British History Coursework: Part A
To what extent do the sources support the idea that changing attitudes towards the poor, shaped responses to poverty in Britain 1830-1939?
Howard Newman 6364
Paternalism underpinned the Old Poor Law, the perception that those in power should take responsibility for their workers. The Old Poor Law provided ‘out-relief’ for those in poverty as an addition to their weekly wage. By 1832, however, the industrial revolution had begun and capitalism was the leading system. A new approach of ‘self-help’ marked the demise of paternalism. This new attitude was the belief that poverty was the fault of the poor. The government’s role was to uphold sovereignty and win foreign wars, with very little intervention in domestic social issues.
The 1834 Poor Law Report was an investigation into the failings of the Old Poor Law. It began with the ratepayers growing discomfort at paying the rising poor rates during the Napoleonic wars. The Poor Law Commission was provoked by the upward trend of relief and rural unrest; the 'Swing' riots of 1830.
Its investigation was premeditated with beliefs, however, they did come to realise that the Old Poor Law was a system which was outdated for a country in the middle of an Industrial revolution. The new legislation wanted to put an end to out-relief and established ‘workhouses’ throughout Great Britain.
The attitude following this was that the position of pauper could be an ‘eligible’ one especially when honest work was so difficult and parish hand-outs were ample. Source 1 is a prime example of this, a quote from Samuel Smiles Self-Help 1859. Samuel Smiles believed that growth as a nation had to start from within and that any external help (friendly-societies, charity organisation) was ‘enfeebling in its effects’. At this time the popular belief was that ‘over-guidance’ left the poor dependent on hand-outs and that it was morally wrong to be poor. Source 2 is the attempted depression of the pauper class. They believed if the position of pauper was made ineligible the poor would find the work because it was there; they simply had to look harder for it. Industrialisation was a new experience and was not yet fully understood. A quote to show how strongly the Poor Law Investigators felt about this belief is ‘Every penny bestowed, that tends to render the condition of paupers more eligible than that of the independent labourer, is a bounty on indolence and vice.’ It was the belief that they would be working against themselves if they were to fund this ‘idleness’. A growing sympathy for the poor came when Mayhew and other social investigators provided accounts of the earnings of the working population of London. With the evidence showing that the level of poverty was desperate and unacceptable and that circumstances were to blame.
