levo

Britain, c1785–c1870: Democracy, Protest and Reform

Changing attitudes towards the poor, 1834-70

  • 3 things to know
  • Paper 1

Overview

Recall questions on the Andover scandal, the Charity Organisation Society, Samuel Smiles and self-help, and what Mayhew and Dickens showed the public.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started
Key term

What was the Andover workhouse scandal of 1845–46?

Who and when

What role did charity and self-help play alongside the Poor Law?

Numbers

Why did the Andover scandal matter politically?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    What was the Andover workhouse scandal of 1845–46?

    Model answer

    Revelations that starving inmates were gnawing on bones they had been set to crush, exposing cruelty and mismanagement in the new system.

  2. 2

    What role did charity and self-help play alongside the Poor Law?

    Model answer

    Voluntary charities, friendly societies and savings schemes supplemented state relief, reflecting Victorian faith in individual responsibility.

  3. 3

    What happened at Andover workhouse?

    Model answer

    Paupers set to crush bones for fertiliser were found in 1845 to be fighting over scraps of gristle and marrow from the bones out of hunger.

  4. 4

    Why did the Andover scandal matter politically?

    Model answer

    The parliamentary inquiry exposed cruelty and mismanagement and the Commission's failure to supervise, and led to its replacement by the Poor Law Board in 1847, answerable to parliament.

  5. 5

    How did attitudes to poverty change after 1834?

    Model answer

    The idea that poverty resulted from individual failing remained strong, but scandals, journalism and statistical enquiry gradually established that unemployment, sickness and old age were the main causes.

  6. 6

    What did Samuel Smiles argue?

    Model answer

    In Self-Help, 1859, that character, thrift and perseverance were the route out of poverty, an enormously popular doctrine that fitted the age's suspicion of state provision.

Other ways to work this

The same content, four other ways.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

1Closed book
2Open book
3Closed book

The 3-step method, run for you

Answer cold, learn it, then prove it stuck. Levo tracks the jump between your first attempt and your last.

The Crusades, c1095–1204
England, 1509–1603: Authority, Nation and Religion
Britain, 1625–1701: Conflict, Revolution and Settlement
Britain, c1785–c1870: Democracy, Protest and Reform

Cram a whole paper in one sitting

Sort every topic into what you know and what you do not, then drill only the weak ones.

Luis de .
RequesensAlbaGranvelle

Blank Blitz makes facts automatic

Rapid timed gap-fills on the terms and numbers you need to recall without thinking.

AThe government admitted 96 dead and 333 wounded.
BOther estimates run to several hundred dead.
COpponents claimed thousands.

Build It gets the exam shape right

Assemble a full-mark answer from its marking points, in the order an examiner wants them.

Robert Aske led the Pilgrimage of Grace.
TrueFalse

Test It catches misconceptions

Spot the fault in a statement. The traps are the mistakes students actually make.

721941163128510

Brain Breaks between sessions

Short focus games to reset attention, so the next set lands better than the last.

Every question in Britain, c1785–c1870: Democracy, Protest and Reform, on a schedule.

Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.

Or £46 a year, about £3.83 a month. Cancel anytime.