What were the conditions of the working classes like around 1890?

Many lived in overcrowded, insanitary housing on low and irregular wages, with poor diets and high infant mortality, and little protection against sickness, unemployment or old age.

What were the main causes of unemployment before 1914?

Casual labour, as in the docks; seasonal work in building and farming; and cyclical downturns, such as the slump of 1908–09.

What was self-help, and how did working people practise it?

The Victorian idea, popularised by Samuel Smiles, that people should improve themselves through thrift and effort; workers joined friendly societies, co-operatives and trade unions to protect themselves against hardship.

What did Charles Booth's survey of London reveal?

His survey of life and labour in London from 1889 found about 30% of Londoners living in poverty, often through low wages, irregular work, old age or sickness rather than idleness.

What did Seebohm Rowntree's study of York (1901) show?

About 28% of York's people lived in poverty, divided into primary poverty, where income was too low for basic needs, and secondary poverty, and he identified a poverty cycle across a lifetime.

WJEC A-Level History 601-5817-7

Government, Rebellion and Society in Wales and England c.1485-1603Period study

Topic overview Henry VII and the establishment of the Tudor dynasty The revolution in government under Henry VIII Wolsey, Cromwell and Cecil as chief ministers Elizabeth, the privy council and Parliament The Henrician Reformation Religion under Edward VI and Mary I The Elizabethan Church Settlement The Pilgrimage of Grace and the Tudor rebellions Trade, industry and the growth of towns The rise of the gentry and social change Poverty, vagrancy and the poor laws The Acts of Union and the government of Wales Religion, the Welsh Bible and Welsh identity

Government, Revolution and Society in Wales and England c.1603-1715Period study

Topic overview James I and the Stuart accession Charles I and the drift to conflict The causes and course of the Civil War Regicide and the experiment in republic The Restoration of 1660 Charles II, Parliament and the succession crisis James II and the Glorious Revolution The Revolution Settlement and party politics

Politics, Protest and Reform in Wales and England c.1780-1880Period study

Topic overview The unreformed electoral system and early demands for reform The French Revolution, British radicalism and repression 1789-1812 Radical discontent and Lord Liverpool's governments 1812-1822 The Liberal Tory reforms 1822-1830 The Reform Act crisis and the Great Reform Act of 1832 The Merthyr Rising of 1831 Rural protest: the Swing riots and the Rebecca riots Chartism in Wales and England The motives for social reform and the new Poor Law Factory, mines, public health and education reform 1833-1848 Peel, the Anti-Corn Law League and the repeal of the Corn Laws The Liberal party, Gladstone and Disraeli 1859-1880

Politics, People and Progress: Wales and England c.1880-1980Period study

Topic overview The Liberal welfare reforms 1906-1914 Economic problems and responses in the 1920s and 1930s The Labour governments of 1945-1951 The changing fortunes of the Liberal Party The Conservative Party and coalition government The growth of the Labour Party The impact of the Boer War and the First World War The social and economic impact of the Second World War The changing economy, work and employment 1918-1980 The Welsh language, culture and demands for political change Social, religious and cultural change 1918-1980 The campaign for women's suffrage before 1918 Women, the franchise and changing status 1918-1980

Political and Religious Change in Europe c.1500-1598Period study

Topic overview The Catholic Church in the early sixteenth century Exploration, the New World and its impact on Europe The growing power of the nation states Renaissance culture and humanism Luther and the challenge to Rome The spread of Lutheranism: printing, towns and social pressures From the Schmalkaldic League to the Peace of Augsburg The Counter-Reformation and the Council of Trent Francis I and the French monarchy Habsburg-Valois rivalry Charles V and the government of the Holy Roman Empire Philip II: finance, government and foreign policy Suleiman the Magnificent and Ottoman expansion The Christian reaction and the battle of Lepanto

