The Life of Privilege

The Rich and Powerful get richer and more powerful while the Poor remain

poor to ensure the rich stay rich.By: Lu Bullara

The 14th CenturyThe Black Death

• The plague killed indiscriminately, 75% of the English population• Inconvenienced the landed gentry by depleting the workforce• Clergy had no answer for why God was causing the plague

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Plague_victims_blessed_by_priest.jpg

The 14th CenturyThe Peasant Revolt 1381

• The plague caused the downfall of the feudalistic society in England• Land owners could not keep peasants from migrating to better paying jobs• In 1381, the peasants revolted, calling attention to the need for social reform

http://blogs.nyu.edu/blogs/mdr4/chaucercolloquium/Death_of_Wat_Tyler_Froissart.jpg

The 14th CenturyChaucer’s Canterbury Tales

• Chaucer pointed to the Abbot’s materialistic life style• Chaucer praises the parish priest’s selfless life style• Chaucer saw the inequity between the social classes in faith as well as materialism

http://www.library.arizona.edu/exhibits/illuman/images/full_resolution/14_02.jpg

The 17th CenturyThe Levellers

1. Freedom of Religion

2. More representation by parliament

3. Equality for all (well any male how managed to acquire wealth)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agreement_of_the_People

The 17th CenturyCromwell (1653) Dissolving the Long Parliamant

• Cromwell became Lord Protector of the Commonwealth after King Charles I was executed• "It is high time for me to put an end to your sitting in this place, . . .”• “Have you not defil'd this sacred place, and turn'd the Lord's temple into a den of thieves?”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:CromwellDissolvingLongParliament.jpg

The 17th CenturyEnglish Bill of Rights (1689)

• freedom from taxation by royal prerogative• freedom to petition the king • freedom from a peace-time standing army, • freedom to have arms for defense• freedom to elect members of Parliament without interference from the Sovereign • freedom of speech in Parliament, in that proceedings in Parliament were not to be questioned in the courts or in any body outside Parliament itself• freedom from cruel and unusual punishments, and excessive bail • freedom from fines and forfeitures without trial

English Bill of Rights (1689)

MPs“delcare that the

pretended power of suspending of laws or the execution of laws by regal authority without consent of parliament is illegal.”

The 18th CenturyAdam Smith’s Philosophy

• Smith’s “Invisible Hand”• when an individual pursues his self-interest, he indirectly promotes the good of society• Self-interested competition in the free market keeps prices low http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wealth_

of_Nations_title.jpg

The 18th 19th CenturiesCraftwsmen Destroy New Technology

• Technology created mass production using unskilled labor including children

• Craftsmen destroyed machinery in protest

• Frame owners put rewards up for the apprehension of perpetrators

http://www.learnhistory.org.uk/cpp/luddites1.jpg

The 19th CenturyChild Labor Exploited

• Poverty forced parents to send their children to work• Factory owners paid children half what they had to pay men• Children were beaten and starved while they worked in factories

http://pagano-5.pbworks.com/f/childrenworkers.jpg