I agree that there was widespread support for the war towards the start but as it went on and some issues raised themselves through the media that turned some against the war. All 3 sources agree that majority of the British public did support the Boer war but do suggest that there was some opposition.
Source 4 is from a local newspaper; the newspapers at this time were seeing a change in reporting from broadsheet to tabloid and more human stories rather than old style reporting. It was part of a new generation of newspapers called ‘the yellow press’. This was shown in the Daily Mail which led the way in England reaching 1 million subscriptions. It was heavily pro empire and pro war which mirrored the view of most papers at the time and had an influence on the publics’ opinion. At the time the papers were writing what the people wanted the read so they could keep subscriptions. Therefore the paper could be accused of trying to please its readers rather than accurate reporting. Source 4 agrees with source 5 that there were wild scenes of patriotism. ‘patriotic songs’ songs showed that the public were proud of their country. Source 5 describes ‘chanting a singing’ at an anti war protest in Birmingham, the same place as the newspaper was published. Singing songs was common at the time and many songs were written in support of the war. The public would also go the music halls to listen and sing which would be patriotic and showed the public’s support of the war. Source 6 tells about ‘outbursts of popular enthusiasm’ which is defiantly true, after the relief of Mafeking millions of people took to the streets in support and celebrated the work of the army. This is the event described in source 4 and ‘parading the streets’ could certainly be described as an ‘outburst of public enthusiasm’. These events have been few and far between in British society and so for the public to come out and do this showed the support. Both Source 4 and 5 paint the picture of a very patriotic nation. The Handsworth Herald describes ‘a delirium of joy’ after the relief of Mafeking; this was a public show of admiration and happiness which is also expressed in source 5. ‘waving Union Jacks’ which is also a clear show of support for the war and empire.
Source 6 acknowledges that although there was ‘widespread support’ there was still opposition to the war. Beatrice Webb was a socialist and member of the Fabian society who were against colonisation and the British Empire. Source 5 also notes there was opponents to the war such as David Lloyd George who was a liberal MP from Wales. He made a name for himself during the war and became very unpopular, even sparking riots and violence at some of his speeches which is mentioned in source 5 when scenes turned ugly at one of his speech in Birmingham. 7000 people had turned up to listen to him speak, but such was the uproar of the local people that it sparked wild protests and attempts attack David Lloyd George, who had to be escorted by Police, who were forced into making several arrests. Such was the violence and disorder it even led to a death! Lloyd George also wrote for the Manchester Guardian which was known to be a keen opponent of the war. However he did receive some support while travelling around the country, during a speech in Bristol he was met with some support. Such was the pro war movement that when the editor of the Liberal daily chronicle decided to take an anti war stance he was sacked based on this decision.
Such was the confidence and support for the war the conservative government lead by Lord Salisbury called for an immediate election known as the ‘Khaki election’ in 1900. The conservatives won by a landslide amount, taking 51% of the vote which showed the support for the war by the fact that they kept the government in power. However these 3 sources are from a period earlier on in the war. Towards the latter stages opposition grew against the war because of the reports of the bad conditions that women and children were subject to in the concentration camps set up by Lord Kitchener. But in the next election the conservatives were voted out which could possibly show that by the end of the war people were genuinely against it, but this a number a years after the end of the war and maybe not directly linked.
I think it was clear that there was great support for the war, shown through the public displays of patriotism like after the relief of Mafeking, and the general public were seen ‘parading the streets’. Which all 3 sources support but source 6 in particular emphasises that there were people against the war and that as the war went on support against the war grew.