Pressure for parliamentary reform after the Whigs came to power

Question 1

What had successive governments in the early 19th century had to deal with?

Answer 1

The build up of pressure to radically change the outdated system of parliamentary elections

Question 2

List the kind of reforms people were demanding at this time?

Answer 2

• Universal male suffrage
• Equal electoral districts
• The secret ballot
• The payment of MPs
• The removal of property qualifications to stand as an MP
• Annual elections

Question 3

Give an example of two popular radicals at this time

Answer 3

Henry Hunt and William Corbett

Question 4

What needed to happen to this pressure in 1830?

Answer 4

It needed to find a release

Question 5

When did opportunity for change come about?

Answer 5

With the defeat of Wellington’s Tory government in Nov 1830, removing a stubborn obstruction and allowing Grey’s more open minded government to come to power

Question 6

What did most of the Whigs believe about political reform at this time?

Answer 6

That political innovation was necessary, otherwise uncontrollable change might overwhelm the existing social order

Question 7

What did most Tories continue to regard parliamentary as?

Answer 7

A recipe for future disaster

Question 8

What did the Whigs and moderate Radicals see as the best way forward?

Answer 8

Moderate reform - removing the worst rotten boroughs and giving representation to the growing industrial towns

Question 9

How did the Whig reform bill run into trouble in Oct 1831?

Answer 9

The Tory House of Lords rejected it

Question 10

What was the reaction to this rejection?

Answer 10

The prospect of a small aristocratic elite holding back the forces of progress and democracy was seen as unacceptable to the reformers, even to the Whigs who were part of this aristocratic elite

Question 11

List the pressures that encouraged Grey’s government to persist with the reform

Answer 11

Thomas Attword’s Birmingham Political Union inspired other similar groups to form in other places and through petitions, mass meetings, demonstrations and sometimes rioting, they demanded ‘the bill, the whole bill and nothing but the bill’

Question 12

What about men like Attwood made the elite especially worried?

Answer 12

Because even though they spoke out against violence, there were subtly threatening undertones that Britain could be on the verge of revolution if the people’s demands were ignored

Question 13

What do historians disagree on about this time?

Answer 13

The likelihood of revolution

Question 14

What does Hilton say in support of the idea that there could have been revolution at this time?

Answer 14

‘For a brief period control passed out of the hands of the parliamentary classes and into the hands of the radicals’

Question 15

What does Fraser say against the idea that revolution was likely at this time?

Answer 15

Saw the massive demonstrations as ‘symptoms of popular discontent rather than revolutionary calls to arms’

Question 16

What did the middle class think before industrialisation?

Answer 16

It was still relatively small and industrialisation had not brought economic benefits to them yet, so they had been willing to accept that political power and authority rested in the hands of the landed aristocracy

Question 17

How did middle class attitudes to political power change after industrialisation?

Answer 17

As they grew in number and more of their members enjoyed wealth and prosperity, they believed they had a right as responsible, contributing, educated citizens to take a real share in power

Question 18

What was the common complaint raised by the industrial and commercial middle class?

Answer 18

They complained that they were not best served by the landed aristocracy whom they believed acted in their own selfish interests and made poorly judged economic decisions

Question 19

Which two thinkers were the middle classes most influenced by?

Answer 19

The radical utilitarian thinkers Jeremy Bentham and James Mill, who wrote extensively about democracy and reform

Question 20

What did Mill criticise in Essays on Government (1825)?

Answer 20

The predominance of the aristocracy in government

Question 21

How did Bentham criticise parliament?

Answer 21

Because it failed to achieve the greatest happiness for the greatest number, as its role was to take responsibility for governing the entire country but it only satisfied the needs of a minority and therefore needed to be reformed

Question 22

How did the working class engage politically during the post war years?

Answer 22

They were drawn to radicalism in the post war years but their interest fell away as the economy improved

Question 23

What did the middle class think to the politicisation of the working class?

Answer 23

They dismissed them, thinking they were not educated enough to vote

Question 24

What did William Corbett write about working class interest in reform at this time?

Answer 24

He said it was about bringing them tangible social and economic benefits

Question 25

What does Fraser say happened to demonstrations in the country following the formation of the Whig government?

Answer 25

They grew rather than diminished, due to what was either a climate of expectation or dread

Question 26

What does Fraser use to back up their idea that disturbances at this time were not revolutionary?

Answer 26

Lord Grey complained about large assemblages that protested the low wages offered by masters, but he did not suggest their methods were in any way violent