praj-17/QA-MCQ-Open-ended huggingface dataset:
Title: Edmund_Burke
Context: Burke was not merely presenting a peace agreement to Parliament; rather, he stepped forward with four reasons against using force, carefully reasoned. He laid out his objections in an orderly manner, focusing on one before moving to the next. His first concern was that the use of force would have to be temporary, and that the uprisings and objections to British governance in America would not be. Second, Burke worried about the uncertainty surrounding whether Britain would win a conflict in America. "An armament", Burke said, "is not a victory". Third, Burke brought up the issue of impairment; it would do the British Government no good to engage in a scorched earth war and have the object they desired (America) become damaged or even useless. The American colonists could always retreat into the mountains, but the land they left behind would most likely be unusable, whether by accident or design. The fourth and final reason to avoid the use of force was experience; the British had never attempted to rein in an unruly colony by force, and they did not know if it could be done, let alone accomplished thousands of miles away from home. Not only were all of these concerns reasonable, but some turned out to be prophetic – the American colonists did not surrender, even when things looked extremely bleak, and the British were ultimately unsuccessful in their attempts to win a war fought on American soil.

question: Where was Burke worried Britain might not win a war? 

answer: America

question: How many reasons against violence did Burke present? 

answer: four

question: How far away was the potential conflict Burke argued against? 

answer: thousands of miles

question: What area could the American colonists retreat to? 

answer: the mountains
Title: Edmund_Burke
Context: Among the reasons this speech was so greatly admired was its passage on Lord Bathurst (1684–1775); Burke describes an angel in 1704 prophesying to Bathurst the future greatness of England and also of America: "Young man, There is America – which at this day serves little more than to amuse you with stories of savage men, and uncouth manners; yet shall, before you taste of death, shew itself equal to the whole of that commerce which now attracts the envy of the world". Samuel Johnson was so irritated at hearing it continually praised, that he made a parody of it, where the devil appears to a young Whig and predicts that in short time, Whiggism will poison even the paradise of America!

question: When did Lord Bathurst die? 

answer: 1775

question: When did an angel supposedly speak to Bathurst? 

answer: 1704

question: What political position did Samuel Johnson say would soon poison America? 

answer: Whiggism

question: When was Lord Bathurst born? 

answer: 1684

question: In Samuel Johnson's writing, who appeared to a Whig? 

answer: the devil
Title: Edmund_Burke
Context: The administration of Lord North (1770–1782) tried to defeat the colonist rebellion by military force. British and American forces clashed in 1775 and, in 1776, came the American Declaration of Independence. Burke was appalled by celebrations in Britain of the defeat of the Americans at New York and Pennsylvania. He claimed the English national character was being changed by this authoritarianism. Burke wrote: "As to the good people of England, they seem to partake every day more and more of the Character of that administration which they have been induced to tolerate. I am satisfied, that within a few years there has been a great Change in the National Character. We seem no longer that eager, inquisitive, jealous, fiery people, which we have been formerly".

question: When did Lord North take office? 

answer: 1770

question: When did Lord North leave office? 

answer: 1782

question: Which victories against the Americans did the British celebrate? 

answer: New York and Pennsylvania

question: How did Burke feel about the British celebrating victories against the Americans? 

answer: appalled

question: When was the American Declaration of Independence issued? 

answer: 1776
Title: Edmund_Burke
Context: The Paymaster General Act 1782 ended the post as a lucrative sinecure. Previously, Paymasters had been able to draw on money from HM Treasury at their discretion. Now they were required to put the money they had requested to withdraw from the Treasury into the Bank of England, from where it was to be withdrawn for specific purposes. The Treasury would receive monthly statements of the Paymaster's balance at the Bank. This act was repealed by Shelburne's administration, but the act that replaced it repeated verbatim almost the whole text of the Burke Act.

question: Where had Paymasters been able to get money from directly until 1782? 

answer: HM Treasury

question: After 1782, where would money from Paymasters' withdrawal requests go? 

answer: the Bank of England

question: Whose administration repealed the Paymaster General Act? 

answer: Shelburne

question: When was the Paymaster General Act passed? 

