Lecture 3: Dickens and Cobbett

A tale of two revolutions- and two perspectives- Urban (Dickens) and Rural (Cobbett)

· England/ UK did very well out of the French Revolution- although during the period of the Napoleonic War it was very expensive and income tax was created in 1799 to pay for the war effort.

· British Naval power was absolute (especially after 1805) and the blockades of the French ports destroyed French trade and created a boom for British Exports- to such an extent that British manufacturers were actually clothing the French Army.

· With the other European armies occupied, the British started building its Empire- India, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka- trading monopoly with South America.

· The Transatlantic Triangular Trade was extremely profitable for Britain- In the 16^th Century 1 million slaves were transported from Africa; in the 17^th century 3 million were transported and in the 18^th century 7 million. As a result if this, the abolition of Slavery was in 1833.

· Textiles made up 60% of exports. Coal outputs doubled between 1750 and 1800.

· In Manchester it went form 17-180000 people in 1760-1830 and the city was seen as revolutionary. This had never been seen before.

· Cotton was a key product for the industrial revolution and this raw material came from the slave plantations in the American South- but modern Lancashire produced the finished article- mainly for exporting.

· Inventions (gaslight) allowed the process to be done in enormous factories, usually by women and children.

· The end of the war meant the end of the boom. This caused unemployment and a decrease in wages. In response the government brought in Corn Laws- meaning they put a tariff on imported grains; this pushed people beyond the breadline.

· Conditions in many towns and cities were extremely poor. People lived in slums and cholera was common. These towns and cities were not built for large populations and this showed.

· The policy of brutal repression on any sort of dissent and strict penal penalties was effective in the short term.

· Peter Loo massacre- Manchester 1918- the cavalry charged a crowd of 60,000 demanding parliamentary reform- 11 people died.

· Protestors demanded that growing industrial towns in Britain should have rights to elect MPs. Less than 2% had vote and resentment was sharpened by “rotten boroughs” e.g. Village, Old Sarum had 11 voters and 2 MPs whereas Manchester and Leeds didn’t have any. The Reform act came in, in 1832.

· Repeal of the Corn Laws in 1840- bread was cheaper but wages could be lowered as workers could survive on less.

Farming

· Enclosures ended the idea of landholding peasantry- nothing to stop transfer of workforce from non-industrial to industrial.

· Population had been slowly rising- from 5 million at the end of the 17^th Century until the middle of the 18^th century. After 1770, it started to increase dramatically- doubling every 50 years after that. Cobbett disputed that.

	1801	1831	1851
England	8.3	13.1	16.92
Wales	0.39	0.91	1.06
Scotland	1.63	2.37	2.90
Ireland	5.22	7.77	6.51

· Swing riots- rural labourers opposed to use of new advanced technology e.g. threshing machines- run luddites. Riots across South in 1830.

The Poor

· Looked after by the Speenhamland system devised as a means to alleviate distress caused by high grain prices.

· Means tested- top up for wages- depends on number of children and bread prices.

· Immediate impact of paying this poor rate fell on landowners of the Parish concerned.

· New Poor Law Act 1834- No able-bodied person was to receive money/ help from the Poor Law authorities except in workhouses.

· Rentham- argued that people do what’s pleasant and don’t do what’s unpleasant- people didn’t claim relief, it had to be unpleasant. The core argument for “stigmatising” relief, making it, “an object of wholesome horror”.

· The Act effectively criminalized the poor.

Ireland (Act of union 1801)

· Duke of Wellington passed Catholic Emancipation in 1829 due to the threat of an Irish uprising after Daniel O’Connell was elected MP for County Clare in 1828 but as a Catholic was debarred from taking his seat.

· Monster meeting- 1843- Tara (million people?) Clantarf

· Famine: between 1845-1850 more than 1 million died of malnutrition and 2 million emigrated.

· Handling of famine was criticized – “The Almighty indeed, sent the potato blight but the English created the famine”- John Mitchell, deported for 14 years.

· During the years of the famine, Ireland was a net exporter of food. Armed troops escorted the crops to the ports to export to England. The export of livestock actually increased during the famine years.

Cobbett

· Anti-radical who became a radical- what changed him was the plight of farm workers in the early 19^th century. The thought rapid industrialization was going to destroy traditional ways of life.

· Heroic agitator- convinced farmers faced ruin.

· 20 years abroad in army- chocked by state of countryside on return. Farm workers reduced to “walking skeletons”

· “When farmers became gentlemen, labourers became slaves.”

· No time for farmer taxing government or army- free loaders attacked them or for Church and its tithes.

· He was nearly 60 when he started ‘rural rides’

· He wrote the political register- read by working class.

· Tax on newspapers- Cobbett to publish the political register as pamphlet- circulation of 40,000

· Put in Newgate for sedition- fled to USA to void jail, was term-charged with libel 3 times after returning- including when he write in support of swing riots.

Dickens

· London was the largest city at the time – in terms of population in the world, economically, politically, industrially/

· Overcrowded- population doubled in 50 years Poverty, cholera outbreaks, sanitation problems. Interested in particular times of reform.

· Oliver Twist- Concerned with Poor Law and oppressive regime for people.

· Nicholas Nickleby- Criticised Yorkshire schools- people were treated terribly.

· Bleak House- Particular abuse bothered him, was the court of chancery – law cases went on for generations and cost a fortune.

· Becomes a metaphor for all that’s wrong with Victorian society.

· State only got involved when criminalized and imprisoned them.

· Poor should have decent homes and education.

· Kafka was interested in Bleak House- very clear in his journals and novels, he tries to stir up the middle classes into action.