The Economic and Financial Policies of William Gladstone
England has produced some of the most well-known men of history. One of these men, William Gladstone, was a leading figure in England’s most influential century. The “Grand Old Man” served in Parliament for sixty years, holding positions such as Chancellor of the Exchequer and Prime Minister multiple times each. One of several ways Gladstone influenced Victorian England was economically and financially through his support in repealing the Corn laws in 1846, his successful budgets as Chancellor of the Exchequer, and through his first term as Prime Minister. Gladstone’s first major influence on British economics occurred when he served as vice-president and then president of the Board of Trade in Prime Minister Robert Peel’s government. Peel’s primary focus was economic and financial reform, specifically, to repeal the Corn Laws of 1815 and 1828, which imposed tariffs on any imported grain. In 1842, Gladstone prepared a
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His first government was regarded as the greatest of the Victorian era and it was certainly his best fiscally. His policies reflected more individual liberty while loosening political and economic restraints. In fact, he remained heavily involved in every department and by 1873, Gladstone had appointed himself as Chancellor of the Exchequer. For that year he managed to reduce income taxes to three pounds, and planned to phase it out completely by the next year. Therefore, Gladstone called a general election on the question of abolishing the tax. To his and many other’s surprise, his liberal party lost the majority in parliament. However Gladstone’s inability to fix divisions within his government and his tendency to create division himself perhaps hindered the progress he had made. Despite this failure, his government succeeded in producing a surplus each year in Gladstone’s stint as Prime
In 1924, for the first time the Labour government was appointed, headed by leader Ramsay Macdonald. At this time, a topic of much political debate was trade, Conservatives adopting a protectionist policy contrasting with the Liberal and Labour views in favour of free trade, and as the strongest free trade party it was asked to take office. Their main aims in 1924 were to deal with the increase in relative poverty in the country, mainly the situation of living conditions, and economically to restrict expenditure and maintain a balanced budget, known as retrenchment. It was also an important aim of the 1924 Labour government to prove themselves fit to govern, as a minority government they were under pressure to please, which many argue compromised the ideals of the party in an attempt to stay in power.
At the time the American economy was in a recession and on track to eventually succumb to a depression, so many wanted a tariff to protect their domestic goods from foreign imports. It is important to note that a moderate protective tariff was already in place and most of the debate revolved around the severity of the overall amount. Moreover, the tariff to some seemed that it was directly benefiting northern Industry while making southerner’s pay a higher price. Henry Clay advocated for a relatively high tariff and believed that it would eventually lead to creating a cornerstone market for the United States similar to the one that was in many European countries. Furthermore, Clay asserted through numerous orations that by having a high protective tariff it would bring the nation closer together and consequently become more interdependent. One way in particular that Clay tried to urge the American people to his side was by keying in on their fears of the current state of the economy, which was actively influential to a plethora of individuals. Conversely, Andrew Jackson also similarly supported a protective tariff, however it was for dissimilar justifications and not to Clay’s full extent. Jackson’s primary reasoning related to the need to stimulate the production of defense materials as well as the need to decrease the national
A Fierce Discontent by Michael McGerr delves into the revolution of values from the victorian era to the progressive within the late nineteen century to the early twentieth century. McGerr’s major argument is the contrast between this set of values. The gilded age which McGerr focuses is the period where progressive values begin to take form and societal change ensues. The victorian values are values which epitomizes the British culture as just the name of the era is derived from queen Victoria. Alternatively the progressive era was a political reform focusing on anti corruption, women suffrage, and fixing the social problems plaguing society. McGerr argues that the victorian era and progressive era strikes few similarities within the
When the United States ventured towards the twentieth century, it saw the growth of the Populist and Progressive movement, who sought to reform the many economic, political and social problems that plagued through out. The Populist party started in the last decade of the nineteenth century, and it was more or less a revolt by the farmers or anyone who was associated with agriculture. With the decline in the farmer’s economic conditions, farmers united to protect their interest. They had hoped, from an economic standpoint, that this inflationary measure would eliminate the financial burden that plagued the nation’s farmers. They also demanded reformation of the banking system, the graduated income tax, the secret ballot, the direct election of senators, and the eight-hour workday.
