1780s-1812 Flashcards
What were the Tories?
‘Tory’ was a derogatory term for people who supported the King and Church of England.
What were whigs?
They were responsible for ousting James 2nd from the throne in 1688. They were in support of religious liberty.
What we’re radicals ?
They believed in making major reform that would get right to the roots of society’s problems rather than making minor changes to the system of ejecting MPs to Parliament
What does Franchise mean?
Those eligible to vote
How many people could vote in in the 1780s
Eleven percent of adult men
Who could become an MP before the Industrial Revolution?
Property owners
What were the main features of a county?
- could send 2 MPs
- Typically located in the countryside
- Men who owned land or property worth 40 shillings.
What were the key aspects of a borough ?
- no uniform voting qualification
- Typically a town or place of importance
- potwallopers (if you could fit a pot in your chimney)
What we’re rotten boroughs?
Very small towns that were easily bribed. They had been sizeable but shrunk with the revolution.
What we’re pocket boroughs ?
When a landlord( or someone in position of power) controls how an entire constituency votes by backing 1 MP
What was the problem with the Elections?
Electoral systems had not changed for over 300 years. Elections were public
What were some of the problems with the elclectoral system?
Wasn’t representative
Not all classes could vote
Rural bias
How did John Wilkes demand reform?
North Britain 1763 criticise King
Public supported him and used slogan Wilkes and Liberty
How did Christopher Wyvill increase demand for reform?
He wanted reform not revolution
He rose through the ranks to become a clergyman and put more pressure on parliament
What could the Monarch do at this time?
King chose his own ministers
Make major decision on government policy
Controlled the election of about 30 MPs
Name some of the protests 1780-1800
1795 King was booed ‘down with Pitt’ ‘no king’ when he went to the theatre
1797 A naval mutiny took place at Spithead
1800-01 Food riots took place
What did the suspension of Habeus Corpus do?
This meant that anyone could be arrested and held indefinitely, merely on suspicion of having committed a crime
Why did William Pitt want to introduce reform?
Pitt believed that parliament was being threatened by the excessive power of the monarchy.
Why did Pitt’s attempts at reforming parliament fail?
- those in favour of parliamentary reform were not united in their support of Pitts attempts
- his party did not support him
- Pitt feared loosing the support of George 3rd
Why were Pitts attempts at reforming parliament significant?
- was the closest anyone came to reform for half a century
- it encouraged other radicals and reformers to reform societies and campaign for political change
- his repressive actions were in stark contrast to his ideas of reform
