How accurate is it to say that the continued lack of parliamentary reform in the years 1785-1820 is best explained by government fear of revolution??

Question 1

fear of revolution

Answer 1

Fear of revolution

• The French revolution sparked the radicalisation of the lower classes in the governments eyes in 1789, as views and ideas spread across the channel, this coincided with the growth of radical press, as London was spreading 13 daily and 10 tri weekly newspapers advertising more radical ideas
• Pitts reign of terror was perhaps the biggest attempt to suppress this action, showing that there was genuine fear of revolution in the government and they needed to curtail this to stop further demands for reform- included the two acts which banned meetings of more than 50 people discussing reform, licenses removed from pubs who allowed meetings
• growth of unionism and switch towards factory work saw the combination acts introduced to stop political empowerment in the workplace and stop more opportunity for revolution
• 1819 6 acts introduced further reforms to stop revolution. Including a postage stamp tax to make it more expensive for the lower classes to share information

Question 2

Benefits of the pre reform system

Answer 2

benefits of the pre-reform system

• the general consensus of the land owning elite was that Britain had become so prosperous without including lower classes in parliament, so there was no incentive from their point of view to improve it
• the rich were able to rig elections through bribery, lambing and treating, and 50% of elections were uncontested anyway, which made it even easier for the upper classes to retain their parliamentary power and control in GB
• Pocket boroughs eg Appleby in Cumbria gave one land owner 2 MPs in parliament, which gave them a massive amount of parliamentary influence relative to their constituency, a reallocation of seats or removal of franchise would massively reduce the extent of this power
• the corn laws in 1816 were an example of how the upper classes could benefit themselves through passing laws seen as ‘looking after their own’, another reason why they did not want reform

Question 3

failed/ violent challenges to power/ radical activity

Answer 3

• failed/ violent challenges to power/ radical activity
• LCS started in 1792-93 led by Thomas Hardy, had 5000 members and began to increase its influence by organising demonstrations eg at Copenhagen fields In October 1795 where it attracted 100,000 people
• cato street conspiracy was an attempt by a radical mob to assassinate lord Liverpool, which helped to explain the fears of revolution felt by the government even after the legacy of the French revolution was wearing off
• as a result of the French revolution, Thomas Pained published his book ‘the rights of man’ which sold 200,000 copies and spread ideas about each age developing their own political systems; the fact he was arrested for treason in 1792 would suggest him and his ideas were a threat to the government, explaining why the government did not want to include such radical people in parliament

Question 4

Judgement

Answer 4

-government fear of revolution was the most important reason for lack of reform up until 1820 because the government were scared due to the French revolution and how severe that affected France. The failed revolts and the increasingly politicised lower classes added more weight to the scare that the government felt, and therefore explained why the government were so keen to reinforce their position through the pre reform system