The XVIIIth century - INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
In 1714 Queen Anne, the last of the Stuarts, died and the Protestant ruler of Hanover became king - George I
In 1715 James III started a rebellion against George I - Stuart's supporters “Jacobites” were defeated
The new king spoke only German, so the Government power increased
Robert Walpole (1721 - 1742) - he is considered to be Britain's 1st Prime Minister and even the 1st on the world
financial ability
“The Bank of England” - authority to raise money by printing “bank notes” and “promisory notes” = the cheques
1714 - the “Cabinet” (Whigs) - members were together responsible for decisions (they could change their mind or resign)
power of the king would always be limited by constitution
The limits to monarchy:
the king couldn't be a Catholic
the king couldn't remove or change laws
the kin was dependent on Parliament for his financial income and for his army
the king was supposed to “choose” his ministers
he wanted to awoid war; he put taxes on luxure goods such as tea, coffee and chocolate
his most important enemy in politics was • William Pitt “the Elder”, later Lord Chatham; he wanted Britain to be economically strong in the world - war with France (1756 - 1763) - the 7-years war over trade; Britain left Prussia ti fight France alone without informing
John Wilkes - MP, Whig, didn't like the new government of George III
he believed that politics should be open to free discussion by everyone; free speech was the basic right of every individual
was arrested and imprisoned in Tower of London “of state necessity”
famous juggement - “public policy is not an argument in a court of law” - Wilkes won his case and was released; his victory established principles of the greatest importance: the freedom of the individual is more important than the interests of the state and that no one could be arrested without a proper reason; Government was not free to arrest whom it chose, and was under the law too
Edmund Burke - the king and his advisers were too powerful and Parliament needed to get back proper control of Policy - RADICAL
Tom Paine - was the first to suggest that American colonists should become independent of Britain - RADICAL
Prince Charles Edward Stuart (“Bonny Prince Charlie”) - tried to bake back the throne of England in 1745; he entered Edinburgh, but in 1746 was defeated by the British army at Culloden near Inverness - destruction of the Highland clan system:
- many Highlanders were killed even those who hadn't joined the rebellion
law forbade Highlanders to wear their traditional skirt, the kilt; the old patterns of the kilt (tartans) and the Scottish musical instrument (the bagpipe) were also forbidden - “Highland Clearance” clan = family
“South Sea Bubble” (1720) 1st financial crisis ever - bankrupt for people who had shares in companies
“Rotten Boroughs” - districts, which have right to choose 2 representatives to Parliament, as county also has
“The Boston Teaparty” (1773) - a group of American colonists at the port of Boston threw a shipload of tea into the sea rather than pay tax on it - “no taxation without representation”
the American War of Independence (1775 - 1783) - disastrous defeat for the British government; it lost everything except for Canada
Ulster (Ireland) - Protestants formed the first “Orange Lodges”, societies which were against any freedom for the Catholics
Speenhamland Act (1795) - support to the poor; poor families were given money every month bby government, dependently on number of children; results: 1. increase of population; 2. insoldance - problems with finances
Regulating Act (1788) - to reduce the cruelty in child labour in the workhouse and in the new factories
Luddites - rioters in factories; they started to break up the machinery which had put them out of work. The government supported the factory owners, and made the breaking of machinery punishable by death
The first Factory Act (1802) - limited child labour to 12 hours each day; in 1819 a new law forbade the employement of children under the age of 9
John Wesley - an Anglican priest who travelled around the country preaching and teaching - “Methodism”: “be peaceful, whatever happened”
Elizabeth Fry - Quacker, who made public the terrible conditions in the prisons, and started to work for reform
Admiral Horatio Nelson - Trafalgar in 1805 (“Breaking the Line”)
he destroyed the French - Spanish fleet
killed himself in the battle
Wellington - Waterloo in Belgium in June 1815 - finally defeated Napoleon, with timely help of Prussia
1807 - the slave trade was abolished by law
1801 - the United Kingdom of Great Britain - first time used name
inventions and inventors
A “seed drill” - a machine for sowing corn seed in straight lines and at fixed intervals, invented by Jethro Tull
John Wilkinson - built the largest ironworks in the country; he built the world's first iron bridge, over the River Severn in 1779
James Watt - steam engine in 1769; in 1781 he produced an engine with a turning motion, made of iron and steel
Josiah Wedgwood - factory of bone china
Spinning machine - invented in 1764 - “Spinning Jenny”, “Spinning mule” - a machine which made spinsters redundand
Cottage industry - “mass production”
George Stevenson - train
George II (1727 - 1760)
the last monarch born outside Great Britain
short - tempered, concentrated on his mistresses
his heir (son Ferdinand) died
George III (1760 - 1820)
grandson of George II
mental illness; porphyria
remembered as “The Mad King” and “The King who Lost America”
George IV (1762 - 1830) - George, prince of Wales, ruled as Prince Regent during the illness of George III
“the first gentelman of England”
disliked by people
1763 - Britain became a supercolonial power in the world
1783 - Treaty of Paris - USA became independent of Britain (loss of the American colonies)
1733 - France made alliance with Spain
1789 - Revolution in France
1734 - London had a street lighting system
four main classes of people in XVIIIth century towns:
wealthy merchants
ordinary merchants and traders
skilled craftsmen
large number of workers who had no skill