The Rebecca Riots Dbq

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History coursework The Rebecca riots broke out in west wales around Carmarthenshire area on the night of 13 May 1839, and continued up until 1845. Throughout this time there was a large depression and people protested for change. There was a unique way that the people of west Wales protested, they did this by disguising themselves by dressing up in women’s clothing and attacking the toll gates. There is a great deal of debate about the causes of the Rebecca Riots, and the combination of long and short term causes that helped spark off the riots. Many historians agree that abject poverty was the major problem in starting the riots. One historian that supports the view that abject poverty was the cause is David Howell. He believes that low…show more content…
Due to the fact that farmers couldn’t improve their surplus without good soil, productivity fell and this caused poverty for them. These problems drove farmers into a depression and caused them to riot because they were fed up with the economic situation as they had poor income. Source 2 supports the interpretation that backward farming was an issue that caused poverty as it tells to the reader that farming techniques were old fashioned and time consuming. Also it states that ‘’the land is thus reduced to the last stage of poverty’’ this tells historians that the land was poor and therefore crops were not developing well because they used clay fertilizer and there was flooding due to lack of drainage. The source was written by Rev J Evans in 1804 and therefore is a primary source. It is a letter written during a tour through south wales. This source is useful in giving evidence that abject poverty was the main cause to the riots because it was written before the riots broke out and so it shows to historians that backward farming was a long term factor. The source also indicates that there was poor transport as the carts were pulled by horses. This is useful to historians as it gives the idea that the agricultural revolution hadn’t hit wales yet…show more content…
The poverty made people desperate and when the tolls were introduced the farmers could not afford the lime to put on their soil to improve the yield and therefore this infuriated them and the gates were physical objects to attack. I also believe that the workhouses also infuriated them and so they attacked them. The combination of everything oppressed the people of west wales and because they believed in the traditional custom of ceffyl pren they thought they would act and take the law into their own hands and riot. The main cause for the riots was the abject poverty because gradually things got worse and they could not pay for anything and it became too much and they acted. Source 4 showed to me that the conditions were awful and therefore this was due to the lack of money labourers had. If there was no poverty the riots would not of occurred because there would not of been a major issue to protest about. The poverty was the main problem and the other factors helped in protest. The toll gates for example was an issue bvut if poverty did not exist in the first place paying the tolls would not of been a problem. Also because the gates were easy to attack they may be misunderstood in being the main cause. Also the class differences between the tenant farmers, labourers and
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