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Britain > Radicals > Flashcards

Radicals Flashcards

1
Q

When was Thomas Paine’s ‘Rights of Man’ published?

A

1791

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2
Q

What were the two common aims of early radicalism?

A

Universal suffrage and annual elections

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3
Q

When was the LCS founded and by who?

A

Founded by Thomas Hardy in 1792

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4
Q

What did the LCS campaign for?

A

Democratic reform, particularly annual elections and universal male suffrage.

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5
Q

At its peak, what was the membership of the LCS?

A

About 3,000 members

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6
Q

When and where were the Hampden Clubs formed?

A

1816 outside of London

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7
Q

Who founded the Hampden Clubs?

A

Major John Cartwright

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8
Q

What was the main limitation of the Hampden Clubs?

A

There was a divide between those who wanted universal suffrage and those who wanted extended suffrage for those with property (general divide was common amongst much of radicalism)

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9
Q

Who was William Cobbett?

A

A journalist and writer. He was not radical but did want to return Britain to a harmonious, peaceful place. He was angered by the corrupt elections and began publishing a protest newspaper, the Political Register.

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10
Q

What was the circulation of the Political Register?

A

40,000

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11
Q

Who was Henry Hunt?

A

An orator/renowned public speaker. He campaigned for universal suffrage and annual elections. He spoke at Spa Fields and Peterloo.

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12
Q

What was a rotten borough?

A

A constituency with a very small electorate, yet two MPs were still returned to parliament.

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13
Q

Give two examples of rotten boroughs?

A

Old Sarum and Gatton

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14
Q

What was a pocket borough?

A

A very small constituency that was bribed by the landowner or employer to elect their representitives.

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15
Q

When was Spa Fields?

A

1816

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16
Q

What was the aim of the Spa Fields gathering?

A

To show support for a petition to the Prince Regent for parliamentary reform. The petition stood for universal male suffrage, annual elections, and the introduction of a secret ballot.

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17
Q

Who spoke at Spa Fields?

A

Henry Hunt

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18
Q

What happened after the Prince Regent and the government refused to accept the petition?

A

A second meeting was organised at Spa Fields but deteriorated into a march to the Tower of London by some of the more radical members present. The gov send troop to break up the meeting.

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19
Q

What was the name of the government spy who was a part of the Spa Fields group?

A

John Castle

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20
Q

When was the Pentridge Uprising?

A

1817

21
Q

What happened at the Pentridge Uprising?

A

About 300 working class men (mainly iron and quarry workers) led an armed march beginning in Pentridge, Derbyshire, and headed towards Nottingham with the intention of later marching to London.

22
Q

What was the aim of the Pentridge Uprising?

A

To demand a range of reforms including removing national debt.

23
Q

What stopped the Pentridge Uprising?

A

A spy amongst the group, William Oliver, informed the government and the uprising was crushed by soldiers.

24
Q

Was the Pentridge Uprising a threat to the government?

A

No. Depsite appearing to be a threat as they were armed, the protestors were neither sufficiently numerous or organised.

25
Q

How were the leaders of the Pentridge Uprising punished?

A

45 were tried for treason, of whom 30 were sentenced to be transported and three were hanged.

26
Q

When was Peterloo?

A

1819

27
Q

What happened at Peterloo?

A

A large crowd gathered at St Peter’s Fields, Manchester for an entirely peaceful meeting. Approx 50-60,000 attended and Henry Hunt was one of the speakers. Local magistrates panicked and sent local Yeomanry to the scene. The Yeomanry entered the crowd to arrest Hunt but panicked and attacked peaceful protestors.

28
Q

How many people were injured and killed in the Peterloo Massacre?

A

18 were killed (including a woman and child) and an estimated 700 were injured.

29
Q

Why was the events at St Peter’s Fields nicknamed the ‘Peterloo Massacre’?

A

It was an unsubtle comparison to the 1815 battle of Waterloo as a means of mocking the government.

30
Q

What was the public response to Peterloo?

A

A number of newspapers including The Times protested loudly against the actions of the magistrates.

31
Q

When were the Corn Laws introduced?

A

1815

32
Q

What were the Corn Laws?

A

Kept corn prices high to protect farmers, but drove up bread prices for people living in poverty

33
Q

When was Habeas Corpus first suspended?

A

1794-95

34
Q

Why was Habeas Corpus suspended?

A

To allow the government to round up potential threats due to fears about the popular protests.

35
Q

When were the Treason Act and the Seditious Meetings Act?

A

1795

36
Q

What was the Treason Act?

A

Confirmed that assaults against the King were high treason. (this still stands today). It further allowed anyone bringing the crown, government or constitution into contempt could be transported for seven years.

37
Q

What inspired the creation of the Treason Act?

A

During a protest in 1795, a piece of rubbish was thrown at King George III on his way to open Parliament.

38
Q

What was the Seditious Meetings Act?

A

It supported the Treason Act and banned public meetings of over 50 people and made it illegal to rent a hall for lecturing and debating policies without a magistrates licence. It also gave Justices of the Peace the authority to disperse any crowd.

39
Q

What happened to 13 members of the LCS in 1794?

A

They were put on trial for treason. All were aquitted.

40
Q

What and when was the Combination Act?

A
  1. It banned the existence of any trade union or political society which promoted political reform.
41
Q

What and when was Stamp Tax introduced?

A
  1. A tax on printed media was increased to make newspapers harder to afford and prevent the less well-off from buying them.
42
Q

What and when was the Newspaper Regulation Act?

A
  1. It forced newspapers to register with the aim of limiting their ability to publish critical articles.
43
Q

When were the Gagging Acts introduced?

A

1817

44
Q

What were the Gagging Acts?

A

They built on the temporary Treason and Seditious Meeting Acts as a result of Spa Fields and Pentridge. They were essesntially the same, though they had a few more restrictions. E.g. there were extra limitations on meetings held within a mile of parliament, and public meetings were bannned entirely during a parliamentary session. Also included the suspension of Habeas Corpus.

45
Q

When were the Six Acts introduced?

A

1819

46
Q

What were the Six Acts?

A

Introduced after Peterloo:
- The training Prevention Act - to stop civillians learning to use weapons
- The Seizure of Arms Act - allowing magistrates the right to seize weapons
- The Seditious Meeting Act - extended the 1817 Act to require notice to be given to magistrates for any public meeting
- The Blasphemous and Seditious Libels Act - set penalties for libel at 17 years transportation
- Misdemeanours Act - sped up the process of charging people and getting a trial
- The Newspaper and Stamp Duties Act - this raised the stamp duty to 4d. on any publication which was at least monthly and cost less than 6d.

47
Q

What were agent provocateurs?

A

Government spies who went undercover within reformist groups to gather evidence of illegal activity. Both Spa Fields and Pentridge Uprising trials were almost exclusively based around evidence from agen provocateurs, John Castle and William Oliver.

48
Q

Evidence of failure of the radicals…

A
  • lack of progress with objectives - they had not achieved any of their goals by 1819
  • inability to overcome opposition OR the ability of the gov to crush the movement - the willingness of parliament to pass acts specifically aimed at opposing radical ideas severly hampered their efforts
  • lack of coordination within the movement - the movement was not unified or co-ordinated (ie there was no leader)
49
Q

Evidence of success of the radicals…

A
  • creating an awareness of the issue - both among the general public but also in gov about the level of dissatisfaction in the population, the scale and media support made it an issue impossible to ignore
  • Setting the scene for future progress - the awareness laid the foundations for the reform crisis 1830-32.

Britain (7 decks)

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