Europe in the Age of Absolutism and Revolution c.1682-1815Period study

Topic overview Peter the Great's reform of government and society The Church, the economy and the armed forces under Peter the Great Westernisation and the building of St Petersburg The Great Northern War and Peter the Great's foreign policy Frederick the Great's accession and the Prussian inheritance Frederick the Great's domestic reforms Frederick the Great as an enlightened despot France under Louis XV and the ancien régime The structure of the French state: crown, finance and Church Louis XVI and the causes of the French Revolution The Baltic and the Great Powers after the Great Northern War The War of the Austrian Succession and the Diplomatic Revolution The Seven Years War The Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and the balance of power

Revolution and New Ideas in Europe c.1780-1881Period study

Topic overview The Napoleonic wars, the Vienna settlement and the Congress System The revolutions of 1830 and 1848 The Eastern Question and the Crimean War Italian nationalism after 1815 and the revolutions of 1848 Cavour, Napoleon III and the war of 1859 Garibaldi, the Thousand and the completion of Italian unity German nationalism, the Zollverein and the revolutions of 1848 Bismarck, Prussia and the wars of 1864 and 1866 The Franco-Prussian War and the German Empire Napoleon III: 1848, the coup d'état and the Second Empire The policies and collapse of the Second Empire Nicholas I and Russia 1825-1855 Alexander II and the emancipation of the serfs The great reforms and the growth of opposition to 1881

Europe in an Age of Conflict and Co-Operation c.1890-1991Period study

Topic overview Alliances, ententes and the causes of the First World War Reconciliation and rivalry 1918-1929 The League of Nations and the road to the Second World War Liberal Italy in crisis and the rise of Mussolini Fascist Italy: domestic policies, opposition and resistance The Weimar Republic and its problems 1918-1933 The Nazi seizure and consolidation of power Nazi domestic policies, opposition and resistance to 1945 The 1905 revolution and the fall of tsarism The Bolshevik revolution, civil war and consolidation to 1924 Stalin's transformation of the Soviet Union to 1945 The post-war division of Europe and the origins of the Cold War The drive for European economic co-operation and integration Co-existence, détente and the end of the Cold War

The Mid Tudor Crisis in Wales and England c.1529-1570Depth study

Topic overview Lawlessness in Wales and the Council in the Marches The Acts of Union 1536 and 1543 The King's Great Matter and the royal supremacy Thomas Cromwell and the dissolution of the monasteries Opposition to religious change and the Pilgrimage of Grace Edward VI's minority: Somerset, Northumberland and faction The Edwardian Prayer Books and Acts of Uniformity The rebellions of 1549 and the response of authority Mary Tudor's accession, marriage and the Wyatt rebellion Catholic restoration and persecution under Mary Society, the economy and the Welsh gentry after the Acts of Union The Elizabethan Church Settlement and the Welsh Scriptures Puritanism and the Catholic threat to 1570

Royalty, Rebellion and Republic c.1625-1660Depth study

Topic overview The legacy of James I and the character of Charles I Parliament, war and the Petition of Right 1625-1629 The ministers and methods of Personal Rule The finances of Personal Rule and Ship Money Laud, Arminianism and Puritan opposition Scotland, the Bishops' Wars and the recall of Parliament The Long Parliament and the attack on Personal Rule Ireland, the Grand Remonstrance and the outbreak of war Wales and the Welsh in the Civil War Leadership, the New Model Army and the defeat of the King The failure of settlement, the Second Civil War and the regicide Radicalism, religious dissent and the reaction in Wales The republic, the Protectorate and the rule of the Major-Generals The collapse of the republic and the Restoration

Reform and Protest in Wales and England c.1783-1848Depth study

Topic overview Pitt, the French Revolution and the corresponding societies Popular protest from Luddism to Peterloo Lord Liverpool's government and the Six Acts The Liberal Tory reforms 1822-1830 The unreformed electoral system and the pressure for reform The Merthyr rising, Captain Swing and the Reform Bill crisis The Great Reform Act of 1832 The Whig reforms 1833-1841 The New Poor Law and the opposition to it Chartism in Wales and England The Rebecca riots and rural Wales Peel, the Conservative party and the repeal of the Corn Laws Social reform, Shaftesbury and public health