Alexander Hamilton remains to be one of America’s most important people. Not only was he the first secretary of the treasury of the United States, he also was one of America’s founding fathers. Hamilton believed that a strong central government should rest on a solid financial foundation. The creation of the first national bank was to support this idea. He also served in the American army under George Washington. Hamilton also had established good relations with the British which resulted in foreign trade. “He conceived and started “The Federalist” and wrote most of those famous essays which riveted the attention of the country, furnished the weapons of argument and exposition to those who "thought continentally" in all the states, and did more than any thing else toward the adoption of the constitution.”(virtualology, paragraph 20) Hamilton created a system of tariffs which was believed to help relieve national and state debts. He then became the leader of the federalist party. Alexander Hamilton had many accomplishments in his life as a result of many various factors. But the most important trait that Hamilton possessed was his ambition
“After the passing of the Great Reform Bill, the liberal Whig leadership struck a snag. Several years of depression put the conservative Tories back in power in 1841. Wages and living conditions grew steadily worse as the industrial revolution permitted the rise of great fortunes for owners and employers along with starvation and poverty for great numbers of the working classes.” (Earl Davis, The Flint and the Flame, Page 115)
The majority of Victorian society’s economic dealings can be summed up in two words: credit and debt. These ominous specters, which seemed to haunt Victorian England, were simultaneously able to evoke feelings of delight and doom in their “victims of vanity”.
The Victorian Era was classified by a strict set of rules that every upstanding citizen must follow. These rules can be seen in “the behavior between sexes, tea at four-thirty each day, and a fascination with wealth that was suppressed by the good taste not to talk about it”
2Andrew Dawson, Reassessing Henry Carey (1739-1879): The Problems of Writing Political Economy in Nineteenth Century America
2.) The French and Indian war was a tough war for Britain to win. With the war being fought overseas to protect their American colonies the British empire spread themselves thin. They have a huge national debt that they had to get rid of. The policies that were created in the colonies was to help crush the national debt. The British empire started taxing the colonist at an all time high. This was the time when the Sugar act, the Quartering Act, and the Stamp act came into effect. Britain felt that the colonist had to pay for the protection that they British gave them. The quartering act was to help keep more soldiers in the colonies to protect them from the Indians. It helped keep costs low for the empire to house soldiers in the colonies The Sugar was a tax specifically on molasses which enforced the law created in 1733. The stamp act was a tax on any printed item. This raise in taxes was all in an effort to reduce the debt from the French and Indian war.
Today, deaths from influenza, cholera, and tuberculosis are rare in England; however, in Victorian England, these diseases and many more health problems were widespread. Victorian England was a time of great change, socially, economically, and politically. From the rise of factories to increased urbanization, the lives of many Britons changed during the Victorian era. Ultimately, many facets of change led to the transformation – both positive and negative – of one aspect of every citizen’s life: health. Deadly epidemics became widespread, and workers and average citizens died from disease caused by increased environmental pollution. Yet, health reforms and advances in medicine occurred as well.
First off, the debt of the French Indian War was the reason parliament started imposing taxes on the colonist in the first place. The Sugar Act, being one of the taxes given to the people to help settle debt, started an argument of “taxation without representation”. This helped spread the idea of breaking free from the crown across the nation. Eventually the colonist got rid of the Sugar Act, by way of protesting and boycotting, but this began a long argument with Parliament.
The Victorian Era in English history was a period of rapid change. One would be hard-pressed to find an aspect of English life in the 19th century that wasn’t subject to some turmoil. Industrialization was transforming the citizens into a working class population and as a result, it was creating new urban societies centered on the factories. Great Britain enjoyed a time of peace and prosperity at home and thus was extending its global reach in an era of New Imperialism. Even in the home, the long held beliefs were coming into conflict.
British resistance to utopian ideals and adaptation to new challenges and responsibility was phenomenal. Political leaders of all hues and complexions were falling prey to democratic compulsions and were redefining their ideals. In relation to matters affecting the labour and the poor, they were abandoning their pitched positions in response to pragmatism. Transport, banking, agriculture, industry, trade; in a word, a large segment of economy, were subject to
"History in Focus." : The Victorian Era (Introduction). Institute of Historical Research., Apr. 2001. Web. 29 Mar. 2014.