Extending the Franchise Flashcards
Describe voting in the early 1800s
- very few people could vote
- no secret ballot- publicly declared allegiance
- took place on hustings or at open-air meetings
- elections had to be held once every 7 years
- boundaries for counties and boroughs had not changed in hundreds of years
Describe rotten boroughs
Few people lived in the towns, and seats were openly bought or sold
Describe MPs
- MPs were not paid- had to be very rich
- each county and each borough had 2 MPs
- most of the new industrial towns had no MPs
- rotten boroughs
- many MPs were elected unopposed
- corruption very common
- custom to ‘treat’ voters at election time to ensure their vote
- some Lords with big estates around the country might have 10 more MPs in their power
Describe Lord Stormont
- 2nd June 1780- Gordon Riots
- the British constitution would be dangerous to change
- ‘extending the right of voting to all the Roman citizens destroyed their republic’
Describe Major John Cartwright
- 1776
- published ‘Take your Choice’ pamphlet
- argued in favour of electoral reform and universal manhood suffrage
- toured country for 30 years demanding radical reform
Describe Francis Burdett
- 15th June 1809- introduced Reform Bill into Parliament
- demanded equal electoral districts, annual parliaments, the right of every tax payer to vote
- defeated 79 to 15
Describe William Cobbett
- produced weekly newspaper- the Political Register- widely read and distributed
- subject to perpetual government harassment
Describe Hampden Clubs
- named after ship money rebel of 1637
- set up across country
- 1817- 150
Describe the portrayal of the Napoleonic Wars
- a battle for British freedom against French tyranny
- helped reformers- freedom for who?
- hindered them- anyone opposed to the government was painted as a revolutionary, anti-patriotic and out to destroy everything British
Describe the Spa Fields Riots
- 1816
- London
- James Watson- we have been oppressed for 800 years since the Norman conquest… the Ministers have not granted us our rights
Describe Peterloo gathering
- 16th August 1819
- St. Peter’s Fields, Manchester
- Henry ‘Orator’ Hunt talked about reform
- 100, 000 men, women, children dressed in best clothes marched with banners
- demanded reform, universal suffrage and equal electoral districts
- peaceful protest- scared Manchester magistrates
Describe how the Peterloo gathering was dealt with
- read the Riot Act (most ppl couldn’t hear)
- sent militia
- 11 died, 400 injured (cut with sabres)
- journalists arrested, leaders of protest charged with treason, magistrates and yeomanry praised and acquitted of any wrongdoing
Describe the immediate consequences of the Peterloo Massacre
- Six Acts passed:
- restricted public meetings to less than 50 people
- further restrictions on what journalists could write and publish
- allowed local magistrates to search any property for arms
- military-style drilling became illegal
- increased penalties for seditious or libellous publications
- increased stamp duty on publications
- attempted to speed up convictions
- some people opposed the acts as they said the repression would make opposition grow
Describe parliament of 1830
- Lord Grey- Whig led government
* House of Commons passed 2 Bills which were both rejected by Tory-dominated House of Lords
Describe riots during 1830 parliament
- Bristol, Nottingham and Derby
* Captain Swing protests against new threshing machines
Describe the Great Reform Act in general
- 1832
* third reform Bill passed through both Houses of Parliament
Describe Lord John Russel
- 1792-1878
- Finality Jack
- younger son of Duke of Bedford
- 1813- became MP
- supported Whig Party
- Minister in Earl Grey’s government
- one of the principal architects of the Great Reform Act- as far as the government would go in changing the constitution’
- led Whig opposition to Corn Laws in mid-1840s
- later became unsuccessful PM (1846-52, 1855-56)
Describe the terms of the Great Reform Act
- disenfranchised 56 boroughs in England and Wales
- reduced 31 boroughs to 1MP
- created 67 new constituencies
- broadened the franchise’s property qualification in the counties: included small landowners, tenant farmers and shopkeepers. Some had vote taken away by new property qualifications
- around 650,000 could now vote
- created a uniform franchise in the boroughs- gave the vote to all householders who paid a yearly rental of £10 or more and some lodgers
- explicitly male suffrage only
Describe Lord Grey
- 1764-1845
- Cambridge uni
- 1786- aged 22- Whig MP
- PM- 1830-34
- was an advocate for reform
- Great Reform Act and abolition of slavery passed under his government
- wanted restrictions on Catholics in public life lifted
- wanted to strengthen the current constitution and engage middle classes
- wary of going too far- did not want to aid the political enfranchisement of the workers
Describe reactions to the Great Reform Act
- political and economic agitation increased as ordinary people realised the reform act had not addressed their grievances
- Tolpuddle Martyrs wrongly punished for forming a trade union
- widespread opposition to the Poor Law Amendment Act was effective in some areas
- Ten Hour Movement
- Anti-Corn Law League
Describe the Chartists
- radicals
- politically and economically motivated
- 3 periods of greater activity coincided with economic strife and rising unemployment
- many women were active Chartists (Birmingham Charter Association had over 2000 female members)
- working class members
- December 1842- 401 branches of National Charter Association- 50,000 paid-up members
Describe the People’s Charter
- 1838
- pulled together long-standing demands of the Chartists
- votes for all men over 21
- secret ballot
- equal electoral districts
- no property qualification to become an MP
- payment for MPs
- annual parliaments
Describe how the Chartists operated
- few sympathetic MPs repeatedly raised the issue in parliament
- huge mass meetings and demonstrations held throughout the country
- hijacked Anti-Corn Law League meetings
- Chartist newspapers published widely and cheaply, read out to those who couldn’t buy them
- subscriptions, branches, monthly meetings, newsletters and a list of approved Chartist speakers
- petitions
Describe an example of a Chartist demonstration
- May 1838
- Glasgow
- 150,000 people
Describe Feargus O’Connor
- published the Northern Star (Chartist newspaper)
* devised a Land Plan where unemployed workers drew lots to be resettled on smallholdings
Describe the petitions of the Chartists
- 1839 - 1,280,000 signatures- 235 votes to 46
- 1842 - 3,317,752 signatures
- 1848 - over 5 million signatures (claimed many were forgeries)
- huge petitions collected and presented to Parliament
- all decisively rejected
Describe Thomas Attwood
- 1783-1859
- Birmingham
- banker and economist
- one of Birmingham’s first two MPs after Great Reform Act
- 1835- revived the Birmingham Political Union
- moderate Chartist
- 1838- drafted the People’s Charter along with the London Working Men’s Association
- 1839- presented the first Chartist petition to Parliament
- resigned- scared of Chartists’ fervour
Describe the actions of radical Chartists
- drilled on the moors
- made pikes and other weapons, waiting for a violent uprising
- marches
Describe the Newport Rising
- 1839
- 5,000 marchers wanted to free Chartist prisoners from custody
- 20 Chartists were shot by soldiers
- 6 men were transported to Australia
Describe the government response to Chartism
• repression and no concessions
• careful to try not to make an martyrs
• penal code was harsh
• 1839- 11 men transported to Australia (6 from
Newport Rising)
• 1842- strikes and unrest after failed petition caused 54 to be transported
• 1848- more transportations
• 102 people transported in total
• many arrested and sent to prison on charges of riot, arson and drilling under arms
Describe the short-term significance of Chartism
- next 50 years- 5/6 points were achieved (not annual parliaments)
- 1867, 1872, 1884- more men given voting rights
Describe the long-term significance of Chartism
- influenced the Reform Movement of 1866
- means of political education for the working class
- established idea of political parties (aims, organisation, methods)
