changing political attitudes Flashcards
changing political attitudes
Intro
Other historians argue that changing political attitudes and examples from other countries influenced the Government to introduce legislation. More generally, attitudes towards reform were changing.
changing political attitudes
Knowledge 1 AND 2 (What war infulenced political attuites and what person?)
Many powerful people supported the North in the American Civil War, and it was difficult to argue in favour of Abraham Lincoln, who was seeking to end slavery and democratise America whilst simultaneously opposing reform in Britain.
changing political attitudes
Analysis
This was successful in moving Britain towards full democracy as saw In the 1870s and 1880s, women were accepted into local government and school board elections and their role during the First World War would convince many that they had earned the right to participate in the electoral process nationally too.
changing political attitudes
Counter Analysis
However, this factor is limited because some historians argue that legislation was passed in line with changing political attitudes simply to deflect from questionable foreign policy pursuits in the late 19th century.
changing political attitudes
Evaluation
To evaluate it is clear that Britain’s growth in democracy is partly due to examples of other countries and changing political attitudes. This is reflected in the fact that the electorate grew and attitudes to women began to change in that they were accepted into local government and school board elections as a result of the emerging socialist movement. However, as **historians Kerr and McGonigle argue, **the argument that democracy spread because of change in ideas and attitudes is questionable as they say that the political reforms passed in the 1880s were mainly to promote their own party political interests and **unlikely to have been a response from overseas examples. **
