8/8/2019 HS: 18th - 20th century

1/1

18thcentury

Politically this century was stable. Monarch and Parliament got on quite well together. Twogroups were formed within Parliament. One group, the Whigs, were the political descendantsof the parliamentarians. The Tories had greater respect for the idea of the monarchy. It wasthe beginning of the party system in Britain.

At the beginning of the century, the Scottish Parliament joined with the English and WelshParliament. Scotland retained its own system of law. In the highlands area of Scot land Stuartmonarch was tried to put on the throne by force. Many highlanders were killed or sent awayfrom Britain. The Celtic way of life was effectively destroyed. Britain expanded its empire inthe Americas, in Africa and in India. The increased trade with these new markets was onefactor which led to the Industrial Revolution. In England areas of common land disappearedas landowners incorporated them into their large farms. Hundreds of thousands of peoplemoved into new towns and cities. Most of these were in the north of England, where the rawmaterials were available. In the south of England, London came to dominate. It had apopulation close to a million.

19th century

Britain had lost its most important American colonies in a war of independence. When thecentury began, the country was locked in a war with France. Soon after the end of thecentury, Britain controlled the biggest empire the world had ever seen. One section of thisempire was Ireland. British culture and way of life came to predomina te in Ireland. Anotherpart of the empire was made up of Canada, Australia and New Zealand, where settlers fromthe British Isles formed the majority of the population. Tens of thousands of British civilservants and troops were used to govern India. Becau se India was so far away Anglo -Indianway of life developed. Large parts of Africa also belonged to the empire. There was anenormous increase in wealth, so that Britain became the world's foremost economic power.Being rulers of an empire was known as the white man's burden. Most people now lived intowns and cities. They weren't depended their living on the owners of industries. Britain wasturning into something resembling a modern state. Slavery and the laws against people onthe basis of religion were abolished. Public services such as the police force were set up.

20thcentury

By the beginning of this century, Britain was no longer the world's richest country. The womendemanded the right to vote. The urban working class finally began to make its voi ce heard.The Labour party replaces Liberals. Trade unions managed to organize themselves.