Britain History Flashcards
Before 1832 % of pop electorate?
5% pop could vote
Corrupt Practices Act?
1883
Redistribution Act?
1885
One seat per constituency
After 1884 % adult males that could vote?
80% men qualified for voting
Henry VI 1430 voting qualification that remained unchanged for 400years?
Vote to all freeholders of property worth £2 per year.
Rotten borough example?
Old Sarum with only 7 elecotors
1918 Reform Act voter increase?
TRIPLED
7 million to 21 million
When was the Glasgow rent strike?
1915
When was the General Strike?
1926
When was the ILP formed?
1893
When is the Liberal Party formed?
1859
When is the 2nd Chartist Petition presented to Parliament?
1842
When was Habeas corpus suspended?
1794
When was Trade Disputes Acts passed?
1927
When was the Chartist National Convention held?
1839
When was the First Chartist Petition presented?
1839
When was the Parliament Act passed?
1911
When were the Corn Laws abolished?
1846
Swing Riots 1830?
riots in protest of poor harvests & intro of machinery
Govt response to Swing Riots?
- suppressed 1831
- 19 men executed
- 1,000 men transported or imprisoned
Adullamite?
anti-reform faction within Liberal Party before 2nd Reform Act
Second Reform Act increased electorate by how much?
1.2M => 2M
1 in 3 adult men had vote
Which was renowned as a corrupt borough, as its voters sold their votes to highest bidder?
Sudbury
Name 2 Rotten Boroughs?
Dunwich
Old Sarum
Who could vote in the counties?
Any freeholder of property worth £2 a year
What was the estimated size of electorate in England & Wales in c.1780, out of a population of 8 million?
about 200,000
Which were not represented at all before 1832?
Liverpool & Manchester
DEMANDS FOR REFORM PRIOR TO 1832?
- enlightenment values
- rise of reform groups eg. LCS
- Unrest after N Wars
- opposition to Corn Laws
- agricultural distress
In what year did the Whigs win the election and form a new government under Earl Grey?
1831
What immediately followed the 1867 Reform Act in 1868, proving that further reform was supported by the people?
Landslide victory of Gladstone and Liberal Party in election
What did Gladstone introduce in 1872 and 1883 respectively?
Ballot Act
&
Corrupt Practices Act
How many women enfranchised in 1918?
8M
Why was the reign of George III (king from 1760 to 1820) somewhat unstable?
Unlike predecessors, wanted more active role in govt.
How did the informal system of ‘Deference’ benefit the aristocracy?
People living in the counties expected to vote for local aristocrat or his family
Burke’s Civil List Act, 1782?
Abolishing +130 sinecures & royal positions
Whig determined to decrease royal influence & make HofC more powerful?
Edmund Burke
Tory PM committed to expanding democracy by allowing sinecures to lapse
William Pitt
Proposed abolishing of rotten boroughs and transfer of seats from counties to boroughs
Pitt’s Failed Reforms
Growing body of politicians seeking to limit king’s influence in 1780s?
Petitioning Movement
When King William IV attempted to dissolve Lord Melbourne’s Whig government in 1834, what was result?
Whigs simply form another government after another election victory
What was the main effect of the 1884 Reform Act and 1885 Redistribution Act on the aristocracy?
Enfranchising of WC means they’re hugely outnumbered in electorate
Corrupt Practices Act clamps down on electoral bribery & corruption year?
1883
Removal of Property Qualification for MPs?
1858
Introduction of Death Duties, Britain’s first inheritance tax?
1894
reduces aristocratic power
What was the result of this constitutional crisis?
1909-1911
Parliament Act made it impossible for Lords to permanently block Commons’ bills
Which part of the Parliament Act in 1911 further eroded the power of the aristocracy?
Payment of MPs
What were the effects of 1918 & 1928 Reform Acts on aristocracy, HofL and monarchy?
Enfranchising of millions more further erodes their power
Disagreement over Corn Law splits party into Peelites & Conservatives?
1846
Effects of Reform Act and enfranchising of working classes sees rise of pro-Labour Liberal politicians (Lib-Labs) years?
1884
Which was the precursor organisation to the LCS?
SCI
When did Major Cartwright form his Society for Constitutional Information?
1780
What was the main method of the corresponding societies?
Spread ideas through printed pamphlets
Complete the sentence: Middle class industrialists comprised most of the membership of the ______. ?
SCI
Which counter-movement was supported by the Government?
The Association Movement
Who was Thomas Hardy?
Founder of the LCS
How did the LCS ensure large membership & participation?
Low subscription fees
What was the size of the LCS at its largest?
5,000
Why did the government fear the LCS so much?
They exaggerated threat & size of organisation
Which event were Spenceans most involved in?
Spa Fields Meeting, 1816
Who were the Blanketeers 1817?
Textile workers who tried to march on London in protest
Which Agent Provocateur played a role in the Pentridge Rising?
Oliver
What happened to the perpetrators of the Pentridge Rising?
3 hanged & beheaded & 14 transported
Of which influential radical publication was Edward Baines the editor?
