Rural Rides...

Rural Rides...

• A tale of two revolutions - two perspectives, Urban (Dickens) and Rural (Cobbett)
• French revolution - key to England (to become UK)
  
• 1793 - France declared war on England - star of Empire releasing the political (France) and Industrial (UK) revolutions.
• Dickens - London - Urban - City Life
  
• Cobbett - Countryside
• French Revolution - possible future- port of political process. Concerned - terror.
• England built up stronger.
• No troops - after 1800 - expensive.
• Military - successful Britain - Naval Power 1805 - Battle of Trafalgar - Blockaded French ports - Africa dressed French. European Empire.
• 'The Transatlantic Triangular Trade'. - Slave trade, slaves = textiles from Africa to America.
• Slaves traded for cotton - Britain - clothes.
• 1833 - Abolition of Slavery Act
• Manchester - 17,000 to 180,000 people from 1760 to 1830 (Revolutionary)
• Cotton - industrial revolution. (Communist manifesto)
• Gas light (light factories)
• End of war 1815 Waterloo - boom was over - concern of overload on corn
• Introduction of the 'corn laws' protecting agriculture from competition - expensive bread.
• Making people poorer - bad conditions (slum)
• Chlorea was common - no infrastructure - Anger - look for change - government criminalised the poor - concern of rebellion.
  
• Peterloo Massacre 1819 Manchester - cavilry charged a crowd of 60,000 demanding parliamentary reform. - 11 people died.
• Protestors demanded industrial towns of Britain should have the right to elect MPs.
• Reform Act 1832 (still ignored the middle class)
• 1846 - repeal of the corn laws - cheaper bread - wages levered (controversial)
• O'Connell - pacifist - House of Commons - Ireland ignored the campaign for Repcial of Act. Radical political movement - rallies, meetings, 1843 - 1/2 million attended meetings.
• Famile - 1845 - 1850 - more than 1 million died of malnutrition and 2 million immigrated..
• Peaceful protests were not possible.
• Ireland was still on exporter of food during the famine.
• Cobbett - Anti-radical/Radical - 20 years in the army (American and France) pushed to radicalism - farmers - gentlement - Write the Political Register (read by the working class) Circulation of 40,000 - unsuccessful - Referred to farmers as 'walking skeletons' (like Wilkes, attacking army, government etc)
• Tax on newspapers - paper - pamphlet - 2p - 2p trash (critics)
• Prision - fled to American - supported Swing riots.
• Farming - enclosures - nothing to stop non-industrial (common land)
• Efficient bigger fields - new technology
• In 50 years population doubled 1801 - 1851
• Rural ludites - against rural industrialisation (technology) Swing riots against technology.
• The poor - social welfare system - stop the poor falling too far (eg bad harvest)