18th/19th Century. Two revolutions

The Act of Union 1707

In 1658 Scotland attempted to set up colony in central America. This is known as the Darien scheme. However the land became a malarial swamp, sending all of it's citizens fleeing away.

Scotland had put one fifth of their wealth into starting this up. Sovereignty was set up by England with the Act of Union in 1707.

After the French Revolution England did well. However the Napoleonic war was expensive.

Income Tax was set up to beat the French in 1799.

The British navy had power over all the french docs, therefore they had trading powers. British exports were able to flood to Britain's workhouses'

The Trans-Atlantic triangular Trade. 16th century-18th century.

Continuing this boom of profit along came the Atlantic trade. Slaves across the Atlantic ocean were working on plantations to produce goods that were arriving in Britain. Products such as cotton, coffee and sugar were some of the most profitable.

When looking back at the British colony this is always a hsitorical event I would rather not go over. But Britian had created a lot of profit from it.

The war ended and so did the boom. There was huge unemployment after the war and people we not able to buy foods. Therefore farms in Britain were struggling.

The government set up corn laws in 1815 to prevent the struggle. The corn laws put a tariff on important grains. But still nobody could afford the food. This caused political a battle. This was when Cobbett wrote Rural Rides.

The government also set up the Enclosure Act. This act forced people living on the farms to move to cities and work in workhouses.

This left farms and countryside desolated. (Like where Oliver Twist came from) It could even be argued that this enclosure act has still left struggle in country county's. Hampshire has never really recovered. The biggest employer in Hampshire is the Army.

The Industrial Revolution

England had become 'the workshop of the world.' Manchester was the upcoming city with the most advanced productivity of the world. Millions of workers arrived in city's at the workhouses. This caused pollution, malnutrition. It was a bleak time.

Utilitarianism

Bentham (English jurist, philosopher, and legal and social reformer) was a utilitarian. His answer to poverty was the Poor Law Act 1834.

He supported the idea of the workhouse and believed this was our answer to poverty.

Happiness as pleasure and the absence of pain.

Basically to best describe utilitarianism is to look at the idea of a train journey.

If there was an obstacle and one person had to be killed then the train would do so and get to the next station. Without any doubt or looking back.