Politics and Society in Wales and England c.1900-1939Depth study

Topic overview Population change and the surveys of Booth and Rowntree Conservative government to 1905 and the 1906 election The Liberal welfare reforms 1906-1914 The People's Budget and the Parliament Act 1911 Heavy industry, agriculture and the Welsh economy before 1914 Industrial unrest in Wales: the Penrhyn lockout, Tonypandy and Llanelli Trade unions and the rise of the Labour Party Women, the vote and war work Religion, education and Welsh culture Wales and the Great War: voluntarism, conscription and the home front Industrial decline, the coal disputes and the General Strike of 1926 The Depression in Wales: unemployment, migration and government response Politics between the wars: from the Lloyd George coalition to the National Government Society, leisure and popular culture between the wars

The Religious Reformation in Europe c.1500-1564Depth study

Topic overview The Church in Europe in 1500: power, wealth and daily life Criticism of the Church: anticlericalism, heresy and the humanists Indulgences, Tetzel and the Ninety-Five Theses From Leipzig to Worms: Luther's break with Rome The development of Lutheran doctrine The Knights' Revolt and the Peasants' War Zwingli, the radicals and division among the reformers Printing, princes and cities: the spread of Lutheranism The Augsburg Confession and the Schmalkaldic League Charles V, the Schmalkaldic War and the Peace of Augsburg Anabaptism and the Münster rebellion John Calvin, Geneva and the spread of Calvinism The Catholic revival: Paul III, the Inquisition and the Council of Trent Loyola, the Jesuits and the reforming orders

France in Revolution c.1774-1815Depth study

Topic overview The three estates: privilege and burden under the Ancien Régime Government, finance and the ideas of the philosophes Turgot, Necker and Calonne: the failure of reform The Assembly of Notables, the cahiers and the Estates General 1789: the National Assembly, the Bastille and the Great Fear The October Days and the reforms of the National Assembly The Church, refractory priests and the Constitution of 1791 Varennes, the Legislative Assembly and the coming of war The fall of the monarchy and the September Massacres The Convention, the execution of Louis and the Vendée The Terror: government, Robespierre and the factions Thermidor, the Directory and the rise of Bonaparte Napoleon's reforms as Consul and Emperor War, the Continental System and the fall of Napoleon

The Crisis of the American Republic c.1840-1877Depth study

Topic overview North and South: two societies by 1840 The institution of slavery in the South Manifest Destiny, the Mexican War and the Wilmot Proviso The Compromise of 1850 and the Fugitive Slave Law Abolitionism: Garrison, Stowe and John Brown The Kansas-Nebraska Act and Bleeding Kansas The Republican party and the Dred Scott decision Lincoln and the Lincoln-Douglas debates Harpers Ferry, the election of 1860 and secession The resources, commanders and strategy of North and South Campaigns, the home fronts and the defeat of the South Lincoln's war presidency and emancipation Johnson, Congress and the Reconstruction amendments Radical Reconstruction, the Klan and Redemption

Germany: Democracy and Dictatorship c.1918-1945Depth study

Topic overview The revolution of 1918 and the Weimar Constitution The Treaty of Versailles and its impact on Germany The Spartacists, the Kapp Putsch and the threats to the republic Reparations, the Ruhr and the hyperinflation of 1923 The early Nazi party and the Munich Putsch Stresemann, the Dawes and Young Plans and Locarno The Nazi party 1924-1932 and the growth of its support The Depression and the collapse of parliamentary government Hitler's consolidation of power 1933-1934 Propaganda, terror and the extent of Nazi control Nazi racial policy and the persecution of the Jews Young people, women, workers and the churches under the Nazis The Nazi economy: recovery, rearmament and total war Nazi foreign policy and the Second World War

