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Britain Edexcel History A Level > breadth 1: reform of parliament > Flashcards

breadth 1: reform of parliament Flashcards

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1
Q

what was the franchise like in 1780

A

estimated 5% of the population could vote
existence of pocket and rotten boroughs
in the counties there was a 40 shilling property qualification

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2
Q

what were elections like in 1780

A

no secret ballot
bribery
people were kidnapped to prevent them from voting and dead men were impersonated to gain votes

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3
Q

impact of the war of American independence on the demand for parliamentary reform

A
  • gov widely criticised for how they handled it
  • attacked by press for gov expenditure + patronage including the times
  • 1780 motion passed in HOC to reduce power of the crown –> reduction of patronage
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4
Q

impact of French revolution and war with france

A

calmed agitation 1793-1815 in war as there was patriotism for winning the war

  • end of war caused agitation and working class ask for universal manhood suffrage
  • 1830 revolution boosted agitation which was where the king was executed making the british king scared and Britain more anti-monarch
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5
Q

numbers showing rural south being over-represented

A

Manchester 1831- population 180,000 no seat

Rutland population 19,000 1 seat

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6
Q

William pitt attempted reforms when?

A

1785

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7
Q

what were the terms of pitt’s reforms?

A

disenfranchise 36 of the worst rotten boroughs and redistribute their 72 seats

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8
Q

why did pitts reforms fail?

A

MPs saw it as an attack on property rights

king opposed it (George III)

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9
Q

5 reasons there was demand for reform

A
  • corrupt past system
  • french revolution
  • war of American independence
  • political unions
  • industrial development
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10
Q

what political unions were there in 1780 early period

A

metropolitan political union (Henry Hunt, London, craftsmen)
BPU (Thomas attwood, lower+middle class)
Manchester, leeds and Sheffield formed unions in “out-of-doors” activity

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11
Q

why did industrial development prompt a call for parliamentary reform

A

caused an increased middle class in industrial cities wo pointed out over-representation of south. aside from the northern middle class, most middle class opposed reform as the current system benefitted them

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12
Q

actions/events that led to the first reform act

A

1-new king William IV not opposed to reform
2-catholic emancipation act 1929 split tories and allowed whig government
3-actions of the political unions (to stop the duke go for gold e.t.c)
4-civil unrest (riots in Bristol after lords rejected 2nd bill)
5- attitude of earl grey and whigs- genuine commitment, fear of revolution and they wanted to resurrect the whig party and gain support

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13
Q

brief overview of the first reform bill drama and passing

A
  • 1st reform bill submitted march 1831
  • 1stt reform bill defeated april 1831
  • campaign for the bill from political unions (the bill, the whole bill and nothing but the bill)
  • 2nd reform bill submitted june 1831
  • 2nd reform bill rejected oct 1831
  • riots and political unions split
  • 3rd reform bill dec 1831 submitted
  • 3rd reform bill rejected may 1832
  • whigs resigned, days of may, to stop the duke go for gold
  • king recalls whigs, bill passed june 1832
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14
Q

what was the first attempt at the first reform bill and why did it get rejected?

A
  • peel (tory leader) opposed it as he thought it would open the way for more reform
  • passed HOC by 1 vote
  • whigs furious at defeat and demanded a new election to gain a majority to oppose tories
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15
Q

what did the campaign for reform following the defeat of the first reform bill entail?

A

“the bill, the whole bill and nothing but the bill” gained widespread support

  • election campaign involved open air meetings, coverage from newspapers including the times, appearance of class unity
  • national agitation to help grey keep pressure on the king
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16
Q

what was the 2nd reform bill?

A

-more moderate than the first, agreed to tory amendment, extending vote in counties to tenants renting land worth £50 a year rather than £10. expected farmer tenants would vote the same as landlords

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17
Q

when did the 2nd reform bill get passed and what did grey do?

A

sept 1831, grey prompted the BPU to do a big demonstration to pressure the lords. there was a 100,000 person march, petitions and speeches covered by the times

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18
Q

what happened when the 2nd reform bill was rejected?

A
  • riots in Nottingham, derby and Bristol
  • in Bristol a govt building was destroyed and the city centre was ruined
  • bishop in London who opposed the bill had his house burnt down
  • shocked and scared tories, strengthened their accusations that reform would lead to revolution
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19
Q

why did riots split political unions

A
  • felt it was essential to show the reform movement was organised and not a rabble, fear it would discredit them
  • split leaders. henry hunt wanted forceful agitation, Thomas attwood wanted calm mass protest
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20
Q

what happened when the 3rd reform bill was submitted?

