Demands For Reform 1788-1820 Flashcards
Counties Pre-reform franchise
Votes for owners of properties worth 40 shillings a year - 2 MPs regardless of size
Boroughs Pre-reform franchise
Also elected 2 MPs, 6 types - examples Scot and Lot (anyone who paid poor rates) and corporation (only town council members)
Issues with Pre-reform elections
Lack of secret ballots created corruption, only 11% of men had the vote
Pocket Borough + example
Small borough that could easily be manipulated by landowner - example (Gatton bought in 1801 for £90,000 so owner had no rivals )
Rotten boroughs + example
A small town that used to be big but declined - Dulwich, 14 voters but 2 MPs
Manchester voting franchise pre-reform
Manchester in 1831 had 144,000 population but 0 MPs
London Society for Constitution
1780, created by John Cartwright - unsuccessful due to the Gordon Riots
Gordon riots
Anti-catholic riots which scared rich from reform
William Pitt’s Franchise Proposal in 1785
The disenfranchisement of 36 borough and redistribution of their seats - defeated by 74 votes
Impact of the 1789 French Revolution
Made the British question rule of the rich , caused Edmund Burke to write book
Edmund Burke’s novel
Wrote in 1790, Burke (Tory MP) published ‘Reflections on the Revolution in France’ -blamed it on a radical political change
Thomas Paine’s novel ‘Rights of Man’
Wrote in 1791 as response to Burke - condemned inequalities of system and called for radical reform. Sold 200,000 copies by 1793
Sheffield Society Petition ( 1792)
Amassed 10,000 signatures - called for manhood suffrage
Copenhagen Fields Demonstration
100,000 people demonstrated in 1795 for political reform
Negative impacts from Napoleonic Wars on Reform
Increased government power, lead to 1795 Treason Act - reform stopped until 1815
Why did demand for reform return in 1815?
End of Napoleonic wars so 400,000 soldiers came back looking for work+ 1816 harvest failure caused increased economic pressure and revolts
Who created the Reform Press?
William Corbett, also wrote Cobbett’s political register
Examples of riots organised by the Reform Press
Islington Spa fields (1816), Manchester weavers riot in London
What happened at the Penrith Rising 1817?
Jeremiah Brandreth was hung
Peterloo Massacre - why was everyone there?
Henry Hunt organised a speech in St Peter’s Field , 60,000 attended (1819)
What happened in the Peterloo Massacre?
Crowds attacked by sabre charges - 18 died and 400 were wounded
What was the government reaction to the Peterloo Massacre?
Passing of the 6 acts (1819) which banned public meetings of 50+ and gave the death penalty for seditious libel
What were the reformist attitudes to the Peterloo Massacre?
Some dropped out of reform but some increased radical views (Arthur Thistlewood plot to assassinate the cabinet )
Why had reform slowed by 1820?
Previous failure, economic revival
Why did factory owners rarely support political reform?
More conservative due to laissez- faire economics, gaining more benefits from the current system
Why did more factory owners support reform after 1815?
Government tightened trade after 1815, and due to the corn Laws (1816) were forced to raise wages as cost of living increases - upset owners
How much did the economy grow between 1821-1829?
GNP increased by 16.8% and manufacturing grew by 25%, less demand for reform
What occurred in parliament in 1822?
Rise of liberal Toryism, Robert Peel example
How was Liberal Toryism shown to be weak in 1822?
Whig leader Lord Russel’s bill to disenfranchise 100 boroughs and redistribute the seats received no support
Why did poor harvests in 1828/29 increase demand for reform?
Rise in food prices, increases discontent of working class
What occurred due to poor harvests of 1828/29?
Swing riots, more widespread support in urban areas by 1830 - March 1830 200 petitions to government for less taxes
What Act was passed in 1795, and what did this entail?
1795 Seditious Meetings Act - banned meetings of 50+
What was suspended in 1794, and what did this entail?
Habeus Corpus, reduced risk of revolution as increased fear of working class as could be imprisoned without trial