Leeds Mercury
How many died in the Peterloo massacre 1819?
11
+
400 injured
How many attended St Peter’s Field on 16th August 1819?
60,000
At which two events did Henry Hunt address the crowd?
Spa Fields & Peterloo
How many attended the Spa Fields meeting, and when was it?
10,000, 1816
How many children were being educated in Sunday Schools by 1820?
500,000
What did the Combination Acts of 1799 and 1800 target?
Trade Unions
What was the result of the trial of the leaders of the SCI and LCS in 1794?
All were acquitted
being free
Who founded the first Hampden Club in 1812?
John Cartwright
The first edition of Cobbett’s single-sheet ‘Political Register’ circulated how many copies altogether in 1817?
200,000
When was the People’s Charter approved?
1838
Who set up the LWMA?
chartism
William Lovett
LWMA?
London’s Working Men’s Association
What was the more radical wing of the LWMA, set up in 1837?
East London Democratic Organisation
Why did the BPU enjoy a massive surge in popularity towards the late 1830s?
economic depression
Why did Feargus O’Connor turn to radical politics?
Anger at dismissal as MP due to failure to meet property qualification
What was the circulation of the Northern Star by 1839?
Approx 50,000
Why is the Glasgow Meeting of May 1838 important?
Bringing together of the LWMA and the BPU
What happened at the Birmingham Meeting of August 1838?
People’s Charter formally adopted
What happened at the Kersal Moor meeting of September 1838?
Crowd of 50,000 meet to elect delegates to a National Convention
What were the consequences of the Newport Rising?
Galvanised govt determination to resist Chartists
What caused the move to introduce a second national petition in 1842?
Economic Depression
How many signatures did the Second National Petition contain?
3.3 million
Why was the meeting at Kennington Common 1848 considered a failure?
Only 25,000 turned up
What was the membership of the National Charter Association by 1842?
70,000
Why did O’Connor denounce Lovett’s ‘National Association Promoting the Political and Social Improvement of the People’?
He felt it would distract people from the Charter and its political objectives
How many families were resettled under the Land Plan?
250
The formation of which organisation in 1845 contributed to the growing weakness of Chartism?
National Association of Trade Unions
Which middle class organisations failed to agree on a programme of joint action with Chartism?
Anti-Corn Law League
Why did Chartism struggle to maintain the support of trade unions and societies?
It was a political organisation more than an economic one
When were the Metropolitan Police Act and the Rural Police Act passed?
1829 and 1839
Which actions by the government reduced the threat of the Chartists in the 1840s?
More reforms by Peel’s Conservative government
Why was Charles Napier so instrumental in countering the threat of Chartism from 1839-41?
He sought not to confront Chartists when possible
How many miles of railway lines did Britain boast by 1850?
5,000
MIF reasons for Chartism?
. Economic conditions (depression)
. Anger at Whig govt
. discontent after 1832
. growth & organisation of pro-reform groups
When was the Poor Law Amendment Act?
1834
When was the Factory Act?
1833
govt. ignored working conditions
no limit of 10+ hours
How many troops deployed north because of Chartism threat?
6,000
By 1842 how many people been put on trial to Chartism related-offences?
1,500
One way of describing govt action to Chartism?
effective, swift and pragmatic
NCA?
National Charter Association
est. 1840
By 1842 NCA members?
50,000 & 400 branches across Britain
when was the ‘Plug’ Strikes & riots?
August 1842, after 2nd petition rejected
1848 how many people subscribed to Land Plan?
100,000 subscribed
When was O’Connor elected as MP?
1847
Chartism success
MIF Chartism failure?
- power of state
- changing econ conditions
- divisions in leadership
- splintering support
CP Chartism
SUCCESS vs FAILURE
- Accomplish target? Charter + Corn Law
- methods & leadership: newspapers + mass movement
- support of masses: petitions
- legacy: Sunday schools + respectable WC
What were the criticisms of the 1867 Reform Act?
Corruption; open ballot, bribery etc continued
Rural areas still overrepresented compared to urban areas: eg. southwest England had 45 MPs but northeast with X3 pop. only 32
Why were many disappointed & disillusioned by the 1832 Reform Act?
Didn’t enfranchise enough MC
It actually benefitted & strengthened aristocracy
It tried to preserve as much of the old system as possible
What were consequences of the Redistribution Act of 1885?
Development of ‘Villa Toryism’
For first time, MPs from WC & MC started to outnumber aristocratic
British politics dominated by class instead of specific interests
MIF reasons for Parliamentary reform 1780-1928?
- Pressure form those excluded
- foreign influences
- Politicians & political parties duet to changing society, economy & voting system
CP power of aristocracy?
- 1780-1832
- 1832-1867
- 1884: 1872 & 1883
- 1911 + 1918 & 1928
In 1925 how much of British coal export was by coal cutting machines?
only 20% the rest was handpicked
Keynes estimated that Churchill had overvalued the pound by?
10% by introducing the gold standard
