Humanities – History – Year Nine – Industrial Revolution

Task: Source Analysis

The purpose of this assessment task is to have you closely analyse a primary source and a secondary from during
the industrial revolution. It will require you to undertake a close reading of your chosen source and undertake
additional research to determine its historical context.

Secondary Source

Poor laws and the rise of Chartism – Oxford big ideas Humanities

Part 1: Who, where and when?

You need to begin by providing a brief outline of what the source is and where it came from. Provide a brief
paragraph that outlines the historical context of the source: where does it come from? Who was the author?
When was it written? What was the surrounding social, political or Historical situation
Part 2: What does the source tell you?

Primary sources are going to give us certain information about what was occurring during a certain period in
history. Now that you have been able to locate your source within a certain time and place, write a paragraph
where you explain what information can be found within this source.
Secondary sources are created after the event and still provide us with an insight into the period. What
information can be found from this source.
Part 3: What is the purpose of this source?

Now that you have explained what information the source provides, you will need to offer an opinion as to why
this source was produced. This should be a broader analysis of why the author created this document: what is
their overall message, what was the intention behind creating a source like this and what ideas does it explore?
Part 4: What value and limitations does the source possess?

A primary/ secondary source is not inherently better or worse than any other sources. Each source will provide
certain valuable information, and it will also possess certain limitations. Comment about both (1) what makes
this source valuable (this may be linked to the perspective it offers, the type of information it provides, etc.) and
(2) what limitations exist that a historian should be aware of (this may be linked to potential bias, the accuracy
of information, or may be related to the intended purpose of the document). Conclude with a final statement
about how a historian may use this

Part 1: Who, where and when?

The secondary source is an excerpt from the chapter The emergence of socialism and trade unions from Oxford
Big Ideas Humanities 2016 edition; a Year nine textbook intended for junior students. Written about the brief
period of Chartism, it discusses collective bargaining and the democratic ideals that the chartist’s championed
in the early 1830s. Amid the industrial revolution, the British Parliament attempted to deal with changing social
and economic conditions such as widespread inequality and rapid urbanisation with introducing The Poor Law
Amendment. A law decreeing that any poor or homeless person requiring assistance from the state had to enter
a government workhouse, which was poorly maintained, broke up families and fed their residents poorly. Poor
laws and the rise of Chartism discusses how workers realised how they had little influence over legislation and
government, the source even mentioning that about “600,000 out of 3 million men over the age of 21 could
vote”1

Part 2: What does the source tell you?

Poor laws and the rise of Chartism discusses the brief and failed attempts of the chartists. Chartism was centred
on the “people’s charter” written as a bill to be passed within parliament; it demanded change for the working
populace.

Its main tenets were

1. “A vote for every man twenty-one years of age, of sound mind, and not undergoing punishment for a
crime.
2. The secret ballot to protect the elector in the exercise of his vote.
3. No property qualification for Members of Parliament in order to allow the constituencies to return
the man of their choice.
4. Payment of Members, enabling tradesmen, working men, or other persons of modest means to leave
or interrupt their livelihood to attend to the interests of the nation.
5. Equal constituencies, securing the same amount of representation for the same number of electors,
instead of allowing less populous constituencies to have as much or more weight than larger ones.
6. Annual Parliamentary elections, thus presenting the most effectual check to bribery and intimidation,
since no purse could buy a constituency under a system of universal manhood suffrage in each twelve
months.”[1]

Poor laws and the rise of Chartism mentions how the movement was a response to the ever-growing class divide
that unchecked capitalism instigated. As workers toiled in horrible conditions for little pay, many felt as if they
needed to be represented in government to affect change, which was what Chartism was about; Increasing
worker representation. The working class’s sentiment was that those with property and gold watches did not
represent their concerns and only the rich’s demands. The demands such payment of members and no property
qualification exemplify ways the chartists worked to solve those issues. Poor and the rise of Chartism, however,

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Poor laws and the rise of Chartism
only briefly discusses this, instead, structuring the excerpt with a more chronological perceptive towards the
movement.