answer: 1782
Title: Edmund_Burke
Context: Burke was a leading sceptic with respect to democracy. While admitting that theoretically, in some cases it might be desirable, he insisted a democratic government in Britain in his day would not only be inept, but also oppressive. He opposed democracy for three basic reasons. First, government required a degree of intelligence and breadth of knowledge of the sort that occurred rarely among the common people. Second, he thought that if they had the vote, common people had dangerous and angry passions that could be aroused easily by demagogues; he feared that the authoritarian impulses that could be empowered by these passions would undermine cherished traditions and established religion, leading to violence and confiscation of property. Third, Burke warned that democracy would create a tyranny over unpopular minorities, who needed the protection of the upper classes.

question: What type of government did Burke think would be inept? 

answer: democratic

question: For how many reasons did Burke oppose democracy? 

answer: three

question: What did Burke think could arouse common people's dangerous passions? 

answer: demagogues

question: What type of impulses did Burke think could gain power through commoners' passions? 

answer: authoritarian

question: Who did Burke think protected unpopular minorities? 

answer: the upper classes
Title: Edmund_Burke
Context: For years Burke pursued impeachment efforts against Warren Hastings, formerly Governor-General of Bengal, that resulted in the trial during 1786. His interaction with the British dominion of India began well before Hastings' impeachment trial. For two decades prior to the impeachment, Parliament had dealt with the Indian issue. This trial was the pinnacle of years of unrest and deliberation. In 1781 Burke was first able to delve into the issues surrounding the East India Company when he was appointed Chairman of the Commons Select Committee on East Indian Affairs—from that point until the end of the trial; India was Burke's primary concern. This committee was charged "to investigate alleged injustices in Bengal, the war with Hyder Ali, and other Indian difficulties". While Burke and the committee focused their attention on these matters, a second 'secret' committee was formed to assess the same issues. Both committee reports were written by Burke. Among other purposes, the reports conveyed to the Indian princes that Britain would not wage war on them, along with demanding that the HEIC recall Hastings. This was Burke's first call for substantive change regarding imperial practices. When addressing the whole House of Commons regarding the committee report, Burke described the Indian issue as one that "began 'in commerce' but 'ended in empire.'"

question: When was Warren Hastings impeached? 

answer: 1786

question: Where was Hastings formerly the governor? 

answer: Bengal

question: How long before Hastings's trial had Britain been dealing with Indian unrest? 

answer: two decades

question: What was Burke made chairman of in 1781? 

answer: the Commons Select Committee on East Indian Affairs

question: When Burke said the Indian problems 'began in commerce', where did he say the problems ended in? 

answer: empire
Title: Edmund_Burke
Context: On 4 April 1786, Burke presented the Commons with the Article of Charge of High Crimes and Misdemeanors against Hastings. The impeachment in Westminster Hall, which did not begin until 14 February 1788, would be the "first major public discursive event of its kind in England", bringing the morality and duty of imperialism to the forefront of public perception. Burke already was known for his eloquent rhetorical skills and his involvement in the trial only enhanced its popularity and significance. Burke's indictment, fuelled by emotional indignation, branded Hastings a 'captain-general of iniquity'; who never dined without 'creating a famine'; whose heart was 'gangrened to the core', and who resembled both a 'spider of Hell' and a 'ravenous vulture devouring the carcasses of the dead'. The House of Commons eventually impeached Hastings, but subsequently, the House of Lords acquitted him of all charges.

question: When did Burke charge Hastings for impeachment? 

answer: 4 April 1786

question: What was the impeachment formally called? 

answer: Article of Charge of High Crimes and Misdemeanors

question: Which house acquitted Hastings? 

answer: House of Lords

question: Which house impeached Hastings? 

answer: House of Commons

question: Like what creature did Burke say Hastings was 'devouring the dead'? 

