Union With David Olusoga

Episode
Episode 3 - The Two Nations
Broadcast Info
2023 (59 mins)
Description
In the Nineteenth Century the union of Great Britain and Ireland appeared to be secure and powerful. Yet beneath the surface were deep divisions between rich and poor, and social class began to define identities and loyalties. David begins by examining the nation of 1815 through the eyes of the soldiers and sailors demobbed after victory over France in the Napoleonic Wars. Among the thousands in the discharge papers he discovers one young Scottish soldier, who had joined the army aged just 14. David travels to Haddingtonshire, in modern day East Lothian, to find out what happened to this soldier when he returned home. He discovers that Scotland, like the rest of the country, was deeply divided between rich and poor. In this rural community a handful of local lords controlled the economy and had the right to vote. Across Scotland less than 0.2% of people were eligible to vote in elections. A sense of political powerlessness was shared across the country, where people were suffering extreme economic hardship. Many urban centres, rapidly expanding in this industrial age, often did not even have their own MP. But despite a wave of protests against the authorities, the demands of working people were ignored and protesters brutally suppressed. Eventually in 1832, Reform Acts were passed in the four nations, marking the first significant change in the voting laws for the first time since the 15th century. But property-owning middle-class men were the only beneficiaries, and for many working class people who remained disenfranchised, this was seen as a bitter betrayal. The depth of feeling felt by many was demonstrated on Brandon Hill in Bristol when a private dinner party, held to celebrate new voting rights for the middle classes, was attacked by group of protestors. In 1832, out of this turmoil emerged the first British working-class movement: Chartism. Its supporters demanded political rights and a voice for working class people and embarked on a series of peaceful protests. These included a petition, signed by 18 million people, which was delivered to Parliament. But the protestors’ demands were continually rejected by Parliament. David next travels to the valleys of South Wales where Chartism had huge support and where workers were growing increasingly frustrated with peaceful protest and were now demanding more radical action. At the Westgate Hotel in Newport, David tells the story of the Newport Rising, when Welsh Chartists led a violent insurrection against the authorities. Meanwhile, Britain was benefiting from huge industrial and technological innovations which were changing the nation. Through the 1840s Britain saw a railway boom, and vast networks of track were built physically connecting the most far-flung parts of the country. This put every major town and city in Britain within one days’ travel of the capital, London. The railways brought tens of thousands from across the four nations to London for one of the greatest events of the age, The Great Exhibition of 1851. It was designed to celebrate the achievements, security and unity of the union and of the greater Empire. Although organisers feared that it might be disrupted by protest, it passed off peacefully and for many in power it marked the end of the political turmoil that had characterised the previous decades. And yet at the same time the greatest disaster in the history of the union was unfolding in Ireland: The Great Famine. David travels to County Cavan in Ireland, where a rare collection of letters have recently been discovered. They were written by poor agricultural workers in the town of Cootehill, pleading with the authorities for help for their starving families. David traces the fate of some of the people of Cootehill through the worse years of the famine in 1847 and 1848 and visits deserted landscapes that were once bustling communities. Cootehill’s losses were replicated across the entire country. During the course of the Famine over a million people died and over a million emigrated. The Great Famine - which happened less than half a century after the act of union between Britain and Ireland - would further deepen tension
Genre
History; Religion; Government

How to cite this record

The Open University, "Union With David Olusoga". https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ou/search/index.php/prog/246886 (Accessed 09 Jan 2025)