Part 3: 19th Century Reform (1)

Question 1

What did many historians call the 19th century

Answer 1

Many historians called the 19th century a time of great changes

Question 2

What changed in the 19th century

Answer 2

• The population grew rapidly
• more people lived in towns in the country in 1851
• more people worked in industry not agriculture

Most importantly the source of wealth changed -industry and trade became more important than owning land

Question 3

What improved rapidly in the 19th century

Answer 3

Communication improves rapidly !!!

Penny post - you could send a letter anywhere in the country

Telegraph - you could transmit messages over large distances quickly

An expanding railway network meant it was possible for people to travel quickly and cheaply around the country

The railway network allowed newspapers to be distributed overnight around the country

Question 4

What grew rapidly in the 19th century

Answer 4

New towns grew rapidly and because of this they were squalid places to live

Question 5

What did the dirty nature of the Towns lead to in the 19 century

Answer 5

This led to increasing demands to do something about them

Question 6

What emerged as a result of trying to improve the towns

Answer 6

Conflicting theories of government emerged

Question 7

What were the two theories of government over improving the towns

Answer 7

Self-help

And the argument that the state had a duty to intervene

Question 8

Who supported self-help and what was it

Answer 8

Jeremy Bentham and Samuel smiles supported self help

This argued that it was not the business of government to intervene in social conditions or in the relationship between workers and employers

Question 9

What was the other theory of government apart from Self help and who believed in it

Answer 9

Lord Shaftesbury and Elizabeth Fry argued that the state had a duty to intervene and to put right the wrongs of society

Question 10

What were some reforms a result of

Answer 10

Some reforms were the result of government action

Question 11

Which reforms were the result of government action

Answer 11

In 1848 the first public health act was passed to help improve conditions in the new towns

In 1870 board schools were set up with government funding to educate children up to the age of 11

In 1880 education was made compulsory

Question 12

What was bad about the government in their attitudes towards reform

Answer 12

The government was often reluctant to act and had to be pushed hard to do so

Question 13

What was the anti-Corn law league

Answer 13

The anti-corn Law league was a powerful lobby group of employees and workers who eventually managed to persuade the government to act

Question 14

Who made many of the changes in 19 century Britain

Answer 14

All the other changes were made by the people themselves Because the government were reluctant to act

Question 15

What were local initiatives

Answer 15

Many small-scale local clubs like the Rochdale cooperative store set up in 1844 were local initiatives

people banded together there to improve their own lives and many of these initiatives worked

Question 16

What began in the 1780s

Answer 16

In the 1780s building societies began with work and saving money so they could buy their own place to live

In the latter part of the 19th century nearly every town would have it’s own building society

people were prepared to work together to improve their lives

Question 17

From the time of the American revolution until into the 19th century what was a great effort made for

And why

Answer 17

A great effort was made to alter the electoral system in the widely held belief that this was the best way to improve the living and working conditions of ordinary people

Only by having the vote would they have the power to change their lives. This led to more people becoming directly involved in the fight for reform

Question 18

What were elections like in the early 1800s

6 things

Answer 18

Very few people could vote in the early 1800s and if you could vote there was no secret ballot

Voting took place in open air meetings where are you publicly declared your allegiance

MPs were not paid so only rich people could afford to be MPs

Elections had to be held at least once every seven years

Most of the new industrial towns have no MPs at all and many seats had become rotten boroughs

Corruption was very common. Being an MP was expensive As some MPs would bribe voters

It was this system that the radicals and reformers wanted to change

Question 19

Who supported the system

Answer 19

Although the system was flawed the Tories supported it

Question 20

Who was the famous Tory who supported the electoral system

Answer 20

Lord Stormont Argued that the British constitution was the wisest that had ever been created

The Tories said that not only was no need for change but that change would be dangerous

Question 21

What was lord stormonts famous quote

Answer 21

In support of the tories he stated that

‘Extending the right of voting to all the Roman citizens destroyed their republic’

Question 22

Did everyone feel the same way as the tories

Answer 22

No the radicals didn’t !!

Question 23

What did major John Cartwright do

Answer 23

In 1776 major John Cartwright had published a pamphlet arguing in favour of electoral reform and universal manhood suffrage

For the next 30 years he toured the country demanding radical reform

Question 24

What happened on the 15th of June 1809

Answer 24

On the 15th of June 1809 Francis Burdett introduced a reform bill into Parliament demanding equal electoral districts - annual parliament - and the rights of every taxpayer to vote

It was defeated by 79 votes to 15

The sparsely attended debate shows us how low on the agenda reform was as far as MPs and government were concerned

Question 25

Who produced a weekly newspaper in support of the radicals

Answer 25

William convert produced a weekly newspaper in support of the radicals

It was widely read and distributed

Question 26

What were set up across the country in support of electoral reform

Answer 26

Hampden clubs were set up across the country

By 1817 there were over 150 in existence

Question 27

What was the 19th century known as in terms of politics

Answer 27

It was a period of intense popular political agitation

Question 28

What was a famous quote of a supporter of the radicals

Answer 28

During the spa Fields riots in London in 1816 James Watson argued

‘We have been oppressed for over 800 years since the Norman conquest … the ministers have not granted us our rights’

