Growth Of Parlimentary Democracy

Question 1

What was 18th century political system like

Answer 1

• house of lords held more power
• voting rights were limited
• only wealthy men could vote
• monarchy could choose pm
• MPs don’t receive a wage (encouraged buying)
• some industrial cities had no MPs

Question 2

Why was there a need for reform

Answer 2

• French Revolution, could encourage uprises in Britain
• there were 2 MPs per county regardless of size
• rigged elections
• 11% of the country could vote
• no secret ballot
• house of lords had to much power

Question 3

What are the 2 types of Boroughs

Answer 3

• pocket borough: controlled by one individual who controlled atleast half the population through residents renting their land. They could threaten residents to make them vote for them
• rotten borough: a borough that was able to elect an MP despite having very few voters, the choice of MP typically being in the hands of one person or family.

Question 4

What were the 3 political parties

Answer 4

• Tories: comprised of wealthy landowners, many were members of the aristocracy and were supported by the king. Key figures included Pitt, Liverpool. Opposed parliament reform and very old fashioned. Conservatives today)
• Whigs: comprised of wealthy land owners and the aristocracy. Many looked to the removal of the monarch from political power. More opens to reform but still opposed to it.
• radicals: a handful of MPs who wanted political reform and improvement for the working class. Many of their ideas were inspired by Bentham utilitarianism

Question 5

What were the strengths and weaknesses of Britain’s non reformed political system

Answer 5

+democratic system and one of the best in Europe
+most of the population was at least represented by an mp
+MPs were well educated
+the government was strong
-11% could vote
-some areas like Manchester weren’t represented and had high populations of 250,000
-no secret ballot
-2/3 MPs were in the south of England and the north was less represented even though it was economically important

Question 6

How did the French Revolution cause political reform in Britain (1789-1793)

Answer 6

• lower classes overthrew the aristocracy and removed monarchy from power
• many reasons for Revolution were similar to problems in England. Eg/ rising taxes, starvation, lack of democracy.
• common people knew about this and wanted a say in parliament
• thomas Paine; wrote a book “rights of man” defended the French Revolution and believed in overthrowing the Monarchy
• Burke; he opposed the French Revolution as he believed it was an attack on the British constitution. But he was a rich mp and many didn’t agree with him

Question 7

What was the impact of the French Revolution on Britain

Answer 7

• demand for political reform sprung up in 1789 following criticism of the British parliamentary system.
• Paine believed the Revolution was necessary
• led to marches and petitions which caused the government to introduce bills opposing them
• 1795 treason act made the death penalty punishment for treason
• public meetings were banned
• Revolution was slandered including Paine and positives of the system was brought up

Question 8

What were the social factors that contributed to the 1832 act

Answer 8

• population growth and shift From rural to urban areas. However boroughs still only had 2 representatives.
• riots in 1831 against the political system forced change. Riots in Bristol were some of the worst ever seen and caused £300,000 of damage, 31 executed.
• the American war of independence and French Revolution highlighted the need for people power.
• pamphlets led to the public knowing political flaws. William cobbetts political register at an affordable rate (2d)
• Luddite’s and swing riots

Question 9

Economic factors that contributed to the 1832 reform act

Answer 9

• a series of riots (luddites burnt machinery) and they highlighted economic problems for the urban and agricultural poor
• hunger, unemployment, rising prices caused a contrast form rich to poor
• the growing business and trade classes were making Britain richer but the areas they lived in were I represented and people wanted the MC to have more say on taxation
• slump in agriculture and industry so strikes broke out in Manchester following the formation of a trade union
• end of Napoleonic war there was depression and corn laws of 1815 drive up cost of wheat
• the Cato street conspiracy 1820 was an attempt to assassinate the entire cabinet.

