Tagged with Images
Resource : Koenig and Bauer’s steam powered printing press
The industrial printing press was one of the most influential inventions of the Age of Revolution. It allowed thousands of copies of all types of written texts and images to be printed quickly and cheaply. Pamphlets, newspapers, handbills and books could now be mass produced and distributed, spreading news, ideas, political and social campaigns, propaganda, stories, poetry and more.
Resource : Launch of the Great Britain Steamship,1843. Lithograph of a painting by Joseph Walter
Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s SS Great Britain is one of Britain’s most important ships. By combining size, power and innovative technology, Brunel revolutionised sea travel and paved the way for modern ship design.
Resource : The Penny Black postage stamp
The Penny Black postage stamp – the most famous stamp in the world – marked the beginning of a brand new postal system that would transform communication across the country, and go on to sweep the globe.
Resource : A peep at the gas lights in Pall Mall
Before the 1800s, most homes, workplaces and streets were lit by candles, oil lamps or rushlights (rush plants dried and dipped in grease or fat). But these gave off a very dim light and could be smoky. In 1792, the Scottish engineer and inventor William Murdoch (1754-1839) made an extraordinary discovery which would transform not only lighting, but heating, cooking and all sorts of other activity and industry. Experimenting in his back garden in Cornwall, he found a way to produce gas, by heating coal in a closed container and collecting and cleaning the smoke. He piped the gas into his house, made holes in the pipes and lit the gas there. This produced a light much brighter and safer than from candles or oil lamps.
Resource : Metropolitan Police officer
In 1829, the Metropolitan Police – England’s first professional ‘Peelian’ police force – was established. Initially, the force was responsible only for the area within a seven-mile radius of Charing Cross, but this was soon to change, marking a radical new and organised approach to law and order.
Resource : Olympe de Gouges
Olympe de Gouges was a radical feminist and one of the first people to fight for equal rights for women. She campaigned against violence and oppression and spoke out against slavery. But despite her pacifist views, her radical ideas eventually led to her death, at the guillotine, in revolutionary France.
Resource : Hannah More (1745 – 1833)
Hannah More (1745-1833) was a poet, playwright, anti-slavery campaigner and one of the most influential female philanthropists of the Age of Revolution. Seen by some as an early feminist, and others as an anti-feminist, she remains a controversial figure today.
Resource : Túpac Amaru II
Túpac Amaru II was the leader of the largest uprising in colonial Spanish-American history which raged across the Andes from 1780-1783. It became more violent as it progressed, and also more radical, more antislavery, and more anti-Hispanic. Its leader is still remembered in Peru and Bolivia and beyond today.
Resource : Anti-Poor Law poster
The New Poor Law of 1834 aimed to provide relief for the poorest members of society. It was introduced to reform a system that had been largely unchanged since the 1600s. It was intended to reduce the cost of supporting the poor and ensure the whole country was using the same system. But this new, draconian law, actually saw desperate men, women and children admitted to workhouses to live in appalling conditions. At this time, poverty was often blamed on the ‘bad character’ of the victim, assuming it their own fault if they were poor. As a result of this, many approved of the new law. Others, however, strongly opposed it, campaigning and even rioting in protest.
Resource : The Battle of Vinegar Hill (1798)
The uprising in Ireland, in 1798, was a major rebellion against colonial British rule. It was led by the United Irishmen – a mixed group of Protestant and Catholic radicals. The Battle of Vinegar Hill, as it became known, in County Wexford in the southeast of Ireland, was the last major engagement between the United Irishmen and the British military and marked a significant turning point in the rebellion.