A
  • passed HOC 2:1 majority
  • grey pressured king to create more whig peers in hol
  • grey presented bill to hol in april 1832 and referred to the agitation
  • passed hol but still had to pass hol committee
  • whigs threatened their resignation if it wasn’t passed unammended
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21
Q

what happened in may 1832?

A
  • hol committee rejected the 3rd reform bill 7th may, whigs forced to resign
  • king looked to tories to form a government
  • wellington tried to form a government but recognised that some reform would have to be passed, many tories refused to join is govt bc of this and catholic emancipation act bc they were still salty
  • wellington threatened the political unions. ordered the soldiers to rough sharpen their swords for the first time since the battel of waterloo
  • to stop the duke go for gold
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22
Q

who conducted to stop the duke go for gold and what was the campaign

A

francis place. people exchanged their money for gold, depleting stock and almost caused financial collapse. mass movement. disrupted economy

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23
Q

how did the reform bill get passed?

A

-tories couldn’t form a government so the king recalled the tories and agreed to create whig peers in hol but didn’t have to as the bill passed in hol. most tories abstained from voting. passed early june

24
Q

impact on redistribution of seats by first reform act

A

-145 borough seats abolished and redistributed to large cities and industrial centres in the north
-number of county seats increased
BUT
-70 pocket boroughs remained
-31 boroughs with less than 300 voters where as leeds, Birmingham e.t.c had thousands of voters with far less seats
-rural south overrepresented

25
Q

first reform act impact on elections

A

-increased number of people who had a real choice in elections
BUT
-no secret ballot and bribery remained

26
Q

first reform act impact on electorate and voting qualifications

A

-uniform systems, one for boroughs and one for counties
-1/5 males had the vote including a lot of shopkeeps, middle class and craftsmen
BUT
-working class were excluded. unbalanced as £10 householder qualification meant some working class could vote in London but not leeds
most new votes were small property owners (tory voters)
-still based off of property qualifications

27
Q

first reform act impact on registration of voters

A

-necessity of having to have names of all votes on electoral registers improved the organisation of parties

28
Q

impact of first reform act on middle class power

A
  • landed classes dominated parliament. dec 1832 elections 75% mps were landowners with less than 100 from industrial backgrounds
  • new middle class solidly represented
  • thousands of urban people in Birmingham, leeds and Bradford had the vote for the first time ever
29
Q

why could no industrialists run for parliament 1830s

A

because mps were unpaid, had to own land worth £600 to be able to stand as a candidate, too busy running businesses

30
Q

what impact did the first reform act have on the aristocracy?

A
  • number of parliamentary seats controlled by hol reduced because there were fewer pocket boroughs
  • power of the lords seemed less formidable as they passed reform
  • landlords continued to exert influence, most of wich were aristocrats
  • most cabinet ministers and all prime ministers were aristocrats for the next 30 years
31
Q

why was the 1858 abolition of property qualification passed?

A

a chartist demand and more than 300,000 more voters on electoral registers in the 1850s

32
Q

what was the impact of the abolition of property qualifications

A

-mps no longer had to own property but still unpaid so still virtually impossible for someone without a private income to be an mp

33
Q

pressure to pass reform in 1860s

A
  • liberal Palmerston (prime minister) died 1865, replaced with earl russel who liked reform
  • groups formed to pressure liberal party to reform: reform union 1864 middle class, reform league 1865 working class
  • Gladstone an russel tried to extend franchise in 1866 which failed as it was too radical but conservatives hijacked it as a way to outmanoeuvre them
  • conservatives viewed the bill as a way to gain political advantage by passing reform before the liberals
  • Disraeli’s political opportunism
  • chartism had persuaded politicians that the respectable working class could be trusted with the vote
  • external pressure such as hyde park demonstration leading to violence and vandalism
34
Q

what did the 1867 reform act do?

A
  • extended the vote in boroughs tp the householders and lodgers who had been resident for at least 12 months
  • in counties more landowners and tenant farmers were registered to vote
35
Q

impact of 1867 second reform act

A

-doubled electorate to 2 million
-1 in 3 of the adult male population could vote
BUT
-plural voting continued

36
Q

how did the second reform act improve representation in Britain?

