 - Increased number of inspectors to 4 - Inspectors feared entering the dangerous mines

Prohibition of Single Shaft Mines - passed as a result of the Hartley Colliery Disaster which killed 204 men

Coal Mines Act 1908 - 8 hr day introduced for miners

Miners Minimum Wage Act, 1912 - introduced a minimum wage for miners

Explain the Development of Railways

Railways were built to move coal from mines to towns and cities

Wagons were first pulled by horses

Steam engines later pulled these wagons

The Stockton to Darlington line was Britains first railway line

The Liverpool to Manchester line was another early major railway line

Navvies from Ireland built the railways

Explain the Criticisms of the Railways

The railway technology was thought to be satanic

People were scared of the speed

The smoke produced would destroy crops and scare animals on farms

Railways would hinder fox hunting

Men and Women travelling in the same carriage was not welcomed by some people

Some people wanted to keep their land instead of selling it to railways companies

Explain the economic impacts of railways

Industry - allowed huge expansionism of industry - could move products quickly and cheaply to the market

Agriculture and Fisheries - Fresh fish could be transported to towns without the need for salting, Cattle could be moved from Scotland to London in one day

Communication- Newspaper industry expanded, more papers circled round on the day of publishing

E.g - The times went from a circulation of 5000 in 1815 to around 50000 in 1850

Tourism - railway companies began to run tourist trips

Railway Industry Expands - created massive demands for coal, iron and steel

Explain the Social Impact of Railways

Commuting - less important for people to live close to work

Diet and Shopping - Speed of trains reduced rotten fruit and veg before it arrived to cities

Leisure/Holidays - Football took off - supporters and players could get around

Platforms became dangerously overcrowded on public holidays

Communication - News travelled faster, Postal service

Standard time - In 1846 all clocks used by railways were set to GMT x known as 'railway time'

Explain the Advantages of Railways

Much faster than other transport - up to 78 mph - could move goods around the country quicker

Simple to Build

Don't require a water source like canals - could be built pretty much anywhere

Weather resistant

No tolls

Not weather dependant like canals

Explain why Canals Declined

Needed a water supply - limited building areas

Canals dried up in hot weather, Froze in the winter

Very Slow - 5mph and stopped at locks

Locks deteriorated - required constant maintenance

Narrow Canals were cheaper but meant that some boats couldn't fit through

Canals couldn't cope with traffic

Explain the reasons for overcrowding

Rapid expansion of cities

Population growth - larger families

Children weren't dying as quickly

Agricultural Revolution gave people affordable food which meant they lived longer

Poorer people had to all live in the cities

Immigration - workers came from Ireland - potato famine

Industrialisation

Explain the issues with housing

Poor Sanitation - Waste and open sewage in the street

No separate room for kitchen

Overcrowding - More than 1 family in one house - led to disease spreading easily

Poor Housing quality - built with very cheap materials

No central heating, unsafe entrances, no windows

Pollution from nearby factories

Cold, damp floors

Explain the Medical issues

Poor hygiene

Poor Diet

Lack of medical care

Open Sewage

Cholera Outbreaks

Dirty drinking waters - cesspits overflowed, contaminating rivers - dirty water

Explain Improvements to housing

New homes built with safety regulations

Government demolished slums housing - got rid of poor quality homes

Clean water supplied to houses - construction of loch Katrine to provide fresh water

Sewers built - improved sanitation carried away waste

Railways led to expansion of suburbs - reduced overcrowding

Councils given power to clean streets and houses

Explain improvements to public health

Creation of Sewers

Nuisance Removal Act - remove roadkill that was threat to the health of the public

Banned adulteration of foods

Free School meals Act

Town councils had power to appoint Medical Officers

Clean drinking water more available

Explain the advancements in medicine

Better sanitation in hospitals

More nurses - career no longer frowned upon

Smallpox vaccine developed

Chloroform used anaesthetics

Mouthwash used as an antiseptic - Joseph Lister

Pasteur theory solved infection and helped to understand disease better

Describe the events of Peterloo

Henry Hunts peaceful talk on democratic reform

Yeomanry arrested hunt

Yeomanry started lashing out killing 12 people

Event became known as Battle of Peterloo - ironic - Waterloo

Explain what the Chartists wanted

The Vote for every man age 21

A secret ballot

No property qualification to be an MP

Pay for MPs

Equal Constituencies

Annual Parliament - elections every year - no corruption

Explain the Reasons for Reform

Swing Riots - mills destroyed

Revolutions across Europe - French Revolution

National political Union - economic pressure - did not pay tax

Middle class wanted change - fair representation in House of Commons

Explain the Impact of the 1832 Act

Redistribution of seats - ended problem of rotten boroughs

Increase to Franchise - vote was given to landowners with land worth £10

Voter Registration - Voters had to register which limited corruption

Explain why the 1832 Reform Act was unsuccessful

5/6 adult men could not vote

Women had no right to vote

Still no secret ballot - bribery and corruption continued

Many large towns still didn't have MPs

MPs were still unpaid

MPs still had to own property so only wealthy landowners/businessmen could stand for election

Explain why the Chartists failed

The government refused to talk to the Chartists and rejected their petitions

Many of the signatures on petitions were false and made the Chartists the focus of jokes

Divisions between the moral force Chartists and physical force Chartists weakened the movement

Many workers were scared of losing their jobs or being arrested so they ignored Chartist activities

The Chartist leader, Fergus O'Connor was incompetent and most of his schemes failed

Explain the Impact of the 1867 Reform Act

Extended Franchise - 1/3 of men could now vote

Vote given to men owning property above a certain value and lodgers paying rent above £10 a year

Vote given to skilled working men who earned £1.50 a week

Reform doubled the number of men allowed to vote - E.g - in Glasgow the number of voters increased from 18,000 to 47,000

Voting system was made fairer - redistribution of seats

Explain why the 1867 Reform Act was unsuccessful

Still a lot of corruption - no secret voting

Some men had more than one vote

Women could not vote

Redistributed seats still weren't fair

Only choice of two very similar parties.

Most men still could not vote

Explain the impact of the 1884 reform act

2/3 of of male adults could vote

Increased total number of voters to 21 million

Lodgers paying £10 a year could vote

Addressed the problem of seat distribution

Men in the countryside got the vote

Explain why Britain was still not democratic after 1884

Women still couldn't vote

Almost half of the men didn't have the vote - no property qualification

House of Lords - unelected, wealthy landowners could veto anything the House of Commons did