Demands For Reform 1788-1820

Question 1

Counties Pre-reform franchise

Answer 1

Votes for owners of properties worth 40 shillings a year - 2 MPs regardless of size

Question 2

Boroughs Pre-reform franchise

Answer 2

Also elected 2 MPs, 6 types - examples Scot and Lot (anyone who paid poor rates) and corporation (only town council members)

Question 3

Issues with Pre-reform elections

Answer 3

Lack of secret ballots created corruption, only 11% of men had the vote

Question 4

Pocket Borough + example

Answer 4

Small borough that could easily be manipulated by landowner - example (Gatton bought in 1801 for £90,000 so owner had no rivals )

Question 5

Rotten boroughs + example

Answer 5

A small town that used to be big but declined - Dulwich, 14 voters but 2 MPs

Question 6

Manchester voting franchise pre-reform

Answer 6

Manchester in 1831 had 144,000 population but 0 MPs

Question 7

London Society for Constitution

Answer 7

1780, created by John Cartwright - unsuccessful due to the Gordon Riots

Question 8

Gordon riots

Answer 8

Anti-catholic riots which scared rich from reform

Question 9

William Pitt’s Franchise Proposal in 1785

Answer 9

The disenfranchisement of 36 borough and redistribution of their seats - defeated by 74 votes

Question 10

Impact of the 1789 French Revolution

Answer 10

Made the British question rule of the rich , caused Edmund Burke to write book

Question 11

Edmund Burke’s novel

Answer 11

Wrote in 1790, Burke (Tory MP) published ‘Reflections on the Revolution in France’ -blamed it on a radical political change

Question 12

Thomas Paine’s novel ‘Rights of Man’

Answer 12

Wrote in 1791 as response to Burke - condemned inequalities of system and called for radical reform. Sold 200,000 copies by 1793

Question 13

Sheffield Society Petition ( 1792)

Answer 13

Amassed 10,000 signatures - called for manhood suffrage

Question 14

Copenhagen Fields Demonstration

Answer 14

100,000 people demonstrated in 1795 for political reform

Question 15

Negative impacts from Napoleonic Wars on Reform

Answer 15

Increased government power, lead to 1795 Treason Act - reform stopped until 1815

Question 16

Why did demand for reform return in 1815?

Answer 16

End of Napoleonic wars so 400,000 soldiers came back looking for work+ 1816 harvest failure caused increased economic pressure and revolts

Question 17

Who created the Reform Press?

Answer 17

William Corbett, also wrote Cobbett’s political register

Question 18

Examples of riots organised by the Reform Press

Answer 18

Islington Spa fields (1816), Manchester weavers riot in London

Question 19

What happened at the Penrith Rising 1817?

Answer 19

Jeremiah Brandreth was hung

Question 20

Peterloo Massacre - why was everyone there?

Answer 20

Henry Hunt organised a speech in St Peter’s Field , 60,000 attended (1819)

Question 21

What happened in the Peterloo Massacre?

Answer 21

Crowds attacked by sabre charges - 18 died and 400 were wounded

Question 22

What was the government reaction to the Peterloo Massacre?

Answer 22

Passing of the 6 acts (1819) which banned public meetings of 50+ and gave the death penalty for seditious libel

Question 23

What were the reformist attitudes to the Peterloo Massacre?

Answer 23

Some dropped out of reform but some increased radical views (Arthur Thistlewood plot to assassinate the cabinet )

Question 24

Why had reform slowed by 1820?

Answer 24

Previous failure, economic revival

Question 25

Why did factory owners rarely support political reform?

Answer 25

More conservative due to laissez- faire economics, gaining more benefits from the current system

Question 26

Why did more factory owners support reform after 1815?

Answer 26

Government tightened trade after 1815, and due to the corn Laws (1816) were forced to raise wages as cost of living increases - upset owners

Question 27

How much did the economy grow between 1821-1829?

Answer 27

GNP increased by 16.8% and manufacturing grew by 25%, less demand for reform

Question 28

What occurred in parliament in 1822?

Answer 28

Rise of liberal Toryism, Robert Peel example

Question 29

How was Liberal Toryism shown to be weak in 1822?

Answer 29

Whig leader Lord Russel’s bill to disenfranchise 100 boroughs and redistribute the seats received no support

Question 30

Why did poor harvests in 1828/29 increase demand for reform?

Answer 30

Rise in food prices, increases discontent of working class

Question 31

What occurred due to poor harvests of 1828/29?

Answer 31

Swing riots, more widespread support in urban areas by 1830 - March 1830 200 petitions to government for less taxes

Question 32

What Act was passed in 1795, and what did this entail?

Answer 32

1795 Seditious Meetings Act - banned meetings of 50+

Question 33

What was suspended in 1794, and what did this entail?

Answer 33

Habeus Corpus, reduced risk of revolution as increased fear of working class as could be imprisoned without trial