answer: ravenous vulture
Title: Edmund_Burke
Context: Initially, Burke did not condemn the French Revolution. In a letter of 9 August 1789, Burke wrote: "England gazing with astonishment at a French struggle for Liberty and not knowing whether to blame or to applaud! The thing indeed, though I thought I saw something like it in progress for several years, has still something in it paradoxical and Mysterious. The spirit it is impossible not to admire; but the old Parisian ferocity has broken out in a shocking manner". The events of 5–6 October 1789, when a crowd of Parisian women marched on Versailles to compel King Louis XVI to return to Paris, turned Burke against it. In a letter to his son, Richard Burke, dated 10 October he said: "This day I heard from Laurence who has sent me papers confirming the portentous state of France—where the Elements which compose Human Society seem all to be dissolved, and a world of Monsters to be produced in the place of it—where Mirabeau presides as the Grand Anarch; and the late Grand Monarch makes a figure as ridiculous as pitiable". On 4 November Charles-Jean-François Depont wrote to Burke, requesting that he endorse the Revolution. Burke replied that any critical language of it by him should be taken "as no more than the expression of doubt" but he added: "You may have subverted Monarchy, but not recover'd freedom". In the same month he described France as "a country undone". Burke's first public condemnation of the Revolution occurred on the debate in Parliament on the army estimates on 9 February 1790, provoked by praise of the Revolution by Pitt and Fox:

question: Who did Parisian women want to return to Paris? 

answer: King Louis XVI

question: What was Burke's son's name? 

answer: Richard Burke

question: Who requested that Burke support the French Revolution? 

answer: Charles-Jean-François Depont

question: When did Burke first publicly condemn the French Revolution? 

answer: 9 February 1790
Title: Edmund_Burke
Context: In January 1790, Burke read Dr. Richard Price's sermon of 4 November 1789 entitled, A Discourse on the Love of our Country, to the Revolution Society. That society had been founded to commemorate the Glorious Revolution of 1688. In this sermon Price espoused the philosophy of universal "Rights of Men". Price argued that love of our country "does not imply any conviction of the superior value of it to other countries, or any particular preference of its laws and constitution of government". Instead, Price asserted that Englishmen should see themselves "more as citizens of the world than as members of any particular community".

question: When did Richard Price give a sermon to the Revolution Society? 

answer: 4 November 1789

question: What was the Revolution Society commemorating? 

answer: the Glorious Revolution of 1688

question: Who did Price think should see themselves as citizens of the world? 

answer: Englishmen

question: What philosophy did Price support? 

answer: universal "Rights of Men"
Title: Edmund_Burke
Context: Immediately after reading Price's sermon, Burke wrote a draft of what eventually became, Reflections on the Revolution in France. On 13 February 1790, a notice in the press said that shortly, Burke would publish a pamphlet on the Revolution and its British supporters, however he spent the year revising and expanding it. On 1 November he finally published the Reflections and it was an immediate best-seller. Priced at five shillings, it was more expensive than most political pamphlets, but by the end of 1790, it had gone through ten printings and sold approximately 17,500 copies. A French translation appeared on 29 November and on 30 November the translator, Pierre-Gaëton Dupont, wrote to Burke saying 2,500 copies had already been sold. The French translation ran to ten printings by June 1791.

question: Which of Burke's writings was inspired by Price's sermon? 

answer: Reflections on the Revolution in France

question: When did Burke publish his Reflections on the Revolution in France? 

answer: 1790

question: How many copies did Reflections on the Revolution in France sell in 2 months? 

answer: 17,500

question: Who translated 'Reflections on the Revolution in France' into French? 

answer: Pierre-Gaëton Dupont

question: When was the tenth printing of the French translation of 'Reflections on the Revolution in France'? 

answer: June 1791
Title: Edmund_Burke
Context: Burke put forward that "We fear God, we look up with awe to kings; with affection to parliaments; with duty to magistrates; with reverence to priests; and with respect to nobility. Why? Because when such ideas are brought before our minds, it is natural to be so affected". Burke defended this prejudice on the grounds that it is "the general bank and capital of nations, and of ages" and superior to individual reason, which is small in comparison. "Prejudice", Burke claimed, "is of ready application in the emergency; it previously engages the mind in a steady course of wisdom and virtue, and does not leave the man hesitating in the moment of decision, skeptical, puzzled, and unresolved. Prejudice renders a man's virtue his habit". Burke criticised social contract theory by claiming that society is indeed, a contract, but "a partnership not only between those who are living, but between those who are living, those who are dead, and those who are to be born".

