Chapter 1:

a) Why Britain was considered a middle ranking European power at the

beginning of the 18th C?
At the beginning of the 18th C, Britain had a lower population in
comparison to France and Russia. Also, Britain had a small army, French
and Russia had bigger troops.
b) Describe the concept The Demographic Revolution
The Demographic Revolution had to do with a rise in population. In the
late 18th C and the 19th C Britains population began to rise. In the
process both the economy and the politics of the British Isles were
transformed.
Causes for the rise of population:
Good harvests boosted the population;
Improvement in health conditions which helped to reduce death
rates in England;
As cultivation expanded, people felt encouraged to marry at an
earlier age;
c) Analyze the different viewpoints as regards the composition of society in
those years
In the Pre-industrial era the British did not speak about precise social
classes,but referred to a ranks and orders.
Gregory King distinguished 26 ranks based on occupation and
employment,which he divided into three: 1) the better sort (1.2%) 2) the
middle sort (30.2%) 3)the lower sort (68.6%)
In Colquhouns analysis the upper or landed class comprised 1.2 % of the total.
At the top stood the royal family and about 200 peers (dukes,earls,barons,etc).
The middle classes,who were people with money but no land, comprised 28.8
%. In this group he estimated 1.2 million freeholders (men who owned the land
which they farmed) and 1.3 million farmers. In this group there were also
shopkeepers, manufacturers, merchants, bankers, among others. The third
sections of society comprised 69.9 % and it includes artisans or skilled
craftsmen,agricultural labourers,miners,seamen,domestic servants,among
others. Those who suffered from poverty were dealt with by means of the poor
law system. This meant that each local parish raised a poor rate,with which it
could pay either outdoor relief, in cash or in kind, or indoor relief to those who
entered the poor house or workhouse.

1% - nobility

30%--> rich people

69.9%--> poor people
d) Was social mobility possible? Explain
There were many possibilities of climbing/achieving a higher or a lower social
status. Agricultural laborers could rarely escape their lot except by emigrating
to the colonies(especially to the usa).
The most common method involved obtaining an apprenticeship to a skilled
craft,trade or profession,which usually meant finding the fee required by an
established master craftsman. Once trained a man might set himself up in
business, become an employer and move into one of the expanding towns.
Marriage also provided a crucial vehicle at several social levels. E.g younger
sons of peers didnt inherit their fathers estates and were therefore obliged to
build careers in churchs,in the law,the army or politics. In the process they
frequently married into the middle class.
e) Describe agriculture regional specializations. Why was agriculture in
decline?
During the 18th C most of the farms of England cultivated arable crops
and reared livestock. Due to variations in climate, soil and markets
produced some regional specializations. The countries of eastern and
southern England grew more wheat and barley because summers were
warmer and rainfall lighter. Further north and west, lower temperatures
and heavy rainfall made permanent pasture and cattle and sheep
production more typical. In Ireland the potation flourished due to wet
climate.
By the lated 18th C agriculture was in relative decline because new
industries aroused. Workers had been driven off the land by a process
known as enclosure. The distinctive feature of British agriculture was
certainly the steady decline of the small peasant proprietors and their
replacement by a society dominated by large landowners, tenant
farmers and many landless laborers. Moreover, enclosure created more
intense work such as digging ditches, making drains and planting
hedges; therefore, the number of men employed increased during the
18th C. As a result, many workers were ready to move into employment
in factories when industrialization began.
f) What were the origins of industrialization? Establish the varied
perspectives
Britain had few workers in agriculture even in the early 18 th C; as a result
most of the value of her exports was derived from manufactured goods.

The traditional view of Britains industrial revolution emphasized the

1760s as the take-off stage, largely because of the innovations in cotton
textile production.
Industrialization advanced by means of technological improvements in
certain leading sectors of the economy: first cotton, then iron and steel,
and then railways.
There are various theories about why industrialization started first in
Britain:
Political stability could be one reason
Britains economy enjoyed special advantages
Others point to social-ideological influences such as the prominent
role of Nonconformists and the moral belief in the virtue of work,
associated with Protestantism.
Some historians argue that the crucial take-off into
industrialization occurs when a society saves 10-12 % of its
income (capital ->marginal factor: cotton manufacturers met their
limited capital requirements (they use it for their own benefit)
The most important factor is related to the increase in population
and the growth of consumer demand for goods.
Chapter 2
a) Why was a German prince appointed as King of Britain?
As a result of the civil wars between the Stuart Kings and parliament the British
political elite established what many regarded as an ideal form of government.
They wanted a hereditary kings but not the absolute monarchy characteristic of
other European countries. They also wished to prevent the succession of the
Stuarts and of any Catholic ruler. They effectively appointed George I, a
German Protestant prince from Hanover, as King. Consequently he and his
heirs could never claim to rule by divine right. In practice their power was
limited by law. The regime was based on a contract between property owners
and the monarchy; it was liberal but not democratic.
b) What was the Bill of Rights? Why wasnt the King a subservient figure?
With the Bill of Rights the King (George III) couldnt not suspend
parliament nor could he raise taxes without parliaments approval or
maintain a standing army in peacetime. In effect, the King had to
summon parliament every year so that essential revenue could be raised
legally. In return, parliament granted the royal family an annual payment
known as the civil list. However, none of this made the King a
subservient figure. He appointed peers to sit in the House of Lords and
could dissolve the House of Commons so as to force a general election
on them. The King enjoyed the right to choose his chief minister, subject
only to the qualification that his choice must be capable of commanding

