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Grade 9 GCSE Edexcel History essay: ‘The role of Robert Peel was the main reason for the development of the first Police force in 1829’ How far do you agree?$5.26
Grade 9 GCSE Edexcel History essay: ‘The role of Robert Peel was the main reason for the development of the first Police force in 1829’ How far do you agree?
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Course
History
Institution
GCSE
Full mark (20/20) GCSE History Edexcel essay on crime and punishment, more specifically on the role of Robert Peel. It was marked by an experienced GCSE History teacher and done as a practice for the real exams in which I achieved a grade 9.
‘The role of Robert Peel was the main reason for the development of the first Police force in 1829’
(20 marks)
- London
- Fear of Protest
Sir Robert Peel was a major political figure that really listened and looked into the work of reformers
and earlier attempts at law enforcement like the constables and 'bow street runners' to help
improve the crime problem in, at the time, Europe's largest city: London. The Metropolitan Police
was set up by Sir Robert Peel in 1829 and was the first real, properly paid police force in England.
In some ways we can agree with this statement as by the 1820s as Robert Peel helped assure
politicians and the public that a Police force was needed and not a threat to freedom. Sir Robert peel
was appointed Home Secretary in 1822 and was determined to improve people's lives by reducing
the amount of crime in England. As a political figure, he was able to persuade parliament to form a
police force for London at first, playing an extremely important role. He did this by cleverly using
statistics to paint a picture of rising criminality in towns and cities. He was persuasive and reassured
fellow politicians that a police force was no threat to freedom which was a major factor as many
people in London especially, didn't want to feel like they were 'under control' and were worried that
the police would suppress other political views and protests. He made sure they didn't wear any
serious weapons as well as a blue uniform, in contrast to the armies red ones, as he didn't want the
public to view them as the army and fear being controlled.
We can also agree that Sir Robert Peel was the main reason for the development of the first Police
force in 1829 as he was responsible for pointing out the ineffectiveness of active crime prevention
services as well as taking action to improve them in England. He explained the major problem of
crime rates in London especially. By 1829, London's population had grown to 1.5 million, yet it only
had 450 constables and 4,000 watchmen. It heavily depended on the army or spies and informers to
keep peace and to restore order during serious public issues and problems. However, these methods
weren't working which was apparent due to the growth in homicide, robbery, theft and burglary all
due to the rise of the Industrial Revolution. Sir Robert Peel took action by convincing parliament to
pass the Metropolitan Police Act in 1829. He took charge and set up a Police Force of 3,200 men, in
17 divisions; each with four inspectors and 144 constables in a range of 7 miles from the centre of
London. Without Sir Robert Peel it is extremely likely the Police Force would have been less
organised and would have taken much longer to organise.
However, this statement could also be disagreed with as the Government, due to fear of protest
from the public like in France, was bound to take action sooner or later in fear of being overthrown.
In the years after 1815 there were multiple protests in Britain about unemployment and high food
prices. The public was also uneasy about steeply rising crime rates in the modern period adding to
the fuel. Furthermore, after the war with France ended, the French revolution soon came about in
the 1780s and the British Government was worried about a similar event taking place in Britain.
Government allowance on raising local taxation was already allowing towns and cities to spend more
money on paying, setting up and supplying authorities like police forces. However, without Sir
Robert Peel it is unlikely a setting up of a police force, as soon as 1829, would have taken place as
the Government would have been more focused on pleasing the public. A police force without Sir
Robert Peel's organisation and persuading would have been opposed by the public as they already
weren't keen on a police force at all.
In conclusion I agree with this statement that Sir Robert Peel's role was the main reason for the
development of the first police force in 1829. Without his clever thinking and persuasion of the
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