question: Who did Burke say we look up to with awe? 

answer: kings

question: Who did Burke say we look to with affection? 

answer: parliaments

question: Who did Burke say we look to with reverence? 

answer: priests

question: How did Burke say we look towards nobility? 

answer: with respect

question: How did Burke say we look towards magistrates? 

answer: duty
Title: Edmund_Burke
Context: The most famous passage in Burke's Reflections was his description of the events of 5–6 October 1789 and the part of Marie-Antoinette in them. Burke's account differs little from modern historians who have used primary sources. His use of flowery language to describe it, however, provoked both praise and criticism. Philip Francis wrote to Burke saying that what he wrote of Marie-Antoinette was "pure foppery". Edward Gibbon, however, reacted differently: "I adore his chivalry". Burke was informed by an Englishman who had talked with the Duchesse de Biron, that when Marie-Antoinette was reading the passage, she burst into tears and took considerable time to finish reading it. Price had rejoiced that the French king had been "led in triumph" during the October Days, but to Burke this symbolised the opposing revolutionary sentiment of the Jacobins and the natural sentiments of those who shared his own view with horror—that the ungallant assault on Marie-Antoinette—was a cowardly attack on a defenceless woman.

question: Who was featured in the most well-known part of Burke's Reflections? 

answer: Marie-Antoinette

question: Who said Burke wrote 'pure foppery' about Marie-Antoinette? 

answer: Philip Francis

question: Who adored Burke's chivalry? 

answer: Edward Gibbon

question: How did Marie-Antoinette react to Burke's writing about her? 

answer: she burst into tears
Title: Edmund_Burke
Context: Louis XVI translated the Reflections "from end to end" into French. Fellow Whig MPs Richard Sheridan and Charles James Fox, disagreed with Burke and split with him. Fox thought the Reflections to be "in very bad taste" and "favouring Tory principles". Other Whigs such as the Duke of Portland and Earl Fitzwilliam privately agreed with Burke, but did not wish for a public breach with their Whig colleagues. Burke wrote on 29 November 1790: "I have received from the Duke of Portland, Lord Fitzwilliam, the Duke of Devonshire, Lord John Cavendish, Montagu (Frederick Montagu MP), and a long et cetera of the old Stamina of the Whiggs a most full approbation of the principles of that work and a kind indulgence to the execution". The Duke of Portland said in 1791 that when anyone criticised the Reflections to him, he informed them that he had recommended the book to his sons as containing the true Whig creed.

question: Who re-translated the Reflections into French? 

answer: Louis XVI

question: Which British ministers disagreed with Burke's Reflections? 

answer: Richard Sheridan and Charles James Fox

question: What political party was Charles James Fox? 

answer: Whig

question: What political party was Earl Fitzwilliam? 

answer: Whigs

question: What political party was Richard Sheridan? 

answer: Whig
Title: Edmund_Burke
Context: Burke's Reflections sparked a pamphlet war. Thomas Paine penned the Rights of Man in 1791 as a response to Burke; Mary Wollstonecraft published A Vindication of the Rights of Men and James Mackintosh wrote Vindiciae Gallicae. Mackintosh was the first to see the Reflections as "the manifesto of a Counter Revolution". Mackintosh later agreed with Burke's views, remarking in December 1796 after meeting him, that Burke was "minutely and accurately informed, to a wonderful exactness, with respect to every fact relating to the French Revolution". Mackintosh later said: "Burke was one of the first thinkers as well as one of the greatest orators of his time. He is without parallel in any age, excepting perhaps Lord Bacon and Cicero; and his works contain an ampler store of political and moral wisdom than can be found in any other writer whatever".

question: Who wrote 'The Rights of Man'? 

answer: Thomas Paine

question: Who wrote 'A Vindication of the Rights of Men'? 

answer: Mary Wollstonecraft

question: Who said the Reflections were "the manifesto of a Counter Revolution"? 

answer: James Mackintosh

question: Who did Mackintosh compare Burke to? 

answer: Lord Bacon and Cicero

question: What types of wisdom did Mackintosh say Burke had? 