Question 29

When was the Peterloo massacre

Answer 29

On 16th August 1819

Question 30

What happened on the 16th of August 1819

Answer 30

Thousands of people met in St. Peter’s fields Manchester

Peterloo massacre

Question 31

What did people do at the peterloo massacre

Answer 31

They had come to listen to Henry ‘Orator’ hunt talk about reform

They carried banners demanding reform- universal suffrage- and equal electoral districts

Question 32

What’s the most important thing to remember about the peterloo massacre

Answer 32

That it was a totally peaceful protest

Question 33

What happened to the people at the peterloo massacre

Answer 33

The protests despite being peaceful scared and panicked Manchester magistrates

They read the RIOT ACT and sent in the militia to disperse the crowd

Many were injured and around 11 died.

Journalists were arrested and leaders of the protest were charged with treason

Question 34

What did the government do in response to the peterloo massacre

Answer 34

The government then passed the SIX ACTS

limiting public meetings to less than 50 people and putting further restrictions on what journalists could write and publish.

It was clear that the government was not prepared to listen to demands for reform

Question 35

Why was it called the Peterloo massacre

Answer 35

The name ‘peterloo’ was an obvious play on the events from 1815 when the duke of wellington defeated napoleon at the battle of Waterloo

Question 36

What did radicals and reformers want from the government

Answer 36

Equal electoral system

Annual parliaments

Right of every taxpayer to vote

Universal manhood suffrage

Question 37

What happened in 1832

Answer 37

The great reform act was passed

Question 38

What happened after the peterloo massacre

Answer 38

Gradually attitudes in parliament began to change

Especially in the Whig party

There was a growing recognition that some change was necessary and that it would be better if parliament itself managed this change.

Question 39

When did reform seem like it might come

Answer 39

Lord grey formed a new Whig led government in 1830 and it seemed that reform would come

Question 40

What happened in the new Whig led government

Answer 40

The House of Commons passed two separate bills but each time they were rejected by the Tory dominated House of Lords.

Question 41

What did the people do in response to the rejection of reform bills in parliament

Answer 41

Riots were held in bristol- Nottingham and derby

At the same time CAPTAIN SWING protest against new machines were taking place across the country

It looked like the nation was being engulfed by demands for change

Question 42

What happened in 1832

Who was finality jack

Answer 42

Finally in 1832 a third reform bill passed though BOTH Houses of Parliament

Lord Russel claimed - it was as far as the government would go in changing the constitution

He became known as ‘Finality jack’

Question 43

What happened in response to the great reform act

Answer 43

Political and economic agitation increased rather than decreased after the passing of the reform act.

Question 44

Who were wrongly punished for the forming of a trade union

Answer 44

The tolpuddle Martyrs were wrongly punished

Question 45

What pushed the government for change after the reform act was passed

Answer 45

Opposition to the poor law amendment act was widespread - the ten hours movement and the anti corn law league all pushed the government for change !!

Question 46

Why did the reform act aggravate people

Answer 46

Political demands for reform increased as ordinary people realised the reform act had done NOTHING to address their grievances

Question 47

What happened in 1838

Answer 47

By 1838 a people’s charter was published pulling together the long standing demands of the radicals

The radicals became known as the Chartists

Question 48

What did the people’s charter of 1838 demand

Answer 48

A vote for all men over 21 
A secret ballot 
Equal electoral districts 
No property qualification to become an MP
Payment for MPs
Annual parliaments

Question 49

Was the people’s charter considered important

Answer 49

The demands of the People’s Charter remained the main focus of political activity throughout the rest of the 19th century

Question 50

Was chartism more a political or economic issue

Answer 50

The three big waves of Chartist activity coincided with poor economic conditions and rising unemployment

people were hungry and that made them political agitators

Question 51

How did the Chartists try to achieve their aims

Answer 51

• A few sympathetic MPs kept raising the issue of reform in parliament
• Huge mass meetings and demonstrations were held throughout the country
• Ant corn law league meetings were hijacked by chartists asking questions and demanding answers
• Chartist newspapers were sold cheaply and distributed widely

Question 52

What did some historians argue about Chartism

Answer 52

Some historians argue that Chartism was the first modern national political party

With subscriptions ,branches ,monthly meetings ,newsletters and a list of approved charter speakers to invite to your meetings

Question 53

What was the main weapon adopted by the chartists to achieve their aims

Answer 53

The main weapon adopted by the chartists was the petition to Parliament

Question 54

When did the Chartists petition to Parliament

Answer 54

Chartists petitioned to Parliament three times

In 1839,1842 and finally in 1848

Huge petitions were collected and presented to parliament they were ALL decisively rejected

Question 55

What did the petitions the Chartists sent to Parliament symbolise

Answer 55

They represented mass support for the charter

Even though all the petitions were decisively rejected

Question 56

Why did the Chartists fail in their petitions to parliament

Answer 56

Perhaps the government were not ready for reform or

It was perhaps the Chartists failure to plan effectively what to do when parliament rejected its petitions that led to its failure