The first failed attempt to vote the bill in law the source discusses was in 1837, where the House of Commons
rejected the chartist petition despite 1.2 million signatures. Emboldened by the support the second attempt at
change was another petition which also failed despite 3 million votes, the entire voting population at the time.
Poor laws and the rise of Chartism allusions to how as the appeals failed, Chartists became frustrated and
suggested strikes and destroying machinery. In fact “by 1840, over 500 Chartists had been put in prison”, as the
general populace felt little regard for the laws and societal structures that failed them. Poor laws and the rise of
Chartism alludes to how democratic values were not as widespread as they are today through its example of the
failed movement of Chartism.

Part 3: What is the purpose of this source?

Poor laws of and the Chartism looks at the history of the Chartism from a historical perspective, explaining
critical events of the movement. The source was written as an example of the increasing acceptance of
socialist ideas within the workers of the industrial revolution. Workers were heavily exploited in the industrial
revolution through low pay and unsafe working conditions. In fact, children were employed in a large number
of textile factories as they could be paid less and crawl under machines to repair them while they were still
operating. These issues are what the Author attributes to the rise of Chartism and socialist ideology. The
Author created the document, informing readers of the faults of capitalists systems, in which the industrial
revolution is based on and what happened when capitalism exploited the worker, instead of providing
freedom for its subjects. The Poor Laws and the rise of Chartism excerpt to provide historical context as to
when democracy was in its infancy and at the stage in which 3 million people cannot affect change. It explores
the ideas of the infancy of democracy and how workers in the industrial revolution fought back through the
written word and eventually succeeded, as democratic capitalism ideology penetrates governments all around
the world.

Part 4: What value and limitations does the source possess?

Poor laws of and the rise of Chartism, studies the short chartist revolution from a primarily political viewpoint,
providing key insight on worker satisfaction during the industrial revolution and the demand that workers had
for more democratic systems of government. Poor laws of and the rise of Chartism illustrates the universal
disregard the wealthy representatives in government had for the common people, as Poor laws of and the rise
of Chartism highlights repeated examples of petitions failing despite unprecedented support. The excerpt
provides a unique perspective to its young audience portraying an undemocratic system of government such
as Britain in power and how it treats its people.

Poor laws and the rise of Chartism was produced by a variety of people, which means it’s unlikely that personal
bias and values influenced the excerpt. However, the source has limited itself not discussing the widespread
worker discontent that the working-class experienced in the industrial revolution. Also, it does not address the
ideological shift from capitalism and the “emergence of socialism” in-depth for the industrial revolution. It
also does not explain how socialist ideology penetrated an uneducated working class, through what groups or
organisations were this thinking introduced? These are limitations which diminish the purpose of the chapter
(which the excerpt is from). Which is to debate the “The emergence of socialism and trade unions”, and does
not do the former justice.

Poor laws and the rise of Chartism overall does well in providing an unbiased and presentism free account of
the chartist movement, explaining the campaign in detail but missing some key areas of the movement and
socialist thinking.
Primary Sources - The wealth of nations

https://books.google.com.au/books/about/An_Inquiry_into_the_Nature_and_Causes_of.html?id=I6
yg2jVPvJgC&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false

Part 1: Who, where and when?

Like Sir Isaac Newton's Principla Mathematica for physics, Antoine Lavoisier's Traité Élémentaire de Chimie for
chemistry and Charles Darwin's On the origin of species for Biology, Adam Smith's masterpiece, An Inquiry into
the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, represented a paradigm shift for economics. The wealth of
nations was ten years in the making before being released in 1776 coinciding essentially the creation of the
American state. The Scottish man's masterpiece has dominated economic thought and discussion to this day
influencing renowned authors such as Alexander Hamilton, Karl Marx and Fredrick Engels's Manifesto of the
Communist Party. It was published in Scotland, during the Scottish Enlightenment, a period characterised in an
outpouring of intellectual and scientific accomplishments. The wealth of nations essentially invented the
framework for the modern capitalistic system developed countries have today with ideas such as; "Humans
natural tendency towards self-interest, free markets and trade, the invisible hand and lax government
regulations"2. However, the latter becoming more irrelevant in western political society. All of these ideas
formed the overarching concept of capitalism, which Adam smith thought to be the antidote to the
zero-sum game of mercantilism.
Part 2: What does the source tell you?