Question 10

Political factors contributed to the reform act of 1832

Answer 10

• newspapers and pamphlets let people know the flaws of the political system. William cobbetts political register was very cheap and spread ideas
• by summer 1831 the public opinion was massively reformist. Few MPs survived re election if they opposed reform. Whigs wanted to seize power, leading to grey introducing 3 bills(last was only passed after grey threatened the tories with more whigs in the House of Lords)
• the Birmingham political union 1829 led by Thomas Atwood pushed electoral reform. He gave speeches to crowds of 200,000
• George IV died in 1830 and William IV made Whig earl grey to form an administration as wellington wouldn’t form one. Grey had tried to introduce a reform bill for 40 years

Question 11

What was the 1832 reform bill

Answer 11

-Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom that introduced major changes to the electoral system of England and Wales.
-abolished tiny districts, gave representation to cities, gave the vote to small landowners, tenant farmers, shopkeepers, householders who paid a yearly rental of £10 or more, and some lodgers.

Question 12

What was the causes and consequences of the American war of independence in 1775-1783

Question 13

What were the causes and consequences of the French Revolution in 1789

Question 14

How did the decline of the Tory party. Cause the 1832 reform act

Answer 14

• since 1812 lord Liverpool and teh Rory party had been in power
• in the 1820s there was economic prosperity so there was little cause for reform
• tories started dividing after the Catholic emancipation
• lord Liverpool kept the party together and they managed to maintain their control
• lord Liverpool resigned in 1827 and died in 1828
• the party was weak and went through 3 leaders in 11 months
• the Catholic problem led to the party splitting into liberals and ultras
• the whigs took over in 1831

Question 15

How did middle class pressure lead to the reform act of 1832

Answer 15

• the middle class grew out of the industrial Revolution and made the political system look old fashioned
• the class was growing in size and economic importance
• the members were affluent and well educated
• they took their money out of banks in 1820s to stop government investment in industrial Revolution, the middle class used the banks the most and so the government had to give them voting rights

Question 16

How did the failure of the first and second bill cause teh passage of the reform act in 1832

Answer 16

In March 1831 a bill was presented to parliament which wasn’t radical. It suggested 100 rotten and pocket boroughs should be abandoned to make place for seats in industrial towns. The tories opposed and led to the government being dissolved. The whigs returned with a majority meaning the bill could be passed

Question 17

How did riots and the 3rd reform act help pass the 1832 reform act

Answer 17

• when the reform bills were defeated, riots broke out across the country. Bristol riots lasted 3 days and killed 130 people
• this prompted a 3rd reform bill in December 1831. This bill aimed at making people more widely represented which got through the House of Commons but was blocked in lords, caused riots throughout the country
• Luddite riots cause economic issues and couldn’t be ignored

Question 18

How did the days of may in 1832 lead to the reform act of 1832

Answer 18

-The Days of May was a period of significant social unrest and political tension in the United Kingdom in May 1832, after the Tories[a] blocked the Third Reform Bill in the House of Lords, which aimed to extend parliamentary representation to the middle and working classes as well as the newly industrialised cities of the English Midlands and the North of England.
-when grey resigned the tories were asked to form a government which the public didn’t like. The middle class withdrew money and investments form banks and 1.8 million was lost. It was suspected a Revolution would occur but wellington failed to form a government so the king asked grey to form one and promised to back his reformist ideas
-The crisis was defused by the reinstatement of Grey’s government on 15 May and King William IV’s agreement in principle to create enough new peers to build a Whig majority in the Lords which would allow the bill to pass.

Question 19

What were provisions of the 1832 act (what did the bill do)

Answer 19

• one 4th June 1832 the first reform act was published. 56 boroughs were disenfranchised and 30 more lost one/2 MPs
• 42 boroughs were created and counties now had more seats than boroughs
• scotland got 8 more seats and Ireland got 5
• anyone who owned £10 of land could vote and voters now had to register

Question 20

What was the significance of the 1832 act

Answer 20

• 18% of the population could now vote but only men and middle and upper class
• more reform was now demanded
• there was more representation in urban areas such as in Manchester and Birmingham. 42 nee boroughs in England
  -8 new seats in parliament for Scotland
  -5 new seats in parliament for Ireland
• there was still a north and south divide
• there was very little change
  -abolition of 56 boroughs
  -

