BRITAIN IN

POLITICS Britain was a constitutional monarchy in which the King (George III) had considerable powers of patronage. Parliament and ministers were subservient and largely obedient to the King. Only the Aristocracy had the vote and the voting system was in dire need of reform The two political parties were informal groups of like minded aristocrats – the Whigs and the Tories was an important year because in marked the start in a shift in power from the King to Parliament largely because the King had just lost the American colonies and thereby a great deal of the respect and deference of Parliament By 1885 all real power rested with Parliament and the parties which had transformed themselves into national governing organisations – the Liberal and the Conservatives

ECONOMICS Massive economic changes had already started in 1783 – the Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions. Agriculture was becoming more efficient as common land was enclosed into bigger and bigger farms using more modern techniques. Food supply increased to feed the rapidly growing population In Industry, unskilled machine work was replacing hand skilled work – the domestic system was giving way to the factory system. Unplanned industrial towns were emerging and industrial output and foreign trade was taking off. Britain was becoming wealthier but that wealth was not equally shared

POPULATION In million In million In million Britain was in the first burst of population growth in 1783 thanks to better food supply and improvements in medicine. The character of the population was also changing away from the medieval feudal structure as new social classes emerged – wealthy landowners, capitalist factory owners and unskilled factory workers Over the century each new class would demand a say in power and that their interests be represented in Parliament

CULTURE AND LIFESTYLE The Church was still an important influence but this was declining with urbanisation No railways to speak of yet – people lived in a relatively small geographical area – no standard English and no standard time, no system of public education provision – low rates of literacy Sport was in its infancy with the most popular recreation activity being a public execution No electricity, little in the way of amenities or public health provision However Britain was on the cusp of significant changes and by 1884 was more recognisable as the modern world we know today

READING Read pages of Murphy, Staton et al (compulsory) Other Reading Denis Richards Modern Britain the Introduction ( 2 copies in Library) Revolution, Radicalism and Reform pages 1-11 (1 copy in library) Create a mind map – How did Britain change ?