Key Moments In The Unreformed Parliment

Question 1

Demands for reform

What happened at Peterloo?

Answer 1

• 1819 refrom movement increased
• four rallies across the country, last of which was held in St Peters Field in Manchester 16 August
• Speaker was Henry Hunt and the rally attracted upwards of 60,000 people
• Local magistrates ordered the meeting to be disbanded and Hunt arrested, the crowds were forcibily dispearsed and 18 were killed with 400 wounded

Question 2

Demands for reform

Outcome of the Peterloo Massacre

Answer 2

• The victims of the Peterloo massacre become martyrs for the refrom movement
• immediate outcome; further repression from the government through a series of acts designed to strengthen the hand against protesters
• The ‘Six acts’ included banning meetings of more than 50 people and the introduction of harsher punishments such as the death penalty for sedition
• These acts suggest the government were fearful of a violent reprisal from more agressive elements of the refrom movements
• the shock of the brutality fractured the working class aillance as it drove conservative middle and upper class away from the movement
• For others the massacre spurred on the cause fro reform ( led to a group of reformers in 1820 led by Arthur Thistlewood plotted to assasinate the cabinet, however the reformers were caught and seixed at its Cato street headquaters) This leap suggested Britian was in a dangerous revolutionary position.

Question 3

Demands for reform

What was the impact of the french revolution on demands for reform ?

Answer 3

• People began to question the legitimacy of what they saw as ‘rule by the rich’
• Led to William Pitt’s Reflections on the Revolutions in France which prophised the violence abroad and blamed it on the sudden and radical political change; this did little to quiet the discontent in Britiain and led to Thomais Paine writing the Rights of Man in reponse to Burke which condemed the inequalities within the exisitng system. It became a bestseller, selling more than 200000 copies by 1793. The Rights of Man inspired young reformers who sought to bring greater democracy to the country.
• New organisations were created throughout Britiain ( Sheffiled Society for Constitutional Information and the London Correspondence Society ). These groups sought to raise public awareness of refrom by writing political pamphlets and by taking more asseetive methods. 1792 the Sheffield Society had nearly 10,000 signitures on a national petition calling for manhood suffrage. London Corresponding Society organised a demonation at Copenhagen Fields 26 ocotober 1795 which attracted more than 100000 people. The more determined and active reform could be evidenced due to the revolution over the channel.

Question 4

Demand for reform

How did the end of the war with france drive the re-emergance of reform?