is that the newly enfranchised middle-classes following the 1832 Reform Act were able to exploit the working classes by legislation which lowered workhouse conditions and made it more difficult to claim poor relief. The New Poor Law would also decrease the amount of tax being paid by the bourgeoisie. The working and pauper classes were still without the vote at this time and left powerless to oppose it. The workhouse system meant that the peasants and working class could be kept under strict control as opposed to the system of outdoor relief under the old poor law. It was feared that this system could lead to a rise against the ruling class as happened in the French Revolution. The traditionalist view is that there was more continuity with the previous system than change. Faced with unrest, the rich reasserted their control. A revisionist view fuses the above views and states the rich reasserted their control but through a capitalist system which was seen as exploitative of the working class. The implementation of the Poor Law Amendment Act is also an area of debate. Rose argues that Unions were able to evade the Act and continue to offer outdoor relief Williams points to figures showing the number of able bodied receiving outdoor relief decreasing and the construction of workhouses to conclude that outdoor relief had been abolished by 1850. Lees concludes that it was possible in some areas of the country to apply for outdoor relief after 1850. See also Historiography of the United Kingdom References Poor Law in Britain and Ireland Historiography of the United Kingdom