Industrialisation and the People

1783 why was Pitt appointed prime minister

Refused to support Fox-North coalition and prevented passage of East-India Bill.

1784 why did Pitt win the election

Won the votes of independent MPs, had support of King, reputation as reformer. 215,000 voters (3% of population)

Commutation Act

1784 - reduced taxes on tea from 119% to 25%, ended tea smuggling and increased tax revenue

What was the national debt in 1784

£240m

1785 reform bill defeated

Proposed redistribution of 72 seats, defeated by Fox and North as they argued a loss of influence

Treasury Commission of Audit

1785 - oversaw public expenditure

Sinking fund introduced

1786 - reduced national debt by £10m until outbreak of war with France in 1793

Eden Treaty

1786 - easier trade with reduced duties but French manufacturers argued it was favoured towards Britain, ended when war began 1793

Consolidated funds act

1787 - accounts combined into one, first form of national accounting

Amended hovering act 1780

1787 - ships able to be searched 12miles out of port

Bonded warehouses

Free storage of goods until re-exported or taxed and sold in the UK. Increased value of imports from £13m 1783 to £27m 1790s

French revolution

1789 - National assembly called 1789 which established new constitutional monarchy, storming of the Bastille 1789. Made people fear a revolution in Britain

Intellectual response to french revolution

Edmund Burke - published 'Reflections on the Revolution in France' 1790 - celebrated aristocratic concepts of paternalism, loyalty and aristocracy as the ruling class, argued that any state that did not accept change would lose the ability to conserve itself.
Burke was denounced by Thomas Paine who believed that power lay with the people and their rights.
Reverend Richard Price supported revolution but died in 1791 - before it became violent

Formation of United Irishmen

1791 - aimed for parliamentary reform and Irish independence

Catholic relief act (education)

1791 - allowed Catholics freedom to practice their religion and be educated

LCS established

1792

War with France

Begins 1793

1793 National debt

£170m

Gold payments suspended

1797 - increased government borrowing and paper currency issued as alternative but was regional

Income tax introduced

1798 - incomes over £60. Unpopular with middle classes

Income tax changed

1803 - incomes over £150

National debt 1801

£456m

Aliens act

1793 - all immigrants were at risk of being deported

Catholic relief ac (franchise)

1793 - catholics allowed to vote and hold civil office

Habeas Corpus suspended

1794

Treasonable practices act

1795 - any act of violence against the King is treason (result of stoning of King George III on his way to open parliament in 1795)

Seditious meetings act

1795 - no public meetings over 50 people

Irish rebellion 1796

french forces would invade Ireland leading to an Irish republic, bad weather forced ships to travel back to France

Spithead mutiny

1797 - 2 weeks of strikes arguing for better conditions, increased pay agreed upon

Nore mutiny

1797 - after Spithead, ships taken over by mutineers and demands presented e.g better wages and end of the war with france, mutiny ended when ships were blockaded and food and water withheld

Irish rebellion 1798

co-ordinated uprisings planned, Dublin failed, Wolfe Tone arrested and dies

Combination Act

1799 - banned trade unions

Act of Union with Ireland

1800 - 100 new Westminster MPs, Catholic emancipation promised

Inflation 1800

36.5% - all time high

1800 middle class percentage of population

25%

Treaty of Amiens

1802 - halted war and returned most colonies won during the war, abolished income tax

Levee en Masse act

1803 - all men aged 17-55 join the home guard, 800,000 men joined

1804 - Pitt becomes PM again

'time had not made Pitt a great wartime leader' - Asa Briggs, in ill health, no clear strategy

Battle of Trafalgar

1805 - 27 british ships vs 33 french, 1,700 british casualties vs 6,000 french, took 20,000 french prisoners. Huge win for the British but Admiral Nelson was killed

Income tax 1805

max. amount raised from 5% to 10%

Pitt dies

1806

Grenville becomes PM

1806 - 'ministry of all talents'. 'lack of success as a war leader defined his short permiership' - Fortune

Slave trade banned with France

1806 - reduced slave trade by 2/3

Abolition of slave trade

1807 - Wilberforce, Society for the Abolition of Slavery, leaflets etc. Many new Irish MPs supported abolition

Duke of Portland becomes PM

1807 - time as PM was 'marked by accusations of corruption and military ineptitude' - Brown

Berlin and Milan decrees

1806 - no French allies allowed to trade with Britain, spurred Luddism due to unemployment. Britain simply began to trade more with non-European markets

Orders in Council

1806 - prevented trade with France as retaliation to Berlin and Milan decrees

Peninsula War

1808-1814 - French troops into Spain to plug gaps in blockade of ships, English troops attacked on land. Successful move but Portland's government 'received no credit' - Brown

Perceval becomes PM

1809 - 'too rooted in the past and the ideas of Pitt' - Leonard

Luddite uprisings

1811 - began in Nottinghamshire. In 1812 there were 12,000 troops stationed in areas of luddism and in 1813 machine breaking became a capital offence (frame breaking act)

Value of Yorkshire industry 1812

Exports dropped from 12m to 1m due to Luddites

William Horsfall

Prominent mill owner killed by the Luddites in April 1812, 8 luddites executed and 13 transported for his murder range ikbf

Lord Liverpool becomes PM

1812 - 'arch mediocrity' - Disraeli, 'there was actually continuity' - Hilton, 'the name (liberal tories) is artificial' - Brock

War with US starts

1812

1813 bad harvest

Caused increase in imported wheat, further increased by end of trade blockade after war

Peninsula and 1812 war ends

1814

Introduction of corn laws

1815 - minimum price on wheat before imports allowed, attempting to reduce foreign competition due to the landed interests of the MPs, increased prices and bad harvests