Question 21

What changed with the 1832 reform act

Answer 21

• there was an increase in 394,000 male voters to 650,000 which grew form 11%-18%
• voting increased from 366,000-650,000
• middle class could vote
• women couldn’t vote anymore
• 2 system party becomes more established
• increase form county seat from 69-160

Question 22

What stayed the same after the 1832 reform act

Answer 22

• MPs still had majority control
• working class couldn’t vote
• aristocracy still had control
• political campaigns still allowed bribery
• no secret ballot
• still poverty and economic problems

Question 23

What was the municipal corporations act 1835

Answer 23

It’s an act that established a uniform system of municipal boroughs m, to be governed by town councils elected by rate payers. Each borough was to appoint a town clerk and treasurer who were not to be member of the council.

Question 24

Who was William pitt

Answer 24

• British Tory statesman of the late 18th century and early 19th century. Was prime minister in 1804-1806
• concerned himself with the cause of parliamentary reform
• in 1785 he introduced a bill to remove the representation of 36 rotten boroughs
• was one of the only few people of power who wanted reform

Question 25

Who was lord Liverpool

Answer 25

• youngest and longest serving prime minister 1812-1827
• called for repressive measures at domestic level to maintain order after the Peter-loo massacre 1819.
• he steered the country through the period of radicalism and unrest that followed the Napoleonic war
• by 1820 he was the leader of a reform faction of liberal tories who lowered the tariff, abolished the death penalty for many offences and defined the criminal law.

Question 26

Who was lord John Russell

Answer 26

• leading Whig and liberal politician who served as prime minister of the UK on 2 occasions during the mid 19th century.
• he led indefatigable battles in parliament over the years on behalf of the expansion of liberty.
• Russel led his Whig party into support of the reform and was the principle architect of the great reform act of 1832

Question 27

Who was a lord Charles grey

Answer 27

• prime minister form 22nd November 1830-16th July 1834.
• he backed significant reform of teh British government and was among the primary architects of the reform act 1832. His government also saw the abolition of slavery.

Question 28

Who was lord wellington

Answer 28

• was a English-Irish soldier and statesmen who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th century Britain. His defeat of Napoleon at the battle of Waterloo in 1815 put him in the first rank of Britain’s military hero’s. In 1828 he became prime minister
• he oversaw the passage of the Catholic relief act 1829 but opposed the 1832 reform act

Question 29

Who was George canning

Answer 29

• British statesman and Tory politician who served in various senior cabinet positions under numerous prime ministers became prime minister for 4 months in 1827
• he found it hard to build a cabinet and invited a number of whigs to join.
• he didn’t discuss parliamentary reform as he was against it

Question 30

What was chartism

Answer 30

Chartism was a working class movement, which emerged in 1836 and was most active between 1838 and 1848. The aim of the Chartists was to gain political rights and influence for the working classes. The protests were mainly in the north, wales and midlands.
-chartists developed due to the 1832 reform act which abolished pot walloped laws, thereby removing the working class from the democratic process
-formed following the authorship of the pope led charter published in ‘the northern star’ and ‘poor man’s guardian’
-William Lovett and Henry hetherington
-* 1836 London’s men association is formed which was early chartists
* 1838 the peoples charter published
* 1839 the first Chartists petition presented to parliament
* 1842 second Chartists on petition
* 1848 third chartist petition

Question 31

What were the 6 charter reforms and when were they achieved

Answer 31

1•vote for all adult men (achieved 1918)
2•secret ballot (achieved 1872)
3•MPs should have no minimum property qualification (achieved 1858)
4•payment for MPs (achieved 1911)
5•each parliamentary constitution will have the same number of voters (achieved 1885)
6•general electrons are held each year (never happened)
•they also wanted to improve education, freedom of press, improved library system, and improved working conditions (these were not part of teh charter)

Question 32

The success of chartism

Answer 32

-all 6 chartist demands were achieved by 1819
-nationalist movemnet
-did get their bills to parliament even if they were rejected
-the upper class started to notice them and some in parliament wanted reformation
-mass movement from working class 1.3m
-one of the first mass movements which encouraged future movements like suffragettes
-paved the way for radical ideas and people
-lasted for 10 years

Question 33

Why did chartism fail

Answer 33

-the House of Commons rejected all 3 petitions. If they accepted them it would cause social unstability
-Chartists used violence. Some were radical and some were peaceful so they didn’t agree in the ways to protest. The upper and middle class wouldn’t take them seriously as they were dangerous and so wouldn’t listen to them, this feat was fuelled by the French Revolution and other protests. The gov was very against it
-lack of single leadership
-poor coordination
-small an isolated. They were mainly in the north, midlands where it was industrialised but not the south so they couldn’t do a national protest.
-radical ideas; wanting more political power was radical and many weren’t educated on politics so didn’t care
-asking for to much at the time of 1832 reform act
-lacked support from middle class who gave up easily
-some groups were more focused on propaganda and education while others were focused on direct protest and the 6 reforms.
-mainly on benefited men not women

Question 34

Who were the leaders and members of the Chartists and their system to spread their ideas

Answer 34

• London Working Men’s Association, led by William Lovett and Henry Vincent
• most members were the working class bug sometimes the middle class
• at the great Chartist meeting of 1848 50,000 people attended
• 1.3 million people signed the petition
• up to 10 lecture happened each week

Question 35

What was the Newport uprising in 1839

Answer 35

• violent physical force Chartist uprising in Newport wales in 1839. 22 died on the protest where they were seeking a political voice
• organised by middle class men (John frost, Williams, Oswald beerhost and William jones)
• 5000 working class men marched form the valleys and towns to Newport whilst a brass band played. They finished at west gate hotel
• the men were armed with piles and muskets, the soldiers in the hotel said they wouldn’t fire on the protestors
• a shot went of an the soldered killed 22 people
• the 3 leaders were transported to Australia
  -just showed another reason to not support the chartists and made the government even more against them

Question 36

Who was Fergus O’Connor and what was his role in chartism

Answer 36

• he had the highest profile, charismatic and controversial Chartist leader
• mp for cork between 1832-1835
• in 1840 he published chartism in his magazine “the northern start” which sold 50,000 copies a week
• he drew up Chartist land plan in 1845 which aimed to resettle industrial workers on small holdings by collecting small contributions form Chartists and allocating farms by lot.
• this was aimed to sell 100,000 shares, the money form which woudk be used to buy estates and would be separated for each member to have between 2-4 acres.
• in 4 years the national land company attracted 70,000 shareholders raised more than £100,000 acquired a total of 1118 acres. This gave them more power and allows WC to grow their own crops

Question 37

Who was Thomas cooper and what was his role in chartism

Answer 37

• a shoe maker who supported O’Connor
• he produced radical journals in the midlands
• he was imprisoned in 1843-1845 for his role in the plug plot riots
• he was a physical force Chartist

Question 38

Who was George Julian Harvey and what was his role in chartism

Answer 38

• working class man who disposed the middle class
• he formed the east London democratic association
• he was a moral force Chartist and didn’t believe Revolution would succeed
• he was the editor of the northern star

Question 39

Who was Henry hetherington and what was his role in chartism

Answer 39

• produced the most impressive working class journal of the century
• campaigned against the newspaper tax which meant working class couldn’t afford them
• 1/6 members of the London working mens association who drafted the peoples charter in 1837 to be published in 1838
• he urged the working class to form associations

Question 40

Who was Ernest jones and what was his role in chartism

Answer 40

• he was one of the Chartist leaders and was a lawyer joining the Chartists in 1846
• he was a socialist and was imprisoned for his radical views
• he opposed the rich and trade unions