Wales: Resistance, Conquest and Rebellion c.1240-1415Breadth study

Topic overview Welsh law and the legal system of the princes Society, the rural economy and the Church before 1282 The princes of Gwynedd and the road to 1282 The Edwardian conquest and settlement Resistance and rebellion 1294 to 1345 The Black Death and economic change in Wales Owain Glyndŵr and the revolt of 1400 Change and continuity in Wales 1240 to 1415

Poverty, Protest and Rebellion in Wales and England c.1485-1603Breadth study

Topic overview Population, inflation and the growth of poverty Enclosure and the consolidation of estates Charity, the towns and local schemes for relief The Church, the monasteries and the merchant classes Vagrancy, the sturdy beggar and punishment Government legislation from 1495 to the Poor Law of 1601 Change and continuity in the treatment of poverty Henry VII, Lambert Simnel and Perkin Warbeck Wales, Rhys ap Gruffydd and the marcher lordships The Henrician religious changes and the Pilgrimage of Grace The Western Rebellion and Kett's rebellion Lady Jane Grey and Wyatt's rebellion Mary Queen of Scots, the northern earls and the plots against Elizabeth The Essex rebellion and the changing pattern of rebellion

Reformation and Discovery: Europe c.1492-1610Breadth study

Topic overview The condition of the Catholic Church around 1500 Luther and the challenge to Rome The early reaction of the Catholic Church The spread of the Reformation in the 1520s and 1530s Zwingli, Calvin and the Reformed tradition The Council of Trent and the Counter-Reformation Religious war and schism in France, the Netherlands and central Europe Change and continuity in European religion 1500 to 1600 Motives for exploration and the role of monarchs The early explorers: Columbus, da Gama, Cabot and Magellan Spain, Portugal, England and the Netherlands overseas The Spanish Main, colonisation and indigenous peoples Merchants, science and the changing world 1492 to 1610

Royalty, Revolution and Restoration in Wales and England c.1603-1715Breadth study

Topic overview Monarchy, government and the Welsh gentry in 1603 James I, divine right and Parliament Charles I, the Petition of Right and the Personal Rule The road to war 1640 to 1642 Wales and England at war 1642 to 1649 The republic and the failure of the Commonwealth 1649 to 1660 The Restoration monarchy 1660 to 1688 The Glorious Revolution and the Revolutionary Settlement The growth of party politics after 1689 Anglicanism, Laudianism and the restored Church Puritanism and dissent in Wales The sects, the Levellers and the Diggers Hobbes, Locke and the scientific revolution Change and continuity 1603 to 1715

France: Ancien Régime to Napoleon c.1715-1815Breadth study

Topic overview The three estates and the structure of French society Absolutism, Versailles and the machinery of the state Taxation, finance and the fiscal crisis The Enlightenment and the challenge to authority From monarchy to republic 1789 to 1792 Terror, the sans-culottes and the Directory Napoleon: power, administration and the Concordat Society, economy and the balance sheet of the period

Parliamentary Reform and Protest in Wales and England c.1780-1885Breadth study

Topic overview The unreformed parliamentary system Early reform, the Younger Pitt and the French Revolution The London Corresponding Society and Pitt's repression Industrialisation, rural change and the Luddites Popular protest and repression 1815 to 1822 The Reform Bill crisis 1830 to 1832 The terms and impact of the 1832 Reform Act The Merthyr rising of 1831 Swing, rural protest and the Rebecca riots The aims and leaders of Chartism Chartist action, Newport and the failure of the movement Trade unionism from Robert Owen to the new model unions Public order, radical revival and the Second Reform Act Parliamentary reform 1872 to 1885 and change across the period

