Consistancy in Britain's Policy in Ireland in the Period 1798-1921
Social policy – in the 1830’s, Ireland had the best health
Land and Economic policy – land issues were ignored until 1870:
- first land Act – irrelevant
- second land Act – political rather than economic
- Wyndham Act – the government was becoming less and less convinced
that property was the ‘bedrock of civilisation’ – it was the product
of a shift in mentality.
- 1890’s – HUGE economic reforms
Political policy – consistently ignored or opposed any nationalist
movement
Concession/coercion – always a combination. However, there were more
concessions as the century wore on.
Religious policy – after 1829, the government was always prepared to
grant religious reforms – e.g. the abolition of tithes in the 30’s,
the Maynooth Grant and Charitable Bequests Act in the 1840’s, the
Disestablishment of the Church of Ireland in 1869.
* Pearce and Adelman B believed that Ireland benefited from the
Union, especially after 1829, and ‘maintenance of the Union
therefore became the bedrock of British policy for almost the next
100 years’.
* Policies were often based on ignorance of the situation – the
British tended to try to get away with as little as possible. For
example, the Maynooth Grant 1845, Land Acts 1870 and 1881, the
attempt to push Home Rule on the Irish in 1920
* ‘Irish practical problems were turned into English political ones’
(e.g. land) – something that they weren’t. Legislation was
considered and judged in an English context, not in an Irish one.
* Falsely believed that all of Ireland’s problems were either
religious or socio-economic, and that all that was needed was
reforms or concessions in these areas, and Ireland would be quiet.
The failure of the home rule bill in 1886 was due, to a large extent, to the tactical mistakes made by gladstone, such as the failure to unite his party and his underestimation of conservative opposition towards the bill. However, it could also be argued that other factors, such as the sectarian nature of Irish society and subsequent opposition in Ulster also played a major role in the failure of the Home Rule Bill and thus inevitable regardless of Gladstone’s actions.
Document 4 says, “The curse of the Popery, with its degrading idolatry and corrupting priesthood, is the root of Irelands misery.” The English Presbyterian that states this represents what the English people thought of the Irish. The Irish were not as developed as the English and the English did go in and industrialize in certain areas such as Ulster and parts of Dublin. Even though Ireland did gain wealth as Document 5 states, most of the money stayed within the Protestant population that came from England and Scotland. Document 5 blames it on the Irish character and the in general stupidity of the Irish people. The English also felt that if the Irish were given “Home Rule” then they would persecute against the Protestants in the north. Document 7 says that the worst people of Ireland (Catholics) will be under control of the best people of Ireland (Protestants). Eventually this was resolved when Ulster stayed a part of the United Kingdom. The Irish Catholics partially got
This subject proved to be extremely effective because: firstly religious liberalism united the party more firmly then most other issues; as champions of the Established Church, the conservatives would be obliged to defend the institution; and lastly it was a relatively guaranteed reform because: only 12% of the Irish population was Anglican by religious belief; and the Liberal party still held a majority in the house of commons due to the 1865 election. The passing of there first reform in Gladstone’s first ministry meant a lot to the Liberal party and Gladstone himself saw it as an immense personal triumph. Two other reforms were passed involving Ireland, in 1970 the first Irish Land Act was passed this included the introduction of the three F’s: fair rent, free sale and fixity of tenure.
Between the settlement of Jamestown in 1607 and the Treaty of Paris in 1763, the most important change that occurred in the colonies was the emergence of a society quite different from that in England. Changes in religion, economics, politics, and social structure illustrate this Americanization of the transplanted Europeans.
The Declaration of Independence by the United States, resolved a conflict that had begun some years before against the British Crown. Independence was not declared for an unbiased purpose, but because of a usurpation England had made to the rights of the people of America. What was this justification and was it sufficient to show that the colonies were reasonable in separating themselves from their “Mother Country”? Through this essay, we will expose some reasons why the United States had a just claim for emancipating from England, and how these reasons were in accordance with how a rightful government should act.
The Effectiveness and Success of Parnell as an Irish Nationalist Leader Parnell was a very influential leader and had campaigned for many different causes but most noticeably he campaigned for land reform within Ireland, this was one of his most noticeable achievements as an Irish Nationalist Leader. Parnell was helped to power by the Land League. This was where the end of the Great Famine within Ireland meant that farmer's incomes fell by a large extent and they demanded the reduction of rents due to this. They demanded this because many farmers could not pay the rents so this meant that landlords evicted them.
British- Irish relations over the past three hundred years have been troubled. There have been many tensions caused by religion in Northern Ireland and Britain's unfair rule of Northern Ireland. The British are guilty of many of the indignities suffered by the Irish people. They are also guilty of causing all of the religious and territorial conflicts between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland.
Gladstone was faced with a highly challenging and unenviable task; his commitment to Ireland did not win him popularity in England where there was a significant amount of Anti-Irish and Anti-Catholic sentiment. Gladstone was clearly ardently committed to solving the Irish Question, his failure was certainly not due to lack of commitment Gladstone’s first Act was the Irish Church Act of 1869, desig... ... middle of paper ... ... adstone’s ultimate failure was that he failed, in almost every area of Irish Policy to produce legislation to satisfy both Irish Protestants and Irish Catholics, as Tim Hodge points out ‘He failed to recognise that in any solution to the Irish problem needed to reconcile the interests of both Catholic and Protestant Ireland[5]’. The Home Rule Bills with their failure to make special provisions for the province of Ulster are a prime example of this ignorance.
In order to legitimise a regime or cause, traditions may be constructed around historical or mythological events, people or symbols that reinforce the image required to focus people’s conception of the past. People can be encouraged to invent a cohesive view of their shared ‘traditions’ by what could be called cherry picking bits of history.
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