Question 41

Who was William lovett and what was his role in chartism

Answer 41

• formed the national union of the working class in 1831
• he wanted to remove the newspaper tax
• he drafted the peoples charter in 1837/38
• he was arrested in 1839 and published his autobiography

Question 42

What was the 1872 ballot act

Answer 42

This allowed for the secret ballot to come into place, introduced by Gladstone government. This stopped bribery and corruption in theory but wasn’t enforced perfectly

Question 43

What was the 1883 corrupt and illegal practices act

Answer 43

The ballot act failed to remove corruption which would have reduced corruption in voting and campaigning for parliament

Question 44

What was the 1884 parliamentary reform act

Answer 44

Voters in countries deserved the same rights as those in boroughs. This act created a uniform franchise in both country and borough which allowed 67% of the male population to vote

Question 45

What was the 1885 redistribution of seats act

Answer 45

This gave growing towns the right to send more MPs to parliament and 142 seats were redistributed. This cut the southern dominance of MPs

Question 46

What was the 1911 parliament act

Answer 46

This reduced the power of the House of Lords so they could not veto bills only delay them. The lords had no say on what to spend taxation money on

Question 47

What was the 1918 representation of the people act

Answer 47

After the horrors of WW1 all men over 21 revived the vote and all women over the age of 30 were allowed to vote

Question 48

What change was their in the electoral landscape

Answer 48

-the middle class could vote and could influence political change so the U/C saw them as more important. 18% by 1832
-in 1867 the electorate grew by 1 million
-socialism spread through Europe at this time and many believed that the lower class workers were responsible for the economy and should be able to influence politics with political power being distributed more evenly among the population. (Philosopher Karl Marx followed this ideology especially)
-political politics had become more centralised and professional
-established a 2 party system
-universal rules across the country
-regions gained MPs (Birmingham and Manchester)
-less corruption
-no women allowed the vote

Question 49

What continuity was there in the new electoral landscape

Answer 49

-political elite have a little power to the middle class
-corruption in votes still until 1872 secret ballot act
-wealth was buying seats in parliament eg/ Henry hunt lost his seat to Gladstone who was aristocracy
-some rotten boroughs still existed
-working class still not represented, eg/ pot will appear rule
-scotland and Ireland were still under represented
-MPs representation still disproportionate to population

Question 50

The significance of the national reform union

Answer 50

-1864 the national reform union was formed. It sought to extend the franchise to all male rate payers, promote equal distribution of parliamentary seats and establish a secret ballot
-included liberal minded employers like Samual Morley (manufacture in Nottingham and later elected for MP)
-the inclusion of promo at employees gave the reform union a significant degree of influence over the gov
-the impact was a respectable lobby group which was able to demand the attention of those in power
-150 branches

Question 51

What is the significance of the reform league

Answer 51

-1865 similar group to ‘NRU’ formed the reform league established by the working class with more radical ambitions
-it fought for universal manhood suffrage and a secret ballot
-the league had less money then NRU but it had popular support and attracted many ex chartists and trade unionists.
-the reform league were peaceful and used demonstration to project their cause which was useful as they gained respect
-10,000
-400 branch’s

Question 52

Changing political attitudes in 1860

Answer 52

-lord Palmerston ignored the demands for redone and only focused on foreign policy. This highlighted the need for reform even more for the WC.
-MP John Bright emphasised the need for reform through his tour and public speeches direct at the working class
-Britain went under demographic changes as the popular rose form 24million in 1820 to 31 million in 1860 and so the electoral map needed modernising
-the American civil war had significant impacts on political attitudes. North America blocked the confederate south of its ports and exportation of cotton to UK was also blocked resulting in cotton famine. 355,000 were unemployed

Question 53

What was the 1867 reform act

Answer 53

piece of British legislation that enfranchised part of the urban male working class in England and Wales for the first time. The 1867 Reform Act: granted the vote to all householders in the boroughs as well as lodgers who paid rent of £10 a year or more. reduced the property threshold in the counties and gave the vote to agricultural landowners and tenants with very small amounts of land.