Napoleonic wars won at Waterloo

1815

National debt 1815

£834m

1816 income tax abolished

379 petitions against renewing the tax delivered to Parliament within 6 weeks

Spa fields riot - SPENCEANS

1816 - 20,000 people to hear Henry Hunt speak but 200 went on a march smashing windows to protest high prices. 'inspired more by drink than a desire for revolution' - Ploywright

1817 legislation

Seditious meetings act, Treason act (extended crimes of treason), Habeas Corpus extended

March of the blanketers

1817 - hunger march to present regent with a petition to relieve distress in northern textile districts, 4,500 gathered but dispersed due to the seditious initial meeting

Attack on regents coach

1817 - protesting his lavish lifestyle when many were starving, led to the passage of lots of repressive legislation

Pentrich uprising

1817 - discovered by a spy and uprisings prevented by troops, 30 transported and 3 executed

Peterloo massacre

1819 - public meeting of 60,000, Manchester Yeomanry attacked despite instructions from government not to, 11 dead and 400-600 injured

Truck act

1818 - outlawed payment in kind

Relief and toleration acts

1818 - greater religious freedoms

Factor Act 1818

Forbade employment of children under 9 and children 9-12 could not work at night, no enforcement (introduced by Peel)

Six acts

(Training Prevention Act, Seizure of Arms Act, Misdemeanours Act, Seditious Meetings Act, Blasphemous and Seditious Libels Act, Newspaper and Stamp Duties Act)

Cato street conspiracy SPENCEANS

1820 - planned assassination of Liverpool's cabinet but found out by spy. 5 conspirators arrested and executed

Queen Caroline Affair

1821-22 - separated from Regent 1796, accused of adultery 1806, returned to england when he became King in 1820 (refused £50,000 p/a to stay away) but agreed in 1821 after Bill of pains and penalties divorces her and the regent. Attempted to interrupt coronation 1821 and dies a few months later with a lot of support

Penal code reform

1824 - reduced number of crimes that carried death penalty, separated male and female prisoners and ensured female prisoners had female wardens

Repeal of the Combination Acts

1824 - after pressure from tailor Francis Place, amended 1825 due to hardship which made it illegal to molest or obstruct other workers which significantly reduced the power of trade unions

Liverpool resigns

1927 - health issues

Canning becomes PM

1827 - dies after 119 days in office :(, supported CE, 'too flamboyant in his manner' - Fortune

Goodrich becomes PM

1827 - 'showed few qualities of leadership' - Brown, reigned after four months

Wellington becomes PM

1828 - unpopular, repressive and cabinet reshuffle caused the issue of CE to become prominent. 'lacked resolution' - Fortune

Sacramental test act

1828 - allowed non-conformists (not affiliated with CofE) to hold public office (County Clare by-election - O'Connell, catholic)

Sliding scale of corn laws

1828 - Huskisson, duty on foreign corn would be reduced as price of domestic corn rose

Metropolitan police act

1829 - preventative measure due to increasing crime rates in London, gradually spread into provinces

Catholic emancipation

1829 - passed due to Whigs (142 Tories voted against it)

Swing riots

1830 - due to increased mechanisation, machine smashing etc - 500 men transported

Earl Grey becomes PM

1830 - 'limited political experience' - Brown

Reform bill defeated

1831 - defeated by Lords (rejected by 47 votes)

Wellington briefly back

1832 - Grey resigns after King refuses to create 50 new peers to get the reform bill through parliament

Days of May

1832 - 200 protests in favour of reform, £1.5m in gold extracted from the bank (nearly bankrupt), 'on the brink of revolution' - Smith

Great reform act 1832

Redistribution of seats (52 boroughs lost 2 MPs, 30 lost one), franchise extended to 650,000 from 435,000 (1/6 of male population), register of electors created but many not registered and unorganised, landed aristocracy lost 'monopoly of political power' - Fortune, stimulated further reform as industrialists entered the house of commons

1832 election

Whigs won 70% of popular vote and 441 seats vs 175 Tory seats, lack of support from electorate for the GRA

Abolition of slavery

1833 - outbreak of violence in Jamaica's slave plantations (1831-32, 60,000 slaves), system of indentured labour and compensation to slave owners (£2m) introduced

Factory act 1833

Limited the factory workday for children 9-13 to eight hours 14-18 years of age to twelve hours.

Funding for education began

1833 - £20,000 p/a to voluntary societies, increased to £30,000 1838

Municipal corporations act

1835 - gave local authorities power to raise taxes for reform, established uniform electoral and administrative processes

Peel's 1834 ministry

Established Ecclesiastical committee (Church could improve finances), gained 100 seats in January 1835 election and doubled electoral support, showed Peel's strength as PM

Tamworth manifesto

1834 - outlined ideas of new conservative party (e.g), given to small (-) but intended for national audience and leaked by press

Poor law amendment act

1834 - abolished outdoor relied and created workhouses. Bad conditions - Andover workhouse (starved inmates eating rotting flesh of the deceased)

Formation of London Working Men's Association

1836 - supported Owenite Socialism (education and self help). Tried to gain government support but radical MPs opposed trade unions, which alienated northern chartists who believed the LWMA also opposed TU's, less than 300 members by 1838

Chartist movement (people's charter)

1838 - 6 members of parliament and 6 working men (including William Lovett from LWMA) formed a committee to establish the People's charter (signed by 1.28m)

Demands of the Chartists

Universal male suffrage, no property qualification to stand for election, annual parliaments, equal representation (highly populated areas has little representation), £500 annual salary for MPs, secret ballot

First Charter petition rejected

1839 - both Whigs and Tories, seen as too liberal and enough reform had already been passed due to GRA