Poverty, Public Health and the State in Britain, c1780-1939 | Edexcel A-Level History (9HI0)

Poverty, Public Health and the State in Britain, c1780-1939

187 questions
19 subtopics
Paper 3: themes in breadth with aspects in depth, one option of sixteen
Paper 3

A Paper 3 option combining aspects in breadth on public health and changing attitudes to state intervention with aspects in depth on the old Poor Law and its reform in 1834, the pressures for change that produced the Liberal welfare reforms, and the poverty of the interwar years..

It covers the impetus for change, c1780–1939, changing attitudes to public health, central government and local initiatives in public health, individuals who improved public health, the organisation of the parish-based relief system, indoor relief in poorhouses, workhouses and houses of correction, pressures for change, reforming the Poor Law, the impact of the workhouse, opposition to the new Poor Law, changing government control, charity and self-help in dealing with poverty, smiles, Mayhew and Dickens on poverty, pressures for reform, the Royal Commission on the Poor Laws, 1905-09, the impact of the Liberal reforms, poverty in the 1920s and 1930s, the Jarrow March and the hunger marches and government measures in the 1930s.

Sample questions from Poverty, Public Health and the State in Britain, c1780-1939

Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.

The impetus for change, c1780–1939

How did advances in technology aid public health?

Show the answer
Improvements in engineering, glazed pipes, pumps and filtration made large-scale clean water supply and proper drainage and sewerage possible.
Central government and local initiatives in public health

What was the role of medical officers of health?

Show the answer
Local officials responsible for monitoring disease, sanitation and living conditions and advising on public health measures.
The organisation of the parish-based relief system

How did the Elizabethan Poor Law operate?

Show the answer
Each parish levied a rate administered by overseers, relieving the impotent poor, setting the able-bodied to work and apprenticing pauper children.
Pressures for change

What was Bentham's principle of utility?

Show the answer
That institutions should be judged by whether they produce the greatest happiness of the greatest number, applied through calculated systems of incentive.
The impact of the workhouse

Did outdoor relief actually end after 1834?

Show the answer
No; especially in the industrial north, outdoor relief continued because building and filling workhouses for mass unemployment was impractical.
Changing government control

What did the Andover inquiry reveal?

Show the answer
A drunken and abusive master, a diet below the official minimum, and a Poor Law Commission that had failed to supervise or investigate.
Smiles, Mayhew and Dickens on poverty

What did Smiles argue in Self-Help?

Show the answer
That character, thrift, perseverance and industry were the route out of poverty, and that state help weakened the qualities that made men succeed.
The Royal Commission on the Poor Laws, 1905-09

What did the Minority Report recommend?

Show the answer
Breaking up the Poor Law entirely, distributing its functions to specialist committees for health, education and pensions, with a national minimum guaranteed by the state.

The 19 subtopics

One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.

Subtopic	What it covers	Questions
The impetus for change, c1780–1939	Recall questions on the health problems industrialisation created, back-to-back housing, the cholera epidemics, the role of statistics, and why epidemics prompted action.	10
Changing attitudes to public health	Recall questions on attitudes in 1780 and the arguments against intervention, the Dirty Party, the press, the Great Stink, germ theory, and national efficiency.	10
Central government and local initiatives in public health	Recall questions on the Acts of 1848 and 1875 and why they differed, the medical officers of health, vaccination, water supply, and slum clearance.	10
Individuals who improved public health	Recall questions on Jenner and vaccination, Chadwick's report and his unpopularity, Snow and the Broad Street pump, Bazalgette's sewers, and Marie Stopes.	10
The organisation of the parish-based relief system	Recall questions on how the old Poor Law worked, settlement and removal, Speenhamland, the Roundsman system and Labour Rate, and the cost by 1832.	10
Indoor relief in poorhouses, workhouses and houses of correction	Recall questions on the forms indoor relief took, Gilbert's Act, the Sturges-Bourne Acts and plural voting, and how uncommon indoor relief actually was.	10
Pressures for change	Recall questions on the ideological case against relief, Malthus and Bentham, the financial argument, political economy, and the effect of the Swing Riots.	10
Reforming the Poor Law	Recall questions on the Royal Commission and the quality of its evidence, what the 1834 Act required, unions and guardians, and how unevenly it was implemented.	10
The impact of the workhouse	Recall questions on the regime and the separation of families, the workhouse test and less eligibility, who actually lived there, and the stigma attached to entry.	10
Opposition to the new Poor Law	Recall questions on Oastler and Fielden, the forms opposition took, where it was strongest, the Anti-Poor Law movement, and its connection to Chartism.	10
Changing government control	Recall questions on the Andover scandal and what it revealed, the Poor Law Board, the Local Government Board, and the crusade against outdoor relief.	9
Charity and self-help in dealing with poverty	Recall questions on the scale of charitable giving, the Charity Organisation Society and its critics, the friendly societies, and the settlement houses.	9
Smiles, Mayhew and Dickens on poverty	Recall questions on Self-Help and its influence, Mayhew's method and what he revealed, Dickens's attacks on the workhouse and on political economy.	10
Pressures for reform	Recall questions on Booth's poverty maps, Rowntree's poverty line and cycle, the Fabian Society, and the effect of the Boer War recruitment figures.	10
The Royal Commission on the Poor Laws, 1905-09	Recall questions on why it was appointed, the Majority and Minority Reports, the Webbs, why no legislation followed, and its influence on later welfare.	10
The impact of the Liberal reforms	Recall questions on school meals and medical inspection, the 1908 pension and why it was paid through post offices, National Insurance, and the Trade Boards Act.	10
Poverty in the 1920s and 1930s	Recall questions on the decline of the staple industries, the level and regional pattern of unemployment, long-term unemployment, and Boyd Orr's findings on diet.	10
The Jarrow March and the hunger marches	Recall questions on why Jarrow marched and how the march was organised, why it avoided Communist involvement, Ellen Wilkinson, and how it differed from the NUWM marches.	9
Government measures in the 1930s	Recall questions on the Means Test and why it was resented, the Unemployment Assistance Board, the Special Areas Act, trading estates, and how little policy achieved.	10

Poverty, Public Health and the State in Britain, c1780-1939 is 187 of the 6,832 questions in the guide.Get the guide, £9

How the guide is worked

Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.

Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.

Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.