A
  • 38 boroughs lost 1 of 2 mps

- 45 seats redistributed to under-represented constituencies

37
Q

how did the 1867 reform not improve Britain?

A
  • landowners still dominated
  • no secret ballot
  • franchise still based off of property
  • residium poor had no vote
  • 1 year residential qualification excluded those who moved around
38
Q

why did the 1867 reform act have an unintentional impact

A

last minute Hodgkinson’s amendment abolish difference between those who paid tax directly to local authorities and those who indirectly. effectively adding 400,000 votes

39
Q

what was the 1872 ballot act?

A

elections done through secret ballot

40
Q

what changed due to the 1872 ballot act?

A
  • less rowdy and violent elections

- bribery actually increased with the 1880 election costing £2 million

41
Q

what happened under the corrupt practices act and when was it?

A

1883

  • restricted each candidate to one paid election agent who had to produce an official report of election expenses
  • penalties for corrupt practices including imprisonment
42
Q

impact of 1883 corrupt practices act

A
  • wiped out corruption. political parties relied on volunteers opposed to paid election workers
  • cut the cost of elections
43
Q

why was there pressure to pass the 1884 representation of the people act

A
  • Gladstone believed that if the urban working class could vote then the rural should be able to too
  • Salisbury, conservative leader, was anti-reform but thought it was better to control the reform rather than be left behind
  • extra-parliamentary pressure was not a feature of this act
44
Q

what did the 1884 representation of the people act do?

A

-property qualifications were standardised between boroughs and counties

45
Q

What was the impact of the 1884 representation of the people act

A 
-added 2.5 million working class voters. About 2/3 of adult male population could vote 
1still excludes many men and all women
46
Q

Why was the 1911 parliament act passed?

A

Liberals wanted to limit the power of the lords. This is the one where the king agreed to create liberal peers in order to pass the bill as long as they kept his involvement a secret

47
Q

What did the 1885 redistribution of seats act do?

A
  • boroughs with less than 15,000 voters lost both MPs, any fewer than 50,000 lost 1 MP
  • most constituencies now had a single MP
  • boundaries redrawn
48
Q

Why was the 1885 redistribution act a little undemocratic

A

Salisbury redrew constituent lines to make sure new suburban districts were creative to increase the conservative vote

49
Q

What did the 1911 parliament act do?

A
  • lords lost the right to amend/reject a finance bill. Retained the right to delay a bill proposed by the HOC for up to 2 years
  • period between elections reduced from 7 to 5 years
  • salary for MPs
50
Q

Why was there limited impact of the 1911 parliament act?

A

Lords remained unelected and the principle of hereditary succession remained

51
Q

Why was the 1911 act good

A
  • ensure primacy of commons over lords

- enabled more working class men to become MPs

52
Q

Why was there pressure to pass the 1918 representation of the people act

A
  • fear if suffragette militarism has stopped during the war but could resurge
  • millions of soldiers weren’t going to qualify for the 1918 election as they couldn’t meet residency qualifications bc of war
  • contribution of women and working class men during war
  • support of Lloyd George as PM
  • increased influence f trade unions and Labour Party
53
Q

What did the 1918 representation of the people act do?

A
  • fave the vote to all adult males over the age of 21 or 18 for war vets with a lower residence qualification
  • women over 30 could vote if they voted in local elections, were householders or had a husband who could vote
54
Q

What was the impact of the 1918 representation of the people act?

A
  • about 95% of all adult males could vote, 8 million women could vote
  • women made up 43% of electorate. 75% voters in 191& had never voted before
55
Q

What was the pressure to pass the 1928 representation of the people act?

A
  • 1919 sex disqualification removal act made inequality in employment illegal, allowing women to access professional jobs
  • increased role of Labour Party in 1920s politics with their manifesto of social equality
  • NUWSS became NUSEC from 1919 and campaigned for female equality
56
Q

What did the 1928 representation of the people act so?

A

-removed the difference between male and female voters

57
Q

What was the impact of the 1928 representation of the people act

A
  • men and women had equal access to vote in elections and the number of women qualified to vote else from 8 million in 1918 to 14.5 million
  • women now made up a majority of the franchise for the first time. Only 12 million makes in the electorate

Britain Edexcel History A Level (7 decks)

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