To what extent was British policy in Ireland a success in the years 1868-1886?

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Usmaan Hamid

“To what extent was British policy in Ireland a success in the years 1868-1886?

The British policy to Ireland was always a changing one with different prime ministers having different ideas, such as Peel in the 1920s first saying he doesn’t want to pass catholic emancipation but then passing it. Gladstone in these years was firmly against home rule but was always open to reform. Where he gave split his own party to appease Davit and the home rule party by passing the land acts. Gladstone had started this mission by saying he needed to pacify Ireland, because the social and economic situation in Ireland had become really bad.  

The first bill that was passed in parliament to pacify Ireland was the Irish Church Bill of 1869, the bill proposed the Tithe not being paid to the Church of Ireland anymore as of the 5.8m population in Ireland 5.3m were roman catholic so paying the Tithe wasn’t right for them.  The act had a number of effects as it created unity within the Liberal party also it won Gladstone the support of the Roman Catholic leaders, it was welcomed by most Irish Catholics as it had addressed a major injustice. It also raised expectations among the Irish that other major issues such as land would now be looked at by the Liberals. It could also be looked at as one of the starting points of the demand for home rule as it gave confidence to the moderate Irish. Overall, I fell that this act was a success as many people were happy with this and as about £25 million of assets were now put into education which would have increased the happiness in for most of the people in Ireland, but would have also made the Roman Catholics unhappy as they wanted this money but this was step too far for parliament so wasn’t accepted. It would have also made happy the Roman Catholics as they no longer had to pay the tithe which would have definitely increased the favor towards Gladstone as now he was seen as a good person as he was looking at the challenges within Ireland and the religious challenges were seen as one of the big challenges within Ireland. It also wouldn’t have upset the Church of Ireland much as the existing clergymen and officials were given financial protection for life. It could be seen as a defeat as it gave rise to the idea that home rule could be given and after this much problems were seen as the home rule party really started asking for home rule. It was also unsuccessful as after the bill was passed the unrest in Ireland continued as the bill was passed was supposes to draw support away from the Fenians but as John Bright says the land act problem could only be solved by doing justice to some but also doing injustice to there as if the land problem was solved then the farmers would be happy but then the landowners would have to be disappointed.

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In 1870, the 1st land act was passed as the land was mostly owned by the Anglo-Irish landlords who were absentee landlords as they weren’t present and the people were held on leases without much protection. The tenant farmers could be left in the hands of the ruthless bailiffs and land agents who would turn the farmers away without warning or just reason. The act was passed but was not what Gladstone was expecting as when putting it forward he wanted the 3Fs(Fair Rent, Fixity of Tenure and Fair Sale) but didn’t get much of this when put forward to parliament ...

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The student's style of writing is not always appropriate for A Level work. For example, in ''the people of Ulster stood up and said we don't want to...'', the use of ''we'' sounds more like something you would say in conversation rather than in an essay. It would better to say ''the people of Ulster expressed their opposition to...''. The spelling, grammar and punctuation are good but there are some mistakes, such as ''fell'' should be ''feel''. It isn't crucial to get perfect spelling but mistakes make the essay look untidy and can sometimes leave the examiner struggling to understand what you mean. I always made sure I left enough time (about 3 minutes in an exam) to check that my answers made sense.

The student uses a good range of evidence, especially statistics: ''about £25 million of assets'' is good as it shows the student understands that this is a substantial and effective amount of money to put into education. It's always better to put a statistic if possible - ''lots of assets'' would have sounded vague. At some points in the essay the student could analyse things more deeply: for example, when analysing the statistic just quoted, they say it led to ''happiness'', and this is bad as it's too general. It would be better to say it led to ''improved quality of life'' because that is an economic phrase, so it is more academic than ''happiness'' which is a general term. The conclusion is good because it reaches a judgement and explains why that is the strongest, which is good as it shows the student can assess what they have written and decide that one interpretation is better than another. It is especially good that the student uses several reasons to support their interpretation, as it shows their argument is strong.

The student answers the question well by considering the two sides of the argument: for example, they say things like ''Overall, I fell that this act was a success'' but then later point out areas where Gladstone's policy wasn't a success. This shows that they are thinking widely and appreciating the fact that there are several opinions on every historical event. The student could make this understanding clearer in the introduction - they could simplify it and say ''In some ways it was a success'' then give one key reason as an example, and then do the same for the other side. This would show they can organise their knowledge, because at present the introduction isn't clearly structured.