Anna: Poverty and Welfare Reforms Essay

Submitted By 08barretta
Words: 1159
Pages: 5

Annemarie Barrett
History Homework:

4. Study sources E and F
How far does Source E help you to understand why Churchill wrote Source F?
Source E attacks the main causes of poverty and attracts the workers. It states that unemployment is due to irregular work, ‘help an unemployed person and any of his dependants to move to another area for work’. It also states that laws should be introduced ‘immediately’ to reduce starvation. The purpose of Source E is to gain votes for the Labour Party because they represent the working class and are trying to help them with the laws mentioned in the Source. Source E helps me to understand that the Labour Party were trying to gain votes and this agrees with the purpose of Source F. Source F is written by Churchill and was confidential, therefore the text is likely to be the truth of what Churchill’s opinions are. The source mentions that ‘only a rascal is permanently without a job’. The use of the word ‘rascal’ suggests that he thinks the people without jobs are bad and trying to avoid working. His opinions are that people are to blame for not having work and therefore he only mentions helping the workers if his writing is publicly published so that he will gain more votes. The source tells us that he is worried about the labour party because it says ‘the working man will no longer support us’. Another opinion expressed in Source F is that the rich exploit the unemployed and take advantage of them and also that there should be a record of the unemployed, ‘there is inadequate information’. Both sources state that there should be a record for the unemployed so that they can be given jobs. Overall, Churchill wrote Source F because he had worries over the labour party and it losing votes from the working man.

5. Study Source G.
What is the message of the cartoonist in this source?
The cartoon shows Lloyd driving a boat which holds rich people at the front and poor people at the back. The sea looks rough and stormy and there are very big and aggressive-looking waves. The boat looks like is being driven dangerously which could suggest that the Cartoonist does not like the way that Lloyd George is dealing with problems. The boat is labelled the National Insurance Bill which is a system designed to help the poor and is a good thing. It was to help feed the poor when the workers had irregular work and so the poor should have liked it. However on the boat, the people do not look happy and the rich don’t look as if they are enjoying it because they would have to pay. In the description at the bottom of the source it uses the word ‘philanthropist’ A philanthropist is a person who helps the welfare of others and so it is a good thing which suggests that the Cartoonist likes what David Lloyd George is doing. However the fact that the Cartoonist has made the scene look stormy and dangerous suggests that Lloyd George is not going the right way about the National Insurance Bill and that perhaps he needs to go from a different angle.
6. Study all the Sources A-H.
‘The liberals passed welfare reforms in this period because of pressure from the Labour Party’. How far do the sources support this statement>

Source A disagrees with the statement because the poster shows terrible conditions of the workhouses. It shows poor people and overcrowding and generally the purpose of this source is to put pressure on the Government to make welfare reforms to help people. It is not written by the government and there is no evidence that suggests the purpose of the poster was to gain votes. The description of poverty at the bottom of this source is ‘Black stain’ which suggests they want to get rid of it. The poster agrees with Rowntree and Booth and that poor people are unemployed for reasons that they cannot control. The purpose of the poster is to gain support for the unemployed and poor and not to gain votes. Additionally Source B’s purpose is not to gain votes. It is written by a charity that takes