answer: political and moral
Title: Edmund_Burke
Context: In November 1790, François-Louis-Thibault de Menonville, a member of the National Assembly of France, wrote to Burke, praising Reflections and requesting more "very refreshing mental food" that he could publish. This Burke did in April 1791 when he published A Letter to a Member of the National Assembly. Burke called for external forces to reverse the revolution and included an attack on the late French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, as being the subject of a personality cult that had developed in revolutionary France. Although Burke conceded that Rousseau sometimes showed "a considerable insight into human nature" he mostly was critical. Although he did not meet Rousseau on his visit to Britain in 1766–7 Burke was a friend of David Hume, with whom Rousseau had stayed. Burke said Rousseau "entertained no principle either to influence of his heart, or to guide his understanding—but vanity"—which he "was possessed to a degree little short of madness". He also cited Rousseau's Confessions as evidence that Rousseau had a life of "obscure and vulgar vices" that was not "chequered, or spotted here and there, with virtues, or even distinguished by a single good action". Burke contrasted Rousseau's theory of universal benevolence and his having sent his children to a foundling hospital: "a lover of his kind, but a hater of his kindred".

question: Who asked Burke for more "very refreshing mental food"? 

answer: François-Louis-Thibault de Menonville

question: When did Burke release 'A Letter to a Member of the National Assembly'? 

answer: April 1791

question: Which French philosopher did Burke attack? 

answer: Jean-Jacques Rousseau

question: When did Rousseau visit Britain? 

answer: 1766–7

question: Who did Rousseau stay with when visiting Britain? 

answer: David Hume
Title: Edmund_Burke
Context: These events and the disagreements that arose from them within the Whig Party, led to its break-up and to the rupture of Burke's friendship with Fox. In debate in Parliament on Britain's relations with Russia, Fox praised the principles of the revolution, although Burke was not able to reply at this time as he was "overpowered by continued cries of question from his own side of the House". When Parliament was debating the Quebec Bill for a constitution for Canada, Fox praised the revolution and criticised some of Burke's arguments, such as hereditary power. On 6 May 1791, during another debate in Parliament on the Quebec Bill, Burke used the opportunity to answer Fox, and to condemn the new French Constitution and "the horrible consequences flowing from the French idea of the Rights of Man". Burke asserted that those ideas were the antithesis of both the British and the American constitutions. Burke was interrupted, and Fox intervened, saying that Burke should be allowed to carry on with his speech. A vote of censure was moved against Burke, however, for noticing the affairs of France, which was moved by Lord Sheffield and seconded by Fox. Pitt made a speech praising Burke, and Fox made a speech—both rebuking and complimenting Burke. He questioned the sincerity of Burke, who seemed to have forgotten the lessons he had learned from him, quoting from Burke's own speeches of fourteen and fifteen years before.

question: Fox praised revolutionary principles in a debate about which country? 

answer: Russia

question: What type of power did Fox think Burke was wrong about? 

answer: hereditary

question: Which constitution did Burke condemn on May 6, 1791? 

answer: French

question: Fox quoted Burke's speeches from how long ago? 

answer: fourteen and fifteen years
Title: Edmund_Burke
Context: At this point, Fox whispered that there was "no loss of friendship". "I regret to say there is", Burke replied, "I have indeed made a great sacrifice; I have done my duty though I have lost my friend. There is something in the detested French constitution that envenoms every thing it touches". This provoked a reply from Fox, yet he was unable to give his speech for some time since he was overcome with tears and emotion, he appealed to Burke to remember their inalienable friendship, but also repeated his criticisms of Burke and uttered "unusually bitter sarcasms". This only aggravated the rupture between the two men. Burke demonstrated his separation from the party on 5 June 1791 by writing to Fitzwilliam, declining money from him.

question: When did Burke leave the Whig party? 

answer: 5 June 1791

question: Who did Burke turn down money from? 

answer: Fitzwilliam

question: What did Burke say 'envenoms everything it touches'? 

answer: French constitution

question: Who thought that Fox and Burke could still be friends? 

answer: Fox

question: Who thought that Fox and Burke's friendship was lost? 

answer: Burke