Part 3: What is the purpose of this source?

The wealth of nations is considered a primary source, created at the height of mercantilism. Adam smith's
book was a critique of the system and had proposed a different paradigm for economies and governments to
conduct themselves. Smith assessed two main ideas of mercantile systems.

“1. The notion that isolationist tariffs serve the economic interests of a nation (or indeed any purpose
whatsoever)
2. The idea that vast reserves of gold or other precious metals are essential for a nation's economic success.
This critique of mercantilism was later used by David Ricardo when he laid out his Theory of Comparative
Advantage.”3

This mercantile system which Smith thought absolute, was why The wealth of nations was produced.
Mercantilism was centred on the idea that wealth was finite, meaning that countries hoarded gold and tariffed

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The wealth of nations – Adam Smith
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The wealth of nations – Adam Smith
products which only choked international trade as products rose in price leading to the eventual breaking
down of international trade and break down of markets. This economic idea is one factor of what lead to
expansionary thinking, as countries thought that they could only take wealth from other countries and not
create it themselves. Mercantilist systems were as prevalent during the late seventeen hundreds as capitalistic
countries are today. This popularity was what The wealth of nations was trying to upend. The classical free-
market economic theory that Smith championed is what allowed for the industrial revolution to flourish with
its three main tenets; Division of labour, rational self-interest, and competition. Division of labour is the notion
that the separation of tasks in any system so that participants may specialise, thus producing products much
more efficiently. Smith also argued that rational self-interest of humans would result in the promotions of
public interest. By giving everyone the freedom to specialise in creating a product to exchange goods as they
see fit and opening the markets up to domestic and foreign competition, people's natural self-interest would
promote greater prosperity than with stringent government regulations. With competition allowing for the
reduction of cost for consumers and increased quality of the product for consumers, the idea of free-market
capitalism was born in the wealth of nations. This free-market thesis was introduced to the world for by Adam
smith book, forever changing societies as governments understood that wealth could be created and
economics is not a zero-sum game.

Adam Smith had strictly believed that mercantile systems had restricted economic growth as countries did not
have fiat money systems, free trade and markets, competition to induce innovation and growth, division of
labour along with other financial regulations. Especially the belief that wealth was finite was a notion that the
wealth of nations, was trying to kick to the curb. The wealth of nations was intended to critique mercantile
systems at every level, synthesising emerging economic thought, and pitting classical free-market economic
theory against mercantile economic thought.

Part 4: What value and limitations does the source possess?

The wealth of nations synthesised emerging economic thought in the 1750s, creating the scaffolding for
governments to structure their societies, and mostly that has been the case as most countries are considered
capitalist, in today's communities. The wealth of nations provided a unique point of view on economic
thought, that had not been explored, Smith's biographer John Rae contends that The Wealth of
Nations shaped government policy soon after it was published. From a monetary standpoint, The wealth of
nations central thesis have had an unprecedented impact, allowing countries to increase wealth without taxing
other countries. Challenging the idea of countries interacting with each other is a zero-sum game.

It can be said that Adam Smith's magnum opus was influenced in his time at the University of Glasgow where
he was under the tutelage of his beloved professor Francis Hutcheson. At the age of 14, he had developed his
values of free speech, liberty and reason, which have unquestionably impacted his economic ideas on the free
market and the self-interest of humans. These values have certainly been the difference between Adam Smith
being more open to free-market ideals versus communist ideals, and governments by extension as the
worldwide impact that the wealth of nations has cannot be denied. However, Smith collective economic
theory did not cover abuses made on behalf of the" bourgeoisie" 4 such as unfair conditions and wages, the
inability to collectively bargain, and inequality of the "proletariat"1 and "bourgeoisie". All of these issues which
Karl Marx strived to address with the das Kaptial.

The wealth of nations is what made people today think of Adam Smith as the "Father of Economic", through its
unique and ground-breaking view of economic thought that governments still use today. However, with issues
such as inequality, health-care and government inefficiency, some have been calling the evolution of
capitalism, to better suit today's technological society.

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Manifesto of the Communist Party - Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels