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Summary Revision notes for A Level History A [OCR] Unit Y320 From Colonialism to Independence: The British Empire

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The following document contains revision notes for A Level History A [OCR] Unit Y320: From Colonialism to Independence: The British Empire. It outlines and summarises key notes on the topics below. - The governance and administration of the Empire - Opposition to British rule - The impact of i...

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a level history ocr
revision notes
unit y320
history
ocr
a level
british empire
1857
1965
colonialism
independence
revision
revision notes for a level history ocr unit y320
notes

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A/AS Level
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OCR
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history
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Revision notes for A Level History A [OCR]
Unit Y320: From Colonialism to Independence:
The British Empire 1857-1965

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BRITISH EMPIRE - SK BOOKLET

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KT3 - Impact of imperial power on the periphery and Britain

IMPACT ON THE METROPOLE

Era of free trade
New imperialism
Interwar years
Era of decolonisation

3.1 Working class in the era of free trade

⮚ Only 1 million men made up the electorate in the 1850s and thanks to British hegemony
and minimal costs of informal empire, the elites neither needed nor wanted the
involvement of working classes
⮚ In the 1850s, only 50% of working class children attended school (other than Sunday
school) and the average length of attendance for those children that did attend school
was only 3 years.
⮚ The working class curriculum was utilitarian and involved reading, writing, arithmetic,
sewing and woodwork. There was an active effort to avoid discussion of empire, in case
the working classes began to sympathise and identify with the colonised
⮚ The literacy rate was 60% in 1840 and 77.5% in 1870
⮚ 1870 Education Act increased national literacy rate to 90% by 1900
⮚ Before the 1880s there is a lack of evidence of empire in working class memoirs, books,
music hall songs, newspapers or popular shows
⮚ The most popular form of illustrated literature for the working classes, ‘penny dreadfuls’
were focused on the exploits of detectives, criminals and supernatural entities and
imperial themes were not covered. By the 1860s and 1870s, more than a million boys’
periodicals were sold a week. They were printed on cheap wood pulp paper, sold for one
penny and explicitly aimed at young working class men.
⮚ The working classes were too preoccupied with their survival to consider the empire. In
1840, 57% of working class children in Manchester died before the age of 5 and the
average age of death for a factory worker in Liverpool was 15.
⮚ In the 1840s 46% of working class families in Bristol occupied one room each.
⮚ A cholera epidemic in 1865-66 resulted in the deaths of 20,000 people.
⮚ The Great Exhibition of 1851 was not focused on Empire. Whilst the 1862 International
Exhibition featured over 28,000 exhibitors from 36 countries, it also displayed a wide
range of industry, technology and the arts. Exhibitions were certainly celebrations of
patriotism, but they were not explicitly pro-imperial during the era of free trade.
⮚ Right at the end of the period, jingoistic songs began to make an appearance in music
halls, with G. W. Hunt’s ‘By Jingo’ popularising the term jingoism in 1878. Music halls
were popular and almost every town had one, with working class adults commonly
attending once a week. They were useful as a source of imperial propaganda, as
popular performers dressed in military uniforms and celebrated the role of British soldiers
against savage natives.

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⮚ The working class diet was based around the staple of bread, with seasonal vegetables
and potatoes, oats and lentils to supplement it. Tea from China and India was popular in
working class homes, but this was the only large-scale impact of Empire on the working
class diet.

3.2 Working class in the era of formal empire

⮚ The Third Reform Act of 1884 boosted the electorate to 5.5 million, or 60% of men. The
elites now had to court the working class vote and needed the working class to support
empire if they wanted to continue pursuing pro-imperial policies
⮚ The Berlin Conference saw the formalisation of the move towards formal empire.
Britain’s hegemony was being threatened by its rivals, especially Germany and there
was a feeling amongst the elites that working class jingoism would be required in order
to maintain Britain’s power and prestige.
⮚ 1870 Education Act meant the literacy rate was improving rapidly and would reach 90%
by 1900, paving the way for a new wave of imperial propaganda
⮚ The Boys Own Paper first appeared in 1879, featuring stories portraying soldiery and
bravery around the globe
⮚ The Boys’ Brigade (1883) reinforced imperial values by offering military training and by
extolling the virtues of a ‘glorious’ Empire
⮚ In 1886 the Colonial and Indian Exhibition was held in South Kensington, explicitly
jingoistic and focused on displaying the wealth of the Empire
⮚ The Africa Exhibition of 1890 justified British presence in Africa as Christianising natives.
⮚ The Diamond Jubilee Celebrations of 1897 were designed to create pride in the country
and Empire, this theme embraced by popular press and working classes participated
passionately.
⮚ In 1924, working class families flocked to the Empire Exhibition, boasting 300,000
visitors in the space of one single day and 17 million overall. Visitors could view
exhibitions from across the Empire, including a replica African village with carving and
weaving of Ashanti nobles.
⮚ The Empire Exhibition was so popular that it reopened again in 1925 with the slogan
‘The Same Empire but a New Exhibition’. This attracted another 10 million visitors
between May and October.
⮚ From 1916 onwards, all school children would celebrate Empire Day annually on the
24th May by saluting the Union Flag and singing patriotic songs. They would listen to
stories of the Empire’s heroes like Clive of India and Gordon of Khartoum, though
Empire day took a long time to catch on and the highlight was leaving school early.
⮚ By the 1890s papers like The Union Jack were challenging the popularity of the ‘penny
dreadfuls’ and by 1914 they dominated the market along with similar publications like
The Boys’ Own Paper, Magnet, Gem and Wizard. These papers focused on adventure
stories set in the empire and at sea, being actively pro-imperial.
⮚ The pro-imperial Daily Mail cost only a halfpenny, when other daily London papers cost a
full penny. It was instantly popular from its inception in 1896, with a circulation of 500,000

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