Growth in Parliamentary Reform Flashcards- Module 1

Magna Carta

A charter written in 1215 that established the principle of due process and the rights of freemen, akin to a constitution.

British Parliament

kings advisory council, called upon when needed, made up of wealthy landlords and barons

House of Lords

One of the two houses of Parliament, composed of lords and bishops, whose members are nominated by the King or inherit their position.

House of Commons

The other house of Parliament, made up of Members of Parliament (MPs) elected by the people, representing boroughs and counties.

names of the two political parties

Tories and Whigs

Tories

stood up for upholding status quo

Conservatives

Protestants (they liked the church of england)

Often noble origins

Whigs

challengers of status quo

more liberal

favour other churches not really church of england

also noble but not as much- quite a few were middle class

which party dominated british politics since 1714 and why

Aristocratic whigs

Rotten Boroughs

Constituencies that had a very small population but still sent representatives to Parliament, leading to unequal representation.

2MPs still elected although it had a small population

Evidence - before reform act 1832 over 140/652 parliamentary seats were in rotten, more than 50 of them had less than 50 voters

Pocket Boroughs

Constituencies whose representatives were effectively controlled by a single individual or family, allowing for manipulation of elections.

problem- caused very few voters meaning it was easy for powerful patrons to influence or dictte election results

Unequal representation

all constituencies returned 2 MPs to parliament no matter the size

eg. Manchester, was not recognised as a parliamentary borough so no MPs were elected

only 11% of population can take part in an election

Corruption and unfairness

very few constituencies were contested and some actions were taken to avoid competitive election

1780 only 2 counties contested

no seceret ballot- people could be intimidated by their landlords and were exposed to public view when voting

1/5 MPs were sons of those in HoLs

Patronage

practise of sponsoring someones ambitions either by funding them or using influence to promote them

given the expensive nature of election campaigning this system was widely used in britain b4 1832

Problems with patronage

lots of money was needed to run in an election and MPs did not recieve aany salary so some of those peope who can qualify did not have enough money so they went for patronages

this was bad as by 1801 approx half of britains 658 MPs owed their positions to benefactors in the HoL, meaning that HoCs were essentiallt dominated heavily by HoLs aswell

Causes of the Reform Agitation (list)

Methodism

French Rev

New Organisations

Methodism

A religious movement that emerged among the working class during the Industrial Revolution, promoting social reform and representation.

how methodism was a cause for reform agitation

It encouraged working class to seek better representation and rights

they increased awareness contributed to the demands of political reforms

how the french revolution was a cause of the reform agitation

made people know that the reforms could be succesful

How new organisations caused reform agitation

Reform was seen to be a more pressing issue

London corresponding society

formed after french rev

1792, Thomas Hardy (scottish shoemaker)

Aims: demand universal male suffrage and annual parliaments

members: working men, artisans, tradesmen

Spread of Reform Ideas

John Cartwright, campaigner of parliamentary reforms

published his first work on parliamentary reform

William pitt and his reforms

aligned himself with whigs

was prime minister

1785 proposed to disenfranchise 36 worst boroughts , this was defeated by 76 votes

although unsuccesful, this was the first time that a minister saw the need of re4form and actually proposing it

Gordon riots- cause

1778 major concessions made to british roman catholics that were excluded from civil rights before

Gordon riots was a response to the bill by the protestant church led by Lord George Gordon, head of protestant association

aim was to repeal legislation, to gice limited measure of freedom to catholics

Course of the riots

a petition started by Lord George Gordon for a repeal of the catholic relief act 1778

crowd of 60,000 led to commons for protest

Ctholic businesses and homes were attacked

consequences of riots

hundreds were killed injured of put in prison

65 of those put in prison were given a death penalty

reformer and radical John wilkes had his reoutation damaged he was revealed after riots not to be on the side of the ordinary population although he was known as a reforming politician

Gordon petition was defeated 196 to 6 votes so Gordon ended uo in Newgate prison

reason of the Gordon riots significance

displayed underlying anger among the population in london that extended upon catholicism

First time there was actual politics to the parliament ruling the country

brougbt attention to reforms in the general public

name the two political thinkers argued over reforms and revolution after the french revolution

Edmund Burke

Thomas paine

Edmund Bruke

argued that revolution had brought destruction of a nation’s social fabric

and risked developing into barbarism and tyranny

He proposed to political conservtism and argued for the importance of tradition

Thomas paine

he argued that the revolution was the natural continuation of marked new eras of human history

he aligned with liberalism and believed that men and women should be free from corruption

reasons for reforms- depreesed economic climate (4)

Harvest failed summer 1816

Basic foodstuffs were in scarce supply

burdened britains poorest people as the demands forced the prices of food to go up

Wages declined as the ready supply of labour provided by returning soldiers mostly from the napolienic wars

Written works tend to support reform agitation - further reasons for reform

Radical newspaper “Cobbets Political Register” popular after William Cobbet reduced price in november 1816

there were others aswell these raised political awareness of the issue and people were very interested in listening to these works

Riots in 1816

Spa fields in Islington (1816)

