A tale of two Revolutions

As today was my first Philosophy lecture of the new year, I thought it would be a good idea to stick to my plan and start blogging straight after the lecture, in order to make sure I revise my notes quickly. Normally, if i leave things to long I find it difficult to get back into what I was actually learning about. So, today's lecture was based upon a tale of two revolutions and two perspectives (which will be covered in a later blog). Those two perspectives were that of Dickens (Urban) and Cobbett (Rural).
The French revolution was the turning point in European politics, however the Industrial revolution transformed Britain and the whole world. (For those who are unsure of what the Industrial revolution is, it is the idea of the factory and mass production.)


The act of union in 1707 with Scotland, allowed the first British Empire to come together, therefore creating the United Kingdom. When Scotland attempted to set up a colony in Central America in 1698, it ended up in disaster therefore meaning their chances of being an empire vanished.


Darien - New Calediona - cost 1/5 of Scotland's wealth, however the place was full of malaria and most of the settlers there fell sick with fever. Due to this, Scotland never fully recovered as they were financially ruined. They surrendered sovereignty in the 1707 act of union with England, therefore allowing the British Empire to be created.
As a whole, England did extremely well from the French Revolution and took out all the positives from the situation Although many borders were changed and the French began causing a fair bit of havoc, the UK stood back as they originally did not want to get involved. In order to beat the French, income tax was created, however much to our dismay, income tax never actually got abolished after the French were beaten. During this period of the French Revolution, the British Navy became the dominant force in Europe, therefore destroying French trade and created an uproar in British exports. This happened to such an extent the British manufactures were clothing the French army themselves. Ultimately, with other European armies occupied, the British began building their empire.


Now for something I find particularly interesting; The transatlantic trade (or as some know it, the slave trade). Within the transatlantic trade, British ships went to Africa to retrieve slaves, then took them on their ships to America. After which, these slaves were swapped for cotton, and the cotton was taken back to places such as Manchester.
During the 16th Century there was said to be 1 million slaves. In the 17th Century, 3 million slaves. 18th Century, 7 million slaves. Not only this, but places such as Liverpool, Bristol and Glasgow were at the centre of this slave trade, which now in the 21st Century seems quite unbelievable.


The end of the war meant the end of this boom period where money was flying in and everything was going pretty well for Britain as an empire. However after the war ended mass unemployment became obvious and there was a steep fall in wages all around Britain. In response to this, the Government brought in Corn Laws which were around from 1815, then were repealed in 1846. The date of 1815 is something to remember as this was the year of the Battle of Waterloo.


Corn Laws
The Corn Laws were made by the Government in order to help the British Empire come out of the financial problems they were in after the war. These laws put tax on all the food that comes into the United Kingdom. By doing this, it was an attempt to save farms in the UK, hoping that due to foreign foods being far more expensive, people would buy local produce, therefore resulting in farmers still having their jobs. A downside to this law was that many people could not afford any produce as it was too expensive. During this time, politicians were debating about what to do in order to save farmers and the British Empire from the recline; this is much like the American's do now. The Corn Law created enclosures, which had ended the idea of landholding peasantry. Ultimately, there was nothing to stop the transfer of workforce from non-industrial to industrial.
In whole, the enclosures act kicked poor people of their land and put them into cities such as Manchester, as there was nothing left in the country for them. This therefore meant that larger farm owners (much like big corporations now) could buy their land and earn far more money. At this time population had been rising very slowly, from 5 million people at the end of the 17th Century until Middle of the 18th Century. However after 1770, it began to rise dramatically, doubling every fifty years after that. The enclosures act ultimately ruined Hampshire and it can be said to have never recovered from this. After this act, Hampshire became merely large fields as most of the men who owned this land went into the army.


Now for the Industrial Revolution which is when England became the 'workshop of the world'. During this time Manchester went from 17,000 to 18,000 people from 1760 to 1830. This and the city itself was seen as revolutionary and was something that had never been seen before. Manchester was central of the Industrial Revolution and in 1850 it was the most important place on Earth! Much to do with the slave trade, cotton was key in the Industrial Revolution and this raw material came from the slave plantations in the American South. Consequently, the conditions in many towns became dire and most people lived in slums, with cholera being quite common. Many described these towns as hell on earth and was full of rickets and people with chest infections.


During this time, politics was used to try and reform society. The policy of brutal repression on any sort of dissent and strict penal penalties was effective for the short term. The Peterloo Massacre in 1819 was when a cavalry charged at a crowd of 60,000 people in Manchester who were demanding parliamentary reform. During the Peterloo Massacre, 11 people died. Although this was a terrible time, The Guardian newspaper began through this event which some may say can shed a slight bit of positive light!?
Back to the important bits, the protesters demanded that growing industrial towns of Britain should have the right to elect MP's. At this time, less than 2% of the population had the chance to vote. This was mainly because the political system was based on 'rotton boroughs' and were extremely corrupt. An example of this is the Village, Old Sarum which had 2 votes and 2 MP's, however Manchester-being the biggest and most important city-had none. The elite noticed that there was a problem and create a reform act in 1832 so people could start having a fair chance of electing MP's.


Ultilitanianism is an idea of happiness as pleasure and the absence of pain. It is extremely appealing for many people as we judge actions often by their consequences and favour those that promote the happiness and reduce the pain.
New Poor Law Act (1834) describes that no able-bodied person was to receive money or other help from the Poor Law authorities except in a workhouse. Bentham, wanted to make a solution to the poor, that is so bad they wouldn't want to do it. He created the idea of the workhouse which enabled the poor to go there, and they would give them just enough food so they are surviving day to day, yet that amount of food is slowly killing them. The saying slow and steady wins the race definitely does not apply to this.