Social Change and Reform in Wales and England c.1890-1990Breadth study

Topic overview Education from the Welsh Intermediate Act to 1944 The working classes, poverty and the Liberal reforms c.1890-1914 Housing, health and welfare before 1939 The Depression in Wales and the National Government Beveridge, the welfare state and the 1945 government Affluence, poverty and unemployment 1951 to 1979 The Thatcher years 1979 to 1990 Women, the family and social change Consumer society, leisure and popular culture

The American Century c.1890-1990Breadth study

Topic overview Jim Crow and the erosion of Black freedom Civil rights from the New Deal to Truman Brown, Montgomery and non-violent protest King, Washington and the civil rights acts Black Power, the riots and the aftermath Civil rights after 1968 and the new South American imperialism and the road to world power Isolationism, the Second World War and the Cold War Détente, Reagan and the end of the Cold War

Changing Leadership and Society in Germany c.1871-1989Breadth study

Topic overview The Bismarckian state and the imperial constitution Bismarck, the parties and the Kulturkampf Wilhelmine Germany and the appeal of social democracy War, revolution and the Weimar Republic Weimar recovery, society and culture The Nazi political system Nazi economy and society The two Germanies and reunification Change and continuity in Germany 1871 to 1989

Changing Leadership and Society in Russia c.1881-1989Breadth study

Topic overview Alexander III and political reaction Opposition to Tsarism before 1914 The 1905 Revolution and the Duma 1917: from February to October Consolidating the Bolshevik revolution to 1924 Stalin's rise and the nature of Soviet government The planned economy: collectivisation and the Five Year Plans Russia and its people before 1914 Khrushchev, de-Stalinisation and reform Brezhnev, Andropov and stagnation Gorbachev, glasnost and perestroika Change and continuity in Russia 1881 to 1989

Social Change and Reform in Wales and England c.1890-1990

The working classes, poverty and the Liberal reforms c.1890-1914

3 things to know
A2 Unit 3

Overview

The condition of the working classes around 1890 and its regional variation, causes of unemployment before 1914, self-help, Booth's and Rowntree's surveys, and the Liberal reforms from school meals to National Insurance.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started

Process

How did working-class life vary between regions around 1890?

Process

What did Booth and Rowntree find about poverty?

Process

What did Rowntree mean by primary and secondary poverty?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1
What were the conditions of the working classes like around 1890?
Model answer
Many lived in overcrowded, insanitary housing on low and irregular wages, with poor diets and high infant mortality, and little protection against sickness, unemployment or old age.
2
How did working-class life vary between regions around 1890?
Model answer
Miners in the south Wales coalfield earned relatively high wages but faced dangerous work and crowded valley housing, rural Wales suffered low wages and depopulation, and London's East End had casual labour and severe overcrowding.
3
What were the main causes of unemployment before 1914?
Model answer
Casual labour, as in the docks; seasonal work in building and farming; and cyclical downturns, such as the slump of 1908–09.
4
What was self-help, and how did working people practise it?
Model answer
The Victorian idea, popularised by Samuel Smiles, that people should improve themselves through thrift and effort; workers joined friendly societies, co-operatives and trade unions to protect themselves against hardship.
5
What did Charles Booth's survey of London reveal?
Model answer
His survey of life and labour in London from 1889 found about 30% of Londoners living in poverty, often through low wages, irregular work, old age or sickness rather than idleness.
6
What did Seebohm Rowntree's study of York (1901) show?
Model answer
About 28% of York's people lived in poverty, divided into primary poverty, where income was too low for basic needs, and secondary poverty, and he identified a poverty cycle across a lifetime.

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Government, Rebellion and Society in Wales and England c.1485-1603

Government, Revolution and Society in Wales and England c.1603-1715

Politics, Protest and Reform in Wales and England c.1780-1880

Politics, People and Progress: Wales and England c.1880-1980

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1642, at .

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AUniversal male suffrage was kept.

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Wilhelm II succeeded in 1888 and dismissed Bismarck in 1890.

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