Growth of Parliamentary Democracy, 1785-1870

Question 1

What percentage of the population could vote prior to 1832

Answer 1

roughly 5%.

In 1831, 400,000 had the right to vote out of a population of 13.89 million

Question 2

What was Lancashire’s population, and how many MPs did they have

Answer 2

1.3 million and 14 MPs

Question 3

What was Cornwall’s population, and how many MPs did they have

Answer 3

300,000 and 42 MPs

Question 4

Which PM first proposed some reform

Answer 4

William Pitt, proposing to disenfranchise 36 of the worst boroughs and redistribute their seats to larger counties.

Defeated by 74 votes in the Commons

Question 5

Which societies called for reform in the late 1700s

Answer 5

London Corresponding Society and the Sheffield Society for Constitutional Information

Question 6

How large was the London Corresponding Society

Answer 6

Founder claimed 5000 members, closer to 1000

October 1795, demonstration in Copenhagen fields attracted over 100,000 people

Question 7

How many copies did Paine’s ‘Rights of Man’ sell and what did he argue?

Answer 7

Sold 200,000 copies by 1793

Response to Burke’s “Reflections on the Revolutions in France”. Questioned the nobility and church.

Charged with treason in 1792, fled to France

Question 8

How many troops returned home after the Napoleonic Wars

Answer 8

400,000

Question 9

How many seats in elections were uncontested prior to 1832

Answer 9

2/3

Question 10

What did the 1815 Corn Law do

Answer 10

Put tariffs on foreign imports of ‘corn’ (cereals), tariff was 10 shillings per bushel

Question 11

Which anti-reform laws did William Pitt pass to crush radicalism

Answer 11

1794, Habeas Corpus suspended

December 1795, ‘Two Acts’ expanded the law of treason

1799 and 1800 Combination Acts

Question 12

What were ‘Church and King’ clubs?

Answer 12

Loyalist groups which used violence and intimidation to crush threats

Birmingham (1791) and Manchester (1792), they attacked dissenters and reformers

1000s of Loyalist groups by 1793

Question 13

What was the largest loyalist group in the late 18th century

Answer 13

Association for Preserving Liberty and Property against Republicans and Levellers (APLP)

2000 branches nationwide

Question 14

Who were the ‘Volunteers’ and what did they do

Answer 14

From 1794, a paramilitary force to keep order during wars against the French.

By 1804, 450,000 members

Question 15

When and what was the Peterloo Massacre

Answer 15

1819, Henry Hunt did a speech to 60000 people to demand universal suffrage.

Yeomanry sent to arrest him, but were swamped by crowd. 15th Hussars sent to rescue them and killed 11, wounding 400-600

Question 16

What was the Cato Street Conspiracy

Answer 16

A plan in 1820 to assassinate Lord Liverpool’s cabinet, led by Arthur Thistlewood

This was stopped by Government spy George Edwards

Question 17

When did Lord Liverpool resign

Answer 17

1827, after 15 years of stable government

Question 18

How did the Duke of Wellington divide the Tory party

Answer 18

Alienated ‘Canningite’ faction by refusing to consider redistribution of seats, so they resigned from government

Angered the protestant ‘Ultras’ by supporting the Catholic Emancipation Act (1829), which allowed Catholics to become MPs. Wellington did this out of fear of civil war in Ireland

Question 19

How did the Whigs come into power in June 1830

Answer 19

General election following death of George IV

Lord Grey announced he’d support moderate reform and gained support of Canningites and Ultras

William IV thusly invites Earl Grey to form a new government

Question 20

When was there a depression in the 1820’s

Answer 20

1825-1826

Question 21

What was the size of the new electorate following the Great Reform Act (1832)

Answer 21

650,000 (18% of men)

Contested seats increased from 30% to 50%

Question 22

How many years were Tories in power from 1832 to 1852

Answer 22

7 years

Question 23

When were the Chartist petitions and how many signatures did they get

Answer 23

1839, 1.2 million signatures

1842, 3.3 million signatures

1848, 5.7 million signatures but 3.7 million were forged.

Question 24

What was the Newport Rising (1839)

Answer 24

3000 Chartists marched on Westgate Hotel to free 5 chartist prisoners. Soldiers read the riot act and open fired

20 dead, 50 wounded.

Question 25

What were the Plug Riots (1842)

Answer 25

Followed rejection of second petition, 500,000 go on strike, and removed plugs from factory boilers.

Peel arrests 1000 chartists. Govt. agreement to cancel wage reductions and good harvests lull protests.

Question 26

Why did the Complete Suffrage Union (Chartist organisation) fall out with the ACLL

Answer 26

CSU feared wage reductions under free trade, and thus fell out in 1842

The middle class also felt threatened by O’Connor and his mob threatening to destroy their property

Question 27

What did the National Reform Union want (1864)

Answer 27

sought to extend the franchise to include all male rate payers

Question 28

What did the Reform League want (1865)

Answer 28

universal suffrage for men and a secret ballot

Question 29

What happened during the Hyde Park Riots, 23 July, 1866

Answer 29

Reform League held a meeting to discuss future reform action

Declared illegal by Conservative home secretary, Spencer Walpole

200,000 people invaded the park, resulting in the police calling for military supports

Question 30

What was the PM Lord Palmerstone known for, and when did he die

Answer 30

Ignored calls for reform as he had focused on foreign policy.

Won another election in 1865 and then died, to be replaced by Earl Russell

Question 31

When was the first reform bill in the 1860’s introduced to parliament

Answer 31

Gladstone introduced a reform bill in 1866, reducing the required qualifications to vote

Opposed by Robert Lowe, also from the Liberal Party, who led the Adullamites

The bill was defeated and the government resigned

Question 32

How many voters were there after the Second Reform Act of 1867, and what were the requirements?

Answer 32

2.46 million voters, 1/3 of all men

Householders in the boroughs had to have lived there for a year and occupied property worth £10

In the counties, all owners or leaseholders of land worth £5 a year

Question 33

What book did Whig philosopher Edmund Burke write in 1790, and what did he argue

Answer 33

Reflections on the Revolution in France

Defended the status quo, arguing that moderate reform could lead to violent revolution

Question 34

Who set up the Birmingham Political Union, and how many attended the average rally

Answer 34

Thomas Atwood

100,000 people