Social movements and policies; self-help; trade unions; education and social reform legislation
Victorian Britain produced competing ideas about how to tackle poverty. Some people believed individuals should improve themselves through hard work. Others organised collectively through trade unions or pushed the government to pass reform laws.
Real World
Samuel Smiles' 1859 book Self-Help sold 250,000 copies by 1900 and was given as a school prize across Britain, but the 1889 London Dock Strike showed workers increasingly rejected individual solutions in favour of collective action — 100,000 dockers walked out and won sixpence an hour.
Exam Focus
For 'explain' or 'analyse' questions, contrast self-help ideology with trade union collectivism as competing responses to the same problem.
Essay Framework
Use PEEL to structure every paragraph. Tap each step for guidance and an example.
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