AQA A-level History · 1F

Industrialisation and the people: Britain, c1783–1885

50 exam-style questions with answers for 1F Industrialisation and the people: Britain, c1783–1885 in AQA A-level History (spec 7042). Practise with flashcards, a topic quiz, a random quiz across the course, 5 crosswords, or read every question and answer below. Not official AQA material.

All 50 questions and answers

Question 1 · Spec 1F, Part one
Define the term ‘rotten borough’. [1 mark]
Answer:
A constituency with very few voters that still elected MPs, eg Old Sarum.
Question 2 · Spec 1F, Part one
How did Pitt the Younger become Prime Minister in 1783? [2 marks]
Answer:
George III appointed him after dismissing the Fox-North coalition (1); he won the 1784 election with royal support (1).
Question 3 · Spec 1F, Part one
State two financial reforms of Pitt the Younger. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: the Sinking Fund (1786) (1); cutting smuggling by lowering duties (1); the Eden Treaty with France (1786) (1); income tax (1799) (1).
Question 4 · Spec 1F, Part one
State two reasons for the growth of the cotton industry. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: new machines, eg the spinning jenny and water frame (1); factories (1); cheap raw cotton (1); growing markets (1).
Question 5 · Spec 1F, Part one
How did the steam engine change industry? [1 mark]
Answer:
Watt’s improved engine allowed factories to be built away from rivers, near coal and towns.
Question 6 · Spec 1F, Part one
What were the Combination Acts (1799–1800)? [1 mark]
Answer:
Laws banning workers from joining together in trade unions.
Question 7 · Spec 1F, Part one
Explain how the French Revolution affected British politics. [2 marks]
Answer:
It encouraged radical societies demanding reform, eg the London Corresponding Society (1); the government responded with repression, eg suspending Habeas Corpus (1794) (1).
Question 8 · Spec 1F, Part one
What was the Act of Union (1800)? [1 mark]
Answer:
It joined Ireland to Great Britain from 1801 after the 1798 rebellion.
Question 9 · Spec 1F, Part one
State two economic effects of the French wars. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: high taxes, including income tax (1); rising national debt (1); inflation (1); demand for iron and textiles (1).
Question 10 · Spec 1F, Part one
What were the Corn Laws (1815)? [1 mark]
Answer:
They banned the import of foreign wheat until the domestic price reached 80 shillings a quarter.
Question 11 · Spec 1F, Part one
What were the Six Acts (1819)? [1 mark]
Answer:
Repressive laws after Peterloo, restricting meetings and the radical press.
Question 12 · Spec 1F, Part one
State two liberal Tory reforms of the 1820s. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: repeal of the Combination Acts (1824) (1); Peel’s penal reforms (1); Huskisson’s tariff cuts (1); the Metropolitan Police (1829) (1).
Question 13 · Spec 1F, Part one
What was Catholic Emancipation (1829)? [1 mark]
Answer:
The Act allowing Catholics to sit in Parliament and hold most offices.
Question 14 · Spec 1F, Part one
Who was Daniel O’Connell? [1 mark]
Answer:
The leader of the Catholic Association, whose election in County Clare (1828) forced Catholic Emancipation.
Question 15 · Spec 1F, Part one
Who were the Luddites? [1 mark]
Answer:
Workers who broke machines in 1811–1816 in protest at new technology and low wages.
Question 16 · Spec 1F, Part one
Who was Robert Owen? [1 mark]
Answer:
A mill owner at New Lanark who promoted better conditions, education and early socialist ideas.
Question 17 · Spec 1F, Part one
State two features of the Great Reform Act (1832). [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: 56 rotten boroughs abolished (1); seats for new industrial towns (1); £10 householders in boroughs got the vote (1); the electorate rose to about 650,000 (1).
Question 18 · Spec 1F, Part one
State two features of the agricultural revolution. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: enclosure (1); crop rotation (1); selective breeding (1); new machinery (1).
Question 19 · Spec 1F, Part one
What was the Speenhamland system (1795)? [1 mark]
Answer:
Parish relief that topped up low wages according to the price of bread and family size.
Question 20 · Spec 1F, Part one
What was the 1798 Irish rebellion? [1 mark]
Answer:
A rising by the United Irishmen, influenced by the French Revolution, crushed by the government.
Question 21 · Spec 1F, Part one
What was Peterloo (1819)? [1 mark]
Answer:
Yeomanry charged a peaceful reform meeting in Manchester, killing about 15 people.
Question 22 · Spec 1F, Part one
What was the Cato Street Conspiracy (1820)? [1 mark]
Answer:
A radical plot to murder the cabinet, which was discovered.
Question 23 · Spec 1F, Part one
Explain why the Whigs passed the Great Reform Act. [2 marks]
Answer:
To end the pressure of riots and agitation, eg the Bristol riots of 1831 (1); to attach the middle classes to the constitution and avoid revolution (1).
Question 24 · Spec 1F, Part one
What were standards of living like for factory workers before 1832? [2 marks]
Answer:
Long hours, child labour and dangerous machinery (1); overcrowded, unsanitary housing in towns (1).
Question 25 · Spec 1F, Part one
What was the role of Methodism? [1 mark]
Answer:
It spread evangelical religion among the working classes, encouraging discipline and self-improvement.
Question 26 · Spec 1F, Part two
What did the Factory Act (1833) do? [1 mark]
Answer:
It banned children under 9 from textile mills, limited hours for older children and appointed inspectors.
Question 27 · Spec 1F, Part two
What was the Poor Law Amendment Act (1834)? [2 marks]
Answer:
It ended outdoor relief for the able-bodied (1); the poor had to enter workhouses with harsh conditions (‘less eligibility’) (1).
Question 28 · Spec 1F, Part two
What did the Municipal Corporations Act (1835) do? [1 mark]
Answer:
It created elected town councils chosen by ratepayers.
Question 29 · Spec 1F, Part two
What was the Tamworth Manifesto (1834)? [1 mark]
Answer:
Peel’s statement accepting the Reform Act and moderate reform, seen as the start of the Conservative Party.
Question 30 · Spec 1F, Part two
What was the Bank Charter Act (1844)? [1 mark]
Answer:
It gave the Bank of England control over issuing banknotes.
Question 31 · Spec 1F, Part two
Explain why Peel repealed the Corn Laws in 1846. [2 marks]
Answer:
He was convinced by free trade arguments and the Anti-Corn Law League (1); the Irish famine made cheap food urgent (1).
Question 32 · Spec 1F, Part two
What was the consequence of Corn Law repeal for the Conservatives? [1 mark]
Answer:
The party split; Peelites left and the protectionists stayed out of power for most of the next two decades.
Question 33 · Spec 1F, Part two
State two effects of the railway boom. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: cheaper transport of goods (1); new jobs (1); growth of towns (1); demand for coal and iron (1); standard time (1).
Question 34 · Spec 1F, Part two
Explain why Chartism declined after 1848. [2 marks]
Answer:
The 1848 petition was rejected and ridiculed (1); prosperity in the mid-Victorian boom reduced discontent (1).
Question 35 · Spec 1F, Part two
When was the Liberal Party formed? [1 mark]
Answer:
1859, at the Willis’s Rooms meeting of Whigs, Peelites and Radicals.
Question 36 · Spec 1F, Part two
What did the Second Reform Act (1867) do? [1 mark]
Answer:
It gave the vote to all male householders in boroughs, roughly doubling the electorate.
Question 37 · Spec 1F, Part two
State two reforms of Gladstone’s first ministry (1868–1874). [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: Education Act (1870) (1); Ballot Act (1872) (1); civil service exams (1); army reforms (1); Irish Church disestablished (1869) (1).
Question 38 · Spec 1F, Part two
State two reforms of Disraeli’s second ministry (1874–1880). [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: Public Health Act (1875) (1); Artisans’ Dwellings Act (1875) (1); Factory Act (1878) (1); trade union legislation (1875) (1).
Question 39 · Spec 1F, Part two
What did the Third Reform Act (1884) do? [1 mark]
Answer:
It extended the household franchise to the counties, giving about 60% of men the vote.
Question 40 · Spec 1F, Part two
What was the Great Depression (from 1873)? [1 mark]
Answer:
A long period of falling prices and profits, especially in agriculture, caused by foreign competition.
Question 41 · Spec 1F, Part two
Define the term ‘self-help’. [1 mark]
Answer:
The Victorian idea, popularised by Samuel Smiles, that people should improve themselves by hard work and thrift.
Question 42 · Spec 1F, Part two
State two features of Grey’s Whig government (1830–1834). [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: the Great Reform Act (1); abolition of slavery (1833) (1); the Factory Act (1833) (1); the Poor Law Amendment Act (1834) (1).
Question 43 · Spec 1F, Part two
Who was Edwin Chadwick? [1 mark]
Answer:
The author of the Report on the Sanitary Condition of the Labouring Population (1842).
Question 44 · Spec 1F, Part two
Who was Lord Shaftesbury? [1 mark]
Answer:
A Tory evangelical who campaigned for factory and mines reform, eg the Mines Act (1842).
Question 45 · Spec 1F, Part two
What was the Anti-Poor Law League? [1 mark]
Answer:
A northern movement opposing the new workhouses after 1834.
Question 46 · Spec 1F, Part two
What was the Public Health Act (1848)? [1 mark]
Answer:
It set up a General Board of Health and allowed towns to create local boards.
Question 47 · Spec 1F, Part two
What was the Great Exhibition (1851)? [1 mark]
Answer:
A display of British industry at the Crystal Palace, symbolising the mid-Victorian boom.
Question 48 · Spec 1F, Part two
Define the term ‘New Model Unions’. [1 mark]
Answer:
Unions of skilled craftsmen from the 1850s with high subscriptions and benefits, eg the Amalgamated Society of Engineers.
Question 49 · Spec 1F, Part two
What was the Irish Republican Brotherhood (Fenians)? [1 mark]
Answer:
A secret nationalist group founded in 1858 seeking an Irish republic by force.
Question 50 · Spec 1F, Part two
Explain why Gladstone took up Home Rule in 1885–1886. [2 marks]
Answer:
Parnell’s Irish Party held the balance of power after 1885 (1); Gladstone believed self-government would bring peace to Ireland (1).

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Industrialisation and the people: Britain, c1783–1885

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