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Need help seriously!!!!!

Hi everyone,

I was wondering if anybody could give me some guidance as to how to write a history essay on the New Poor Law,, mainly making use of referenced quotes, analysing sources and any good websites for information. Here is the question:

How effective was the New Poor Law in dealing with poverty?

This is what I have for the essay so far (I apologise for some of the abrupt sentences :colondollar:

):

The New Poor Law Act of 1834 was an attempt by the government, middle and upper classes to address the issue of poverty that its predecessor the Old Poor Law of 1601, had been seen as failing to solve within British society at the time. The Poor Law Act of 1834 sought to abolish the practices of outdoor relief which had been provided by the amendments to the Old Poor Law by the Gilbert Act of 1782 and the Speenhamland system respectively, rather forcing those who sought relief to apply for work in “poorhouses”, which were a source of indoor relief that had already been established for the past 200 years. Also in order to cut the costs of looking after the poor, the New Poor Law sought to group together the 15,000 existing parishes into 640 Poor Law Unions which were to be overseen by the Poor Law Committee ensuring that it was administered effectively. The success and aims of the New Poor Law are debated heavily by historians, with regards to whose needs it really served, and who between the higher classes and those affected by poverty it really benefited. In order to discuss this issue in depth, the idea of poverty during this period of time as well as the effectiveness of the New Poor Law’s approach towards the issue.

Between the late 18th century and the middle 19th century, the issue of poverty had become increasingly alarming to those in the higher ranks of society, who saw it as a threat to the stability of the Victorian way of life. There was much spread unemployment within the country, for many reasons. One such reason included the heavy effect of the Napoleonic Wars and their aftermath, which saw wheat prices spike incredibly, and resulted in severe profit loss to those who worked in parishes. The idea of poverty became increasingly divided

as well as a large number of soldiers being unemployed due to the decline in the weapon industries.

Parishes were authorised to only provide relief for those who were considered as "deserving", whilst those that were considered as "undeserving", were sent to poorhouses, were they worked tirelessly to gain income to support them, The outdoor relief received usually consisted of funds in accordance to the price of bread and the size of one's family. This was provided by the amendment made by the Speenhamland System of 1795, which was criticized by some of the popular economic politicians like Thomas Malthau, who claimed that

I already have some form of idea as to points to make, its just how to make use of sources to back them up as well as making use of referenced information. However an issue with the essay is that it doesn't officially state that you need to make use of reference minus the sources used for analysis. So would it be fine to just state information, and when discussing the New Poor Law itself, make use of the sources alone, or also include referenced information just in case?

Many thanks for any help provided! :biggrin: