Chapter 2-- The Origins and Impact of Parliamentary Reform Flashcards
Why was there increasing demand for parliamentary reform in 1829-30?
Reformers continued to highlight worst abuses of unreformed system (rotten boroughs- Dunwich, Old Sarum)
Stability meant reform realistic & respectable goal of M.C.s
1) Act of Catholic Emancipation passed 1929 to prevent rebellion of unrighted Irish Catholics; betrayed Tories, Church, constitution- Tories demoralised, joined whigs to break gov
2) William IV (general election @ poor harvest, unemployment, reform demand- gov losses); Wellington block reform but people discussing it, Whigs pushing it: WILL NOT OPPOSED- Wellington resigned
3) POLITICAL UNIONS (29-30 economic discontent, 6/30 French Revo, general election–> radicalism/revolution): ‘out of doors’ pressure- resistance would provoke violence
BPU (1st meeting 15k, Atwood)- reform through ‘general political union of the lower and the middle classes’ (worked in ireland)
Metropolitan Political Union (Hunt, London)- artisans and craftsmen (some others more mc: lawyers, merchants, businessmen, make gov respond to TRADE & INDU)
Manc, Leeds, Sheff
What kind of reform did Lord Grey want?
Whig Gov Nov 1830
MODERATE- get rid of old injustices & stop revolution:
In touch, resistance=violence; Reform a priority; deal w worst abuses– bye rot brgh, seats for new big towns
NOT REVOLUTIONARIES: preserve aristocratic rule w support of middle classes, m&l c partnership: ‘purify’ system; ‘reform in order to preserve’
1) ‘large enough to satisfy public opinion’ (demo, press, petit)
2) ‘to afford sure ground for resistance to further innovation’ once 4 all
3) ‘based on property’ (voting koalafikations, not UMS/democracy)
4) ‘on existing franchises and territorial divisions’ (40 shilling in counties, preserve constit boundaries)
5) ‘Run no risk of overthrowing the [existing] form of government’
MOST WC NOT QUALIFY £10 (Thomas McCaulay), MC instead won over ‘to the side of security and stability’
What arguments were made by opponents of reform?
‘absolutely electrifying shock’- 60 B of both, 47 of one
1) Peel: not be ‘final’- more demands later as MPs promise further change: ‘offer votes and power to a million men and will quote your precedent’
2) Giving into demands for reform endanger whole political system, nearer revolution
-
picked apart in committee, major amendments
probably whigs stay in power once enfranchised m.c.s
Thomas McCauley 2/3/1831
‘I oppose Universal Suffrage because I think it would produce a destructive revolution. I support this measure, because I am sure it is our best security against a revolution’ ‘conservation’ ‘exclude… vast numbers who are as interested in preserving tranquility, who know best how to preserve it… we drive over to the side of revolution those whom we shut out from power’
How and why did Grey warn the Lords of the dangers of rejecting reform?
'the bill, the whole bill and nothing but the bill'- first reform in 200y: widespread support, UMS more likely eventually, (130 seat majority, 76/82 county seats- more free voting- pro-reform candidates success) M-cs didn't want UMS but needed support of huge numbers/agitation to put pressure on king/opponents in gov/not back down Large open air meetings, banners, music, The Times supported reform, 'The Nation', 'The People' (fake, new class unity) GREY MET WITH ATWOOD early OCT 1831: atwood planning a big demo, grey hinted time to make BPU felt- huge Bmghm march (100,000, bankers to miners, orderly, The Times, speeches, petition approved and A+79 sent to P next day)
“reject a measure sanctioned by an overwhelming majority of the representatives of the people in the other House- the people themselves, at the same time, roused and agitated from one end of the country to the other… consider what will be the consequences… be wise in time and avoid those dangers which will inevitably arise from your rejection”
What effects did the riots of autumn 1831 have on the government and its supporters?
‘the clamour outside’- 4/32
Nottingham, Derby, Bristol (surpressed by troops) (bishop’s palace, B MP house, B center ruined)
Whig, Tories, Aristocracy, Middle Classes all shocked: could discredit reform movement, cause gov back down, strengthen tories accusation (reform lead to revolution/civil war)- had to make it look responsible; focus of Attwood, peaeful mass protest to not discredit (But others wanted more militancy, Henry Hunt pointing out ‘nine-tenths’ exluded)
Why did the Whigs need the support of the king?
