Great Reform Act Flashcards
What did the Act do with how many could vote?
It went from 11% to 18% in population of men
What did the Act do with how it was chosen for people to get the vote?
It made everywhere equal in how they chose who could vote
What did the Act do with who could vote in boroughs?
40s for freeholders
£50 for tenets
What did the Act do with who could vote in counties?
Owners of occupiers of properties with £10 or more per year in rent
What did the Act do with where MPs came from and distribution of MPS?
56 rotten boroughs had both of their MPs and 22 boroughs were given 2 new MPs like Manchester, Leeds and Birmingham
What did the Act do with elections?
It didn’t change anything, it was still an open ballot so could easily be bribed Voters had to be registered on the electoral role Working class came to try and influence who became the MP
Why was the change in distribution of votes changed unfair?
In some areas the rent for land was low, so more people could vote in urban areas because it was cheaper
What happened the second time the bill went through Parliament?
It got through the House of Commons but not the House of Lords because of the Tories not wanting change
Why didn’t the candidates change to be an MP?
The House of Commons didn’t change much because MPs were unpaid, do worker’s couldn’t leave their jobs for such a long period of time and so it was mostly land owners
How did this change the political parties in the government?
The Whigs and Tories became more divided because they wanted to win over different parts of the country as workers were now written and documented
Why does this act deserve to be called great?
It was a new idea and revolutionary at the time, giving more people the vote
It opens the doors to more possibilities and that the government would listen to the people
Why does this act not deserve to be called great?
It didn’t do much with voting and the people who became MPs didn’t change much either
Didn’t change slavery, still mostly upper class
What class could now vote?
Middle class
What happened to the middle and working class union and why?
The idea that you had to pay £10 so it meant that the working class isn’t included in the vote, which split the middle/ working class alliance
What was the chances of the great reform act happening in 1830?
No chance of reform but Earl Greg thought it would be necessary to combat revolution. The Whigs wanted a fairer country