a majority in the House of Commons in order to enact the business of

government.
Traditionally the Privy Council had formed an intermediary linking the
King and parliament. But with 30 members the Privy Council grew too
large and unwieldy. In practice, business came to be transacted in a
smaller body, known as the cabinet, comprising a lord treasurer, two
secretaries of state, a Lord President and a Lord Chancellor. During the
18th C the cabinet usually met weekly without the King. The first lord of
the Treasury became known as the Prime Minister and he usually sat in
the House of Common, though he could be a member of the House of
Lords.
c) British constitutional theorists argued that if any one of the three
dominated, the system would degenerate: monarchy into tyranny,
aristocracy into oligarchy, and democracy into anarchy. In Britain each of
the three checked the potential abuse of power by the others. It was a
balanced constitution. In addition, the central government largely
abstained from interference in local administration. Local affairs were
handled at two levels: the parish and the county.
In practice the central gov at Westminster involved far less participation
by the people than a formal description of the system suggests. The
House of Lords,e.g, comprised only about 200 peers in the 18 th C, and
the King might strengthen his own influence there by creating new titles.
In the Common, the 558 MPs were drawn largely from the younger sons
of peers or the landed gentry.
d) Describe prevailing religious divisions during that period
The official established religion was Anglicanism or the Church of England. The
Churchs active membership represented 46 % of the population. Roman
Catholics numbered 10% and the dissenters of Nonconformists comprised 43%.
The latter included Baptists, Quakers and Methodists. Methodists were the
product of revivalism. Their supports lay in the North of England, the Midlands
and the Southwest. They took their strength from evangelicalism. Methodism
tripled its membership, and in combination with the other Nonconformist
churches,began to represent a serious threat to the Established
Church,especially in urban and middle-class England and Wales.
However, Anglicanism enjoyed the advantages of huge accumulated wealth,
the support of almost all the political elite, and a good deal of discriminatory
legislation. As a result of the struggle with the Stuart Kings,parliament had
passed the Act of Settlement in 1701, which decreed that the King must be an
Anglican;and in order to block the Catholic claimants to the throne the Kings
wasnt permitted to marry a catholic. In effect, this legislation excluded
Catholics from all national and local offices unless they were prepared to take
communion in the Anglican Church. In addition, Dissenters suffered all kinds of
legal disabilities including an obligation to pay a tax, known as a tithe,for the

benefit of the Anglican Church,restrictions on their meeting places and

compulsory burial according to Anglican rites.
e) What was the situation of Wales, Scotland and Ireland?
Wales assimilated London gov, it was easily absorbed.
Scotland was more complicated. Historically it has maintained a separate
throne when the Stuart King James VI became King James I of England. As a
result of the civil wars and the revolution settlement, the English had
effectively repudiated the Scottish King in favor of the Hanoverians. Scotland
formed a base of support for attempts to recover the throne for the Stuarts.
The key point about the rebellion is that few urban and lowland Scots had
supported it.
In the case of Ireland: it suffered from 2 fundamental problems: economic and
religious-complicated by the system of gov. Although the majority of Irishmen
were Catholics they were obliged to contribute tithes to help maintain the
Anglican Church.
As a resul,violence was always present in the Irish countryside, offering the raw
material for a mass nationalist movement.
Irelands gov was controlled from London through a Lord Lieutenant and a Chief
Secretary both Protestants. Since only Protestants were allowed to vote, the
Irish parliament scarcely commanded popular support.
f) What were Britains external interests during the 18 th c?
Britains external interests were concentrated much more on
international diplomacy, the colonies and foreign trade. And it has a
standing interest in keeping the Low Countries out of the control of a
major military power because of the vulnerability of the British Isles to
invasion. She also feared Russian expansion through the Black Sea into
the eastern Mediterranean. Britains traditional strategy for dealing with
a threat involved forming alliances with the lesser continental powers
against the strongest.
g) Was there a clear distinction between the Whigs and the Tories? What
was the relationship between King George III and the Whigs?
Whigs stood as the champions of the Hanoverian succession and held
office. They combined some very large titled landowner with business
and professional support.
Tories posed as a country party and criticized the court and central gov.
They were strong among the country gentlemen.
The reign of George III saw a resurgence of political controversy. In this
period some of the Whigs accused the King of going beyond his proper
constitutional role. They claimed that the disastrous war with the
American colonists was the result of his personal rule. This argument led

parliament to adopt the famous resolution proposed by Dunning to the

effect that the influence of the crown has increased, is increasing and
ought to be diminished.
To some extent the King did take a more active part in gov than his two
predecessors. The Kings real difficulty lay in the confused and
fragmented condition of the parties.
William Pit the Younger was elected Prime Minister, as he was only 24
years old, contemporaries didnt expected his gov to last long. His
parliamentary reform bill suffered a defeat in the Commons. Pitt reacted
to this in the manner typical : he simply carried on governing as though
nothing had happened. He was obliged to govern by perpetually
patching up a parliamentary majority from week to week.