Growth of Reform AFTER 1832

Question 1

Reform Union

Answer 1

• In 1864 the National reform Union was established which wanted to extend the franchise to all male ratepayers, distribute seats evenly across the country and establish a secret ballot -
• Members of the NRU were mostly liberal-minded employers and brought in the in the intelligence behind the movement. A clear example of a growing middle class lobby group, benefitting from the changes to the franchise that had already occurred, who the government fund very hard to ignore
• e.g. Samuel Morley who was elected as MP in Nottingham 1865 - believed that the working class would enhance British society

Question 2

Reform League

Answer 2

• 1864 (think a less radical version of the suffragettes). Campaigned for universal males suffrage and a secret ballot
• Whilst it had less money than the NRU it had more public support, attracting many ex-Chartists and trade unionists. Reform League organised meetings such as Hyde Park Riots 1866, Birmingham Reform Demonstrations August 1866 and the Chiswick demonstration (December 1866), Agricultural Hall meeting in Islington February 1867 and the Hyde Park demonstrations May 1867
• Under leadership of Edmund Beales

Question 3

Hyde Park Riots

Answer 3

• 1866
• The Reform League held a meeting in Hyde Park following the failure of the First Liberal Bill to discuss future action in the campaign for reform
• This meeting was declared illegal and Hyde Park was cordoned off by police, but despite this 200,000 people assembled and clashed with police, resulting in the police calling for military support. Both of these demonstrations ended peacefully and made The Reform League’s leaders household names, rapidly increasing their support

Question 4

Lower class exclusion from politics

Answer 4

• The Whigs made no attempt to deny that the £10 limit on the 1832 Reform Act was designed to exclude the lower classes from politics
• This caused anger from both the working class and the middle classes. Middle classes who didn’t gain the vote in 1832 were resentful because they were the wealth creators. Whilst they may not have met the property qualification, they felt they should certainly get the vote. This would be perhaps for bankers or lawyers – paid a reasonable wage but perhaps just below the £10 threshold

Question 5

Radical Ideas

Answer 5

• By 1850, the ideas presented by the Chartists no longer seemed too radical
• The Chartist movement had been born from the aftermath of 1832 and despite its failure had kept radical ideas about reform alive

Question 6

1832 Reform Act

Answer 6

• Although it was very tentative, the 1832 Reform Act was the beginning of reform
• The reform league demonstrates a major consequence of the 1832 as the people recently franchised were now exercising their right to vote. Government simply has to take notice of their demands if they wanted to stay in office

Question 7

Actions of Lord Russel/working class access to politics

Answer 7

• In 1852 Lord Russell proposed that the borough qualification should be reduced from £10/year to £6/year
• Despite the popular consensus that this reform was necessary it was rejected in 1854 and 1860. Whilst this demonstrated that there was a significant movement for reform to the voting system, even much earlier on, the opposition was still based on partisan politics and a fear of the working classes. This is something that remained even once the act had been passed, suggesting that this was less significant as those sceptics did not actually impede the progress of the act

Question 8

Actions of the Liberals/Earl Russell

Answer 8

• 1859 the Liberals returned to power under Lord Palmerston, yet in 1865 he died and was replaced by Earl Russell - This helped to cause the 1867 act because he was determined to enact reform, yet whilst Lord Palmerston was PM there was never really any social change.

Question 9

Rise of the Tories

Answer 9

• June 1866
• Conservatives were a minority government
• They now wanted to market themselves as not only the resistors of change but also the developers of constitutional progress. Many were tired of opposition and division

Question 10

American Civil War

Answer 10

• The American civil war of 1861 meant that the cotton supply to the UK was cut off, known as the cotton famine, upon which relied thousands of British jobs - since 1825, cotton had been Britain’s biggest import; in Lancashire, it provided work for 355,000 people
• This was a significant cause of the 1867 reform act as whilst thousands of workers became redundant, they still supported the anti-slavery cause in the USA. This was also contrary to the view that the working classes were apathetic and did not have the capacity to vote rationally. The government had traditionally viewed the workers to be violent and ignorant and this alleviated this

Question 11

Old systems (out of date) unrepresentative electorate

Answer 11

• In 1821, there had been 24 million people living in Britain, and by 1861 this figure was 31 million
• The increased number of people living in towns meant that the electorate map was now out of date