Question 54

How did individuals contribute to the 1867 reform act

Answer 54

-the death of lord Palmerston in 1865. He was against the reform despite being a Whig and argued y democracy would bring the scum to the top of society. His death gave way to lord Russel who introduced Gladstone reform bill
* Disraeli was a Tory who hated Gladstone so took every opportunity to exploit Whig divisions. Although not PM he was the one who steamrollered the bill through parliament
* William Gladstone was the Whig pm. He visited the WC and began to support working class. He was the peoples William. His reform bill was to show that WC was respectable so aimed to get 1/4 men the vote. The tories defeated this bill.
* John bright was a liberal mp for Manchester and Birmingham who set out public speeches to get others to join parliamentary reform. He criticised the right wing politicians in many of his speeches and pushed for reform

Question 55

How did external to Parliament contribute to the 1867 reform act

Answer 55

-the population was at 31 million in 1861 and many lived in industrial cities. Many couldn’t vote and showed how outdated the political system was.
* the reform league 1865 pressured for complete manhood suffrage. There were meetings all over the country and was supported by left wingers and the working class. They caused the Hyde park riots.
* the national reform union had the money and provided it to the reform league and were working together by 1867. The reform league had the membership, the reform union had the money
* the Trafalgar Square and Hyde park riots(200,000) in 1866 occurred when a reform league demonstration got out of hand. Troops had been sent in but events like this were rare as the WC became more respectable and less violent. The MC respected their Victorian values of hard work so we’re no longer opposed or extending reform to the working class.

Question 56

How did internal to parliament contribute to the 1867 reform act

Answer 56

-party rivalry between whigs and tories saw reform growing. Tories defeated the 1866 reform bill form the whigs and then introduced a moderate reform bill in 1867 to gain popularity
* the national reform union was set up by MC liberals. It was respected by liberal whigs and supported by some MPs. It aimed to increase the vote, secret ballot and evenly distributed seats. In 1867 it had 150 branches and was working with the reform league
* the reform bill 1852 bought in by the Whig government and further bills in 1853 and 1859 were all blocked by showed a stronger will increase parliament to achieve reform.

Question 57

The 1867 reform act achievements

Answer 57

-45 seats taken form boroughs with less then 10,000 people. 25 of these went to counties,15 to boroughs without MPs and Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Birmingham and the uni of London gained 1 MP.
* the size of electorate went form 1.36 to 2.46 million
* all male rent payers who had lived in a £10 property for over a year got the vote. All owners of £5 land and property got the vote
* 7 seats were transferred from England to Scotland
* in Ireland teh vote was given to £4 rate payers

Question 58

What was the significance of the 1867 reform act

Answer 58

• it was good because of all the things it actually achieved
• hard to bribe people
• large amounts of population couldn’t vote.
• bribery was still possible as no secret ballot
• distribution of seats was still unfair. Tiverton had 2 MPs for 10,000 but Glasgow had a population of 500,000 but only 2 MPs
• the south and east were still over represented compared to north and midlands

Question 59

Gladstone vs Disraeli

Answer 59

-Gladstone was the Whig and Disraeli was the Tory.
-Gladstone began to become more reformist and in 1866 introduced a reform bill which Disraeli defeated.
-Disraeli then introduced a reform bill in 1867 to gain the support of the nation which is then passed and Gladstone left parliament with Disraeli taking over as prime minister in 1868.
-Gladstone came back and made Disraeli’s life hell so another election was called for and Gladstone won.
-Gladstone gradually continued to introduce reform.
-In 1872 Disraeli began to attack Gladstone again and in 1874 was elected prime minister and introduced more reform.
-Gladstone then wrote a political pamphlet attacking the government and Disraeli which sold 200,000 copies.
-they were both clearly important individuals for the 1867 reform act and other measures of reform after this date

Question 60

What was the plug plot riots

Answer 60

1842
-refer to a couple of days in August 1842 when thousands of workers and Chartists, intent on pulling out the drain plugs of recently installed boilers in the mills (most were arrested)