Weavers in manchester organised an armed march to London 1817

1818 Derbyshire was an attempted rebellion led by Jeremiah Branderth

Throughout the years the general public started to criticise the ruling class and the rise of agitation was started to alarm the government

This therefore led to larger scaled demonstration of reform demands in 1819

Peterloo massacare 1819

Reform momentum increased 1819 and 4 political rallies were held

last of 4 were St Peter fields in manchester

60000 people were attracted

due to the fear of riots occuring local magistrates forced the meeting to be disbanded

crowds were forced to be dispersed oly 18 killed but 400 were injured

Public reaction to the peterloo massacare

Shock of the brutality drove more conservative middle class away

reformas eg. Henry Hunt was arrested made many moderate suporters to drom their reform intentions

people were more afraid to be punished by the govs reactionary policies

However this inflamed some other people nd became more determined for reformers

Peterloo massacare consequences

Lord sidmouth sent a letter of cograts to mancester magistrates for the action they had taken

also said that it is in act of treason and gov should take firm action

Chartism

A political movement in the 1830s that sought to address the inadequacies of the 1832 Reform Act and demanded widespread electoral reforms.

The Great Reform Act of 1832

Legislation aimed at reforming the electoral system in England and Wales by redistributing seats and expanding the electorate.

The Six Acts 1819

A series of laws passed in 1819 to suppress public meetings and increase government control in response to social unrest.

Act banned meetings with more than 50 people

Death penalty introduced for sedition (encourageing rebellion)

shows that gov was fearful of reform movements

Public reaction to six acts

some thought it was a good policy, some thouht it was a form of repression

HoLs argued that it restricts freedom of newspaper

petitioners supported the Blasphemous and Seditions liberal act to protect uneducated working class from being influenced by radical ideas

Cato Street Conspiracy

A failed plot in 1820 aiming to assassinate the British cabinet, leading to increased state repression.

Corn Laws

Trade regulations that imposed tariffs on imported grain, raising bread prices and prioritizing the interests of landowners.

employers unhappy as they had to raise wages to retain healthy workforce

Further critics of the inefficiency of the existing political structure was made

Catholic Emancipation

Legislation that allowed Catholics to hold public office and own land, culminating in the Emancipation Act of 1829.

Great reform act 1832- switch in political power

Lord liverpool held broad coalition of tories for 15 yrs

cus of the Catholic emancipation act, the whigs saw an opportunity to break tory dominance in 1826 election. NOT SUCCESSFUL but did help whigs to secure some position in parliament

After lord liverpool resigned in that time tories became weaker

Tories also became quite divided because of Duke of wellington who created a split between liberals and ultras on catholic emacipation

cus of the division tories did badly in the 1830 election

whigs attained office led by Earl Grey who became significant in the passing of the reform act

First and second Reform bills 1831

March 1831 first reform bill is presented to parliament

struggled in commons so no cahne for it to move to lords

Earl asked king to dissolve parliament so he could have another election to attain more MPs in the comons

whig returned with majority in the election

still did not make it to the HoLs

Riots following the second reform bill 1832

The public were excited about reforms following the success of the whigs in the election

therefore when second reform bill was defeated in the lords riots broke out across the country significantly in bristol

Third reform bill 1832 (6)

proposed n stuck in the comittee stage of the Lords after passing commons

Earl asked the king to creat 50 new Whig peers to the upper house in order to pass the bill

King refused, EWarl resigned

kings asked wellington to form new whig gov

another series of riots broke out following Greys resignation n wellingtron back in office

Days of May 1832 (5)

Following Wellingtons appointment again the country went into frustration

Middle classes withdrew savings and investment fronm the banks to detroy govs finances

Wellington found it difficult to form a new gov as the country was against him

king promised grey to give him 50 whig peers aand recruit him back to the office

led to passing of the final reform act

Features of the Great reform act 1832

served to transfer voting priveleges from the small boroughs controlled by nobility and gentry to the heavily populated industrial towns

middle class happy abt the changes but working class still could not vote

Elections remained corrupt

Articles of the great reform act- features still

Disenfranchise 56 boroughts and reduced 31 to only 1 MP

67 new constituencies created

Formal exclusion of women from voting in Parliamentary elections

Broadened the franchises property qualification in the countries to include small landownerd, tenant farmers and shopkeepers

positive changes in the Great reform act

Uniform franchise in the boroughs giving the vote to all house holders who qualify

Reduced numbers of rotten boroughs that were controlled by peers in the lords

new constituencies create which means the size of them are hopefully more equal

Broadened the franchises property qualification in the countries

negative/neutral changes in the Great reform act (5)

70-80% of MPs still from landed gentry

Voters are still required to posses a property, although slightly morew accessible

for the first time voters were defined as a male person

No more that 100 MPs were from middle classes out of the 658 seats in the commons

some rotton boroughs still existed

Reason why the whigs proposed the reform act

Political opportunitism Tories had 200 rotten borough, whigs had 73 Disenfranchising them will benifit the whigs

Fear of revolution was very real in the whig gov

Grey thought he could avert by making some concessions to public opinions

Discontent with the reform act 1832

People expected their lives to improved as parliament became more representative

it did not happen as expected for the working and labouring class

Factory act 1833 failed to offer better working conditions for the labour class and Poor laws 1834, was more abt punishing those who had no work rather thank helping

therefore London Working Mens Association was founded in 1836 demanding further political reform so that working people can be represented aswell

Aims of the People’s charter (5)

Equal representation

Annual parliaments

Payments of the MPs

Secret ballot

Removal of Property Qualification of the MPs

The People's Charter

A manifesto created by the London Working Men’s Association in 1838 that outlined political demands for reform.

