Radical agitation

Question 1

What did the term radical mean in 18th and 19th century Britian?

Answer 1

Any individual or group that wanted to see change or reform in an existing system or institution

Question 2

What was there a revival of after 1815?

Answer 2

Radical agitation for political reform, which was much more focused and determined than the phase under Pitt

Question 3

What background would radicals usually come from?

Answer 3

The middle class

Question 4

How did the radical movement gain traction?

Answer 4

The Hampden Clubs were first formed in 1811 by radical MP Sir Francis Burdett and made popular through the oratory of men like Henry Hunt

Question 5

Why were the several radical MPs at this time not that effective?

Answer 5

They were independent and pursued their own interests, rather than acting together

Question 6

What did Wilberforce use his seat to do?

Answer 6

Fight for the abolition of slavery

Question 7

What was David Ricardo concerned with?

Answer 7

Protecting the economic interests of the industrial classes

Question 8

Why was the founding of the Manchester Guardian in 1821 significant?

Answer 8

It acted as a mouthpiece for the middle class manufacturors who started for parliamentary representation in the large unrepresented towns of the north

Question 9

What did Benthamite radicals like James Mill push for?

Answer 9

Extending the franchise

Question 10

What were the three primary contributors to working class discontent?

Answer 10

Low wages, unemployment and inadequate poor relief

Question 11

How did the way the working class expressed discontent change at this time

Answer 11

They traditionally rioted, but they became politicised and focused on achieving political influence through the extension of the franchise

Question 12

Give three examples of the government taking a repressive approach to working class demands for reform

Answer 12

• when protesters at Spa Fields were arrested and dispersed by yeomen
• The march of the blanketeers was dispersed at the outset
• Agent provocateurs flushed out ringleaders at the derbyshire insurrection

Question 13

Describe the 1819 meeting at at peters field in Manchester

Answer 13

Lancashire weavers were angry their employees wouldn’t agree to a legal minimum wage. Looked to hold a public meeting to press for reform after negotiating failed. Henry hunt spoke to a large crowd in what leaders promised was a peaceful demonstration

Question 14

What was the reaction to the 1819 meeting in St Peter’s fields from the elites?

Answer 14

The local magistrates were unnevered and dispatched the yeomanry. They gave constables orders to arrest hunt. The yeomanry looked to support and killed 11 people and injured hundreds in the charge through the crowd

Question 15

What was the response to the actions of the yeomanry at St Peter’s fields?

Answer 15

• the government congratulated the magistrates on their prompt action
• the press took up the story and mockingly called it the Peterloo massacre

Question 16

Why did the government perhaps make a mistake in how it handled the demonstration at St Peter’s fields?

Answer 16

It was so anxious to keep the local magistracy onside that it failed to get to the root of the problem. Even middle class opinion was shocked by the unnecessary carnage

Question 17

How did the government respond in the aftermath of the peterloo massacre?

Answer 17

Keen to show their zero tolerance of public disorder, they tightened up existing legislation to increase magistrates powers and to deter public gathering through the six acts, which were seen as a direct attack on radicalism

Question 18

Who was Henry hunt?

Answer 18

A radical agitator who pushed for political representation for the working classes, firmly rejecting violence. He was imprisoned for his role in peterloo but became a radical mp in 1830

Question 19

Why did working class agitation start to subside in the 1820s?

Answer 19

Because the economy started to bounce back

Question 20

What three things caused radical outbreaks of violence to begin again in the late 1820s?

Answer 20

• a sudden economic slump
• the introduction of threshing machines onto farms, as this threatened employment
• the continuation of the tithe to the parish slaves

Question 21

Describe the Luddism of the late 1820s

Answer 21

Farm machinery was smashed and hay bricks were set ablaze. A series of letters then emerged threatening local landowner and farmers

Question 22

Why did the Luddism of the late 1820s become known as the swing riots?

Answer 22

Because the threatening letters to farmers and landowners were signed captain swing, a reference to the flailing stick used in hand threshing

Question 23

How did the government respond to the swing riots?

Answer 23

They quickly hung troublemakers and jailed or transported hundreds more

Question 24

What common goal did middle class and working class agitators share?

Answer 24

Ending aristocratic dominance of the political system

Question 25

Why did middle and working class agitators fail to unite despite their common goals?

Answer 25

The middle classes didn’t want to become too closely associated with the violent tactics of the lower classes, preferring to agitate for change through rational argument