12/1831- third reform bill- Lords pass? King, under pressure from Grey, may create more peers to get bill through (50-60: G: ‘a measure of extreme force’)
Reformers feared Whigs were weakening
He could get the bill passed unamended; the lords rejected it, Whigs resigned, King asked Tories
When Wellington couldn’t form a gov, the king asked Whigs back; said he would create peers, but didn’t need to, as lords abstained upon secretary’s wish
What difficulties did Wellington have in forming a government?
Wellington, despite accusing Whigs of inciting revolution in April, knew gov would have to pass some reform to settle q and calm agitation
- Several tories refused to serve in a gov that passed reform
- Some still angry w Wellington and Peel for Catholic emancipation
- Peel needed to form a Tory government; not completely opposed to reform, needed to be settled, but not the one to do it- opposed Bill 1, not going back on word
14/5: accepted he couldn’t form a gov; too many leading Tories refusing
How effective was the threat of mass resistance in 1831-2?
‘To Stop the Duke, Go for Gold’: EFFECTIVE- Rothschild warned only recalling Grey could help
- 12/5, meeting of political union delegates in London: Francis Place printed the above
- Demand gold equivalent of paper money from banks, depleting stocks and causing financial collapse
- DISRUPT ECON: businesses cant borrow £ to produce
- widespread, peaceful, hard to handle; Placards w slogan w.in 4 hours
Wellington: ‘there is a way to make them’, hated P.U.s- disorder
- Alexander Sommerville’s diary: ‘stop [BPU] on the road’, Sun 13/5: regiment ‘rough-sharpening’ swords (1st since W.Loo)
What were the most significant changes introduced in the 1832 Reform Act?
DIST. OF SEATS- 145 borough seats abolished (massive, unprecendented): many awarded to large towns & cities of north/indu- urban voters up
- number of county seats increased: more ‘open’, less controlled
ELECTORATE QUALIFICATIONS- Uniform system of franchises (one B, one C)
- 490,000-800,000 (60%) 1 in 5 ad males (SHOPKEEPERS, most m.c, some craftsmen)
- Most W.C excluded, but some regions (LDN>Leeds) could meet £10
- s. increase in No. of contested elections: 30% previous 30, 50% future 30
- Electoral register; more efficient party organisation
To what extent did the landowning classes still dominate Parliament after the passing of the 1832 Reform Act?
Michael Smith: ‘the House of Commons exerted an influence over the Upper House and the monarchy that made it the most powerful branch of government in nineteenth-century Britain”
ARISTOCRACY
NOT SO MUCH- seats controlled by HoL members reduced
- HoL forced to back down: power and prestige less formidable, dominance of Commons confirmed
- 1835 similar voting qualifications for local parliament, many businessmen actively involved: every day life stuff- health, education
BUT ALSO MUCH- Landlords continued to exert influence (pocket boroughs, county elections- £50 tenant farmers vote same way as landlords (still ‘open’ elections)
- Most Cabinet ministers, and all PMs for 30 years (save Peel) were aristocratic
- No MP payment, need to own £600 & jobs: few industrialists MPs (fewer than 100)– Dec 1832 election; 75% of MPs landowners
Why and how did the 1832 Reform Act lead to the development of political party organisation?
Electoral register spurred party organisation: W and T tried to ensure all registered, challenged claims of opponent’s supporters
Local party agents appointed in large constituencies; more professional
Tory Carlton (1832), Whig Reform Clubs (1836). TORY: PEEL knew increased need to manage elections: 1834: Tory leader- issued Tamworth Manifesto 1846 (open letter to constituents- press): show newly enfranchised MC that Tories moved on, not backward-looking "I consider the Reform Bill a final settlement"; 'correction of proved abuses' in the 'spirit of the reform bill'. Term Conservative began to be used, new image: reform abuses but conserve 'established institutions' (CoE) Lichfield House Compact (2/1835): Whigs + Irish Catholic MPs + small no. of radical MPs = unite & defeat Conservatives YET peel n party returned to power 1841: first occasion on which a gov with parliamentary majority was defeated in election by opposition party LIBERAL: 1846, Peel introduced bill for repeal of Corn Laws- split party (vital to prosperity, symbol of aristocratic rule, traitor): 2/3 of conservatives voted against; 100MPs stayed loyal to Peel- 'peelites', distinct from W or C
Party loyalties in flux: 9 separate govs from 1848 to 68 (many coalition): no of peelites declined, those remaining joined Whigs, creating Liberal party
1859: LDN meeting: Peelites, Whig, Radicals formed an anti-Conservative alliance to defeat them: anti-Conservative move or key moment in foundation of Liberal Party.
