modern britan 10/14-British Political Reform, Economic Thought, and the 1832 Reform Act

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the economic ideas of Adam Smith, Thomas Malthus, David Ricardo, and Jeremy Bentham, alongside key events, figures, and concepts surrounding the Reform Act of 1832 and 19th-century British political history.

Calico Riots

Eighteenth-century protests in Britain in which voteless textile weavers successfully influenced parliamentary policy by rioting, destroying houses, and storming Parliament.

Invisible Hand

The popular economic notion attributed to Adam Smith that markets regulate themselves better without government interference, though Smith argued that unregulated markets inevitably lead to monopolies and self-destruction.

Progressive Taxation (Adam Smith)

Adam Smith's argument that the wealthy should not merely pay taxes in proportion to their revenue, but at a higher percentage rate, because they benefit more than anyone else from state protection and stability.

Mega Boroughs

Large, rapidly growing industrial districts such as Manchester and Westminster that suffered from severe underrepresentation in Parliament relative to their massive populations.

Rotten Boroughs

Depopulated electoral districts, such as Gatton with only seven voters, that retained full parliamentary representation despite having virtually no residents left.

Pocket Boroughs

Electoral boroughs effectively owned and controlled by wealthy landowners, such as the Duke of Norfolk who controlled 11 boroughs, through the direct purchase of votes in open, public balloting.

Pot of Water Rule

An idiosyncratic local voting qualification in certain English boroughs where any individual owning a structure containing a hearth capable of boiling a pot of water was granted the right to vote.

Catholic Relief Act of 1829

Legislation granting British and Irish Roman Catholics equal political rights, including the ability to run for and hold seats in Parliament and obtain high military commands.

Duke of Wellington

The victorious general of the Battle of Waterloo who served as British Prime Minister in 1830 and opposed expanding the voting franchise.

Earl Grey

The progressive British Prime Minister who replaced the Duke of Wellington, secured a mandate for electoral reform, and successfully championed the passage of the Reform Act of 1832.

Threat of Packing the Lords

A political maneuver where Prime Minister Earl Grey urged the King to create dozens of new peers in the House of Lords to force aristocratic peers to pass the Reform Act.

Reform Act of 1832 (Representation of the People Act)

Legislation that abolished rotten boroughs, redistributed parliamentary seats to industrial cities like Manchester, increased the electorate from roughly 10% to 20% of the population, and established Commons supremacy over the Lords.

Positive Checks (Thomas Malthus)

Events and conditions identified by Thomas Malthus—including famine, war, disease, poverty, and urban crowding—that curb overpopulation by raising the death rate when population exceeds the food supply.

Ricardo's Theory of Wages

David Ricardo's economic principle stating that an overabundance of laborers competing for scarce employment forces wages downward toward basic survival levels.

Greatest Happiness Principle (Jeremy Bentham)

Jeremy Bentham's utilitarian theory holding that governments and laws should fundamentally aim to maximize the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people.

New Poor Law

British welfare reform that established sex-segregated workhouses for the destitute to provide basic labor and food while intentionally preventing the poor from reproducing and multiplying relief burdens.

Chartists

A 19th-century British working-class reform movement that argued the 1832 Reform Act was insufficient and campaigned heavily for universal male voting rights.

1848 Chartist Petition

A massive parliamentary petition boasting nearly 6,000,000 signatures that collapsed in credibility after roughly two-thirds of the names were proven to be fraudulent or duplicates.