Use Sources 1, 2 and 3 and your own knowledge.
Do you agree with the view that the 1950s can be seen as a period of great prosperity for the people of Britain? Explain your answers using Sources 1, 2 and 3 and your own knowledge. (40 marks)
In my opinion, the 1950s cannot be seen as a period of prosperity for the people of Britain for a number of reasons which I will explain further on. I believe that source 1 mainly agrees with the above statement, however, there are some areas in the source which can display ways in which the source doesn’t fully agree with the above statements. Source 2 also, somewhat agrees with the above question, however, there are a greater number of aspects of the question which can imply that the statement is not 100% true. Source 3 is the source which mostly disagrees with the above question for a number of reasons.
I believe that the 1950s were not years of great prosperity for the people in Britain for a number of reasons. Firstly, although source 1 states that the British people ‘have never had it so good’ it can be interpreted that this account could be considered as being somewhat biased as it is a speech made by Prime Minister Harold Macmillan in July 1957 during a Conservative Party rally in Bedford which means that all that is said in the rally is to ensure that all the supporters of the party are pleased with the progress that is being made. As it is a speech made at the rally of the party that implemented policies in order for this situation to happen they would only discuss the positives of their policies and only talk about the benefits it has for people, it would not discuss the limitations or the negative impact it may have had on the lives of some. The use of the word ‘most’ in the starting of the speech clearly shows that not everyone benefited from the policies he had out in place, in fact some people were left in a much worse condition as they were not able to enjoy all the benefits the majority of the