Charter aimed to open up parliament to every class and make britain have a governing system that operated in the interests of every person

Chartists re mostly working class people but there were a significant amount of middle class reformers as well

First petition

sent to parli May 1839

no violent revolution so it was rejected by 235 to 46

physical forces started a “sacred month”- strike n protest were arrested after that

Second and third petition (5)

Chartism was paralysed until 1842 after the arrest of many of its leaders

second petition had even fewer supporters than the first with only 43 supporting

third petition was introduced again to pariment in 1848

However it declined as only half of the 5 mllion signatures claimed were genuine

After 3rd petition, Chartism was basically over with the revolutionary forces extinguished as well

Failure of Chartism- Division of leadership

chartists were divided since day one

Attwood n Lovett were keen to use peacful means (moral force)

O’Connor and Harney were keen on directly challenging political system (physical ofrce)

this made chartists uncoordinated

This therefore mean that chartists lack influential leadership when the leaders cannot agree with eachother initially

Disraeli's Reform Bill

-A reform proposal passed in 1867 that significantly increased the electorate and changed parliamentary representation.

-Lord russell’s liberal party was torn apart by the reform bill

-Russell resigned after home secretary faced division in his own party

-conservatives were asked to frm a minority gov lead by Disraeli

-when disraeli became chancellor he knew exactly the benefits that reform coud bring to the party that passed the legislation

-he pushed his own bill 1867

-despite several ministers resigned the bill it passed 1867

-diseraeli was the first politican who truly understood the power of the public opinion

Reform Union

Group formed 1864

aimed to extent the franchise include all male ratepayers, equal distrubution of seats and establish a secret ballot

membership were more liberal and middle class

group fwas formed by workers

Change after the great reform act

More people can vote

Registration was needed in order to vote, making political clubs to encourage people to register and vote for them

more professional politacl system, whigs and tories renamed themselves

more polarised- two party system was dominating the parliament

Substiantial social and econoic reform- Ablotion of Slave trade

slowy becoming a more modern nation with a modern system

Continuity after the Great Reform act

No secret ballot

still corruption

Rotten boroughs reduced but still some of them

Secret Ballot

Radical MPs campaigned for a secret ballot over the years

George Grote got 200 MPs to vote for him in 1838 although it wasnt successful, it had 4 times more vote than chartists did

Staunch Campaigners

Radicl reformers Joseph hume and peter locke king produced reform bull and hume presented it in every session of parliament between 1848-1852

Refirm league

similar group formed in 1865 by members of the working class

aimed to pass univeral manhood suffrage

met in pubs or working men clubs

attracted ex Chartists

supporte by left wing oranisations, 400 branches by 1867

worked with the reform union to bring Parliament refrom

Second reform act-1867- death of lord palmerston 1865-1866

Lord palmerston, PM died 1865

made Lord Russell back into the office

Palmerston was against reform, Russell was pro reform therefore reform bill was presented to parliament in 1866

however it was defeated in commons

Hyde park riots 1866

declared illegal by home secretary

Gatesd were chained and guarded by police

Large crowd clased with them and was abe to enter the park by swinging on the railways till they gave way

around 200000 people invaded the park that day

Features of the Second reform act

doubled number of people who can vote tp 2 million out of 7 million

all male householders could vote if they haf lived in a property for a year

four electoral boroughts were disenfranchised

then seven more by the next year

45 new seats in Pariaments were taken from boroughs with fewer than 10,000 people

Parli can keep sitting even if the king died

Hidden Failures of the act- working class still disadvantaged

limits of electorates seemed much more open but working class MPs were srill not elected until 1874

caused sympathetic thoughts to the working class when the labour party failed to become a potential government party untill fourth reform act

Hidden failures of the Act- Unequal increase in people eligible to vote

as suffrage expanded in the reform act people allowed to vote increased

the increase were very different for each borough

only 7% of working class could vote in leeds whereas in leicester 40%

Hidden failures of the act- definition of Property unclear

a flat or room within a larger house was sometimes qualified as a property

second reform act introduced a propsal that defined a dwelling house to make occupants of flats and sing;e rooms eligible to the franchise

this increased work load of barristers who oversee the revision of voting lists

these all caused some constituencies to have easier access of voters than others

consequences of second reform act (3)

15 more years were taken to work through the consequences of the act

secret ballot was passed ijn 1872

many happened